Pennsylvania Senate race will help determine control of chamber

Judy Woodruff:

Meantime, we have several reporters in the field today keeping tabs on some of the key races.

This past weekend, President Biden and former Presidents Obama and Trump all converged on Pennsylvania to energize — to try to energize voters, particularly in the race for the Senate.

Geoff Bennett joins us now from Democratic candidate John Fetterman's headquarters in Pittsburgh.

Hello, Geoff.

And tell us what you're seeing and hearing.

Geoff Bennett:

Good evening, Judy.

As you well know, the Pennsylvania Senate seat has for months been viewed as the most likely pickup opportunity for Democrats as they try to retain control of the Senate. But this race has tightened dramatically in recent weeks, in large part due to a deluge of Republican-backed ads focused on crime and inflation.

So Democrats have tried to counter that perceived energy, that sort of newfound energy on the right, by bringing out the biggest names in the party, as you mentioned, President Biden, former President Obama, who were here this past weekend. One of the Democrats' key priorities has really been trying to energize and trying to engage not just the Democratic base, but young voters in particular.

We spent some time on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh today to get a sense of what younger voters have to say about all this. Here's some of what they said.

Speaker:

I voted for Shapiro and Fetterman.

Geoff Bennett:

Why is that?

Speaker:

Oh, I just support them overall. I agree with a lot of their main points, especially being against banning abortion and making sure legalized marijuana stays.

Geoff Bennett:

Is abortion a big issue for you and your friends?

Speaker:

Oh, yes, definitely. We talk about it a lot. I am a part of the Planned Parenthood Club here on campus. And I'm also part of Take Back the Night, which is a club talking about spreading awareness for sexual violence and domestic violence. So, abortion is a huge part of that as well.

Geoff Bennett:

You mentioned the student — you heard the student there mentioned Shapiro. She was talking about Josh Shapiro, the Democrat running for governor here.

Democratic strategists and officials I have talked to feel much better about their chances in the governor's race than they do necessarily about the Senate race, in large part because Josh Shapiro has maintained a healthy lead ahead of the Republican in this race, Doug Mastriano, for weeks.

So, right now, as the polls close in less than two hours from now, the attention shifts really to watching the vote come in. You heard Lisa say it'll be a long night watching the votes be tallied. Well, here in Pennsylvania, it could be potentially a long week. The acting secretary of state is on record saying that there will not be a final tally tonight, that it will take some time.

We know that the vote will be delayed in Philadelphia because of a last-minute counting change there as a result of a Republican-backed legal challenge targeting that Democratic stronghold. And so the Fetterman campaign has been very intentional about telling their voters that, as the vote comes in, that they expect the in person vote to skew Republican and the mail-in vote to skew Democratic, in much the same way as happened back in 2020.

It took four days here for the vote to be called in President Biden's favor — Judy.

Judy Woodruff:

And we remember it well.

Geoff Bennett reporting from Fetterman headquarters there in Pittsburgh.