Harris campaign touts thousands of new volunteers as both sides ramp up ground game in Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA – The push for Pennsylvania is in full swing and won't be coming to an end anytime soon. With just 82 days until Election Day, surrogates for the Harris-Walz campaign were in Brewerytown Thursday trying to keep the momentum going.
"We've got work to do. We've got to knock on doors. We've got to bring people out," State Sen. Sharif Street said.
Democrats in the state are trying to capitalize on energy they say they've seen since Vice President Kamala Harris took over the top of the party's ticket. The Harris campaign said in a media release on Thursday it's seen more than 43,000 Pennsylvanians sign up to volunteer for the campaign since President Biden dropped out.
One of them is Joy Bobb of East Oak Lane, who said she signed up last week.
"Absolutely I feel more energized, yes," Bobb said. "I just want to be one more voice to let people know that this is the most important election of our lifetime."
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis told CBS News Philadelphia that the Harris campaign also has 36 field offices across the commonwealth.
But the Trump campaign is also putting down roots.
"We have over two dozen offices in the great state of Pennsylvania. Thousands of volunteers, new ones every day," said Caroline Sunshine, the
deputy director of communications for the Trump campaign.
Sunshine pointed to the Trump team's "Trump Force 47" initiative, where people can sign up to volunteer online and select what roles they'd like to play. Sunshine claims they've had an array of voters stopping by their offices.
"We're seeing first-time voters, we're seeing people who lean Democrat, disaffected Democrats, moderates, we're seeing people who haven't always been likely Trump voters in the past," Sunshine said.
Still, Harris supporters say they need to work to keep this momentum up through next week's Democratic National Convention and into November.
"Momentum is shifting. People are fired up, and I've seen it all across Pennsylvania," Davis said. "For the next 81 days, I don't think this momentum is going to stop. This train's going to keep on moving."
