Trump, Harris campaigns both feeling confident about Pennsylvania with 2024 election looming
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Pennsylvania is once again expected to be a critical battleground state in the race for the White House.
It has been a monumental two weeks in this race, and we still have more than three months until Election Day as we are getting closer and closer to a likely Donald Trump versus Kamala Harris matchup in the fall.
"We are going to win Pennsylvania," state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, a Democrat, said.
On the Republican side, Caroline Sunshine, the deputy communications director of the Trump campaign, said the team is feeling "more confident than ever."
The Harris and Trump campaigns are feeling confident as we enter the opening stages of this new 2024 matchup. It's been a little over 72 hours since President Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed Harris. Campaign officials said since then they've seen an injection of enthusiasm.
"We have people cold calling people they know who are in politics, asking how they can volunteer. We feel the energy," Kellan White, a senior advisor for the Harris campaign, said.
Democrats say they've seen energy from young voters, Black voters and women.
State Sen. Sharif Street also pointed to Harris breaking former President Barack Obama's single-day fundraising record.
"Vice President Harris' values reflect the values of Pennsylvania, just like President Joe Biden's values reflected the values of Pennsylvania," White said. "And we're ready to make that case."
For the Trump campaign, officials said it's business as usual when it comes to trying to win Pennsylvania. Even with a possible switch from Biden to Harris, the message from team Trump likely won't change much.
"Joe Biden's record is Kamala Harris' record," Sunshine said. "It's also the record of the entire Democrat party. It's a record of failure, a record of weakness."
Trump campaign officials called the energy on Harris' side a "honeymoon phase." They're already planning areas to compare and contrast Trump and Harris. They said one of the biggest is energy.
"Particular to Pennsylvania, Kamala Harris has said she's going to ban fracking, Donald Trump has said, 'drill baby drill,'" Sunshine said.
There's no word on when Harris will be in Pennsylvania for her first official campaign stop.
On the closely-watched vice president search, Street and Kenyatta said that the decision lies with Harris but they are backing Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.