ALLENTOWN, Pa. — State Rep. Josh Siegel stood in a near-empty banquet hall inside the Da Vinci Science Center and looked forlornly at the Pennsylvania presidential election results being projected on a large wall.
“I don’t think there are enough votes left for Harris to win,” Siegel, D-22nd District, said. “There just aren’t enough left. [Trump] is going to win the state.”
With 86% of the votes in early Wednesday, former President Donald Trump led Democratic nominee Kamala Harris 50.8% to 48.1% in the commonwealth and was projected to win its 19 electoral votes.
“I didn’t think this would happen earlier tonight. It just seems like nothing Trump does that should hurt him doesn’t. It’s hard to understand.”State Rep. Josh Siegel
Trump had won 3.078 million votes to Harris’s 2.908 million.
“I didn’t think this would happen earlier tonight,” Siegel said. “It just seems like nothing Trump does that should hurt him doesn’t. It’s hard to understand.”
An evening that began with so much promise for Harris at the election watch party ended in disappointment.
Earlier on election night, it was much like days gone by, when an expectant father would pace the floor of the maternity ward waiting room anticipating the news.
They waited. Anxiously. Impatiently. Hopefully.
Inside the Da Vinci Science Center, local Democrats and their supporters waited to learn whether Pennsylvania would deliver for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Siegel said then that he believed that whichever candidate wins Pennsylvania will be elected president.
If the past is prologue, Siegel is correct.
Pennsylvania predictions
Each year since 2008, when Barack Obama won the presidency, the national outcome went as did the Commonwealth.
- 2020: Democrat Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump
- 2016: Republican Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton
- 2012: Democrat Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney
- 2008: Democrat Barack Obama defeated John McCain.
How Northampton County voted also was a predictor of the presidential election from 2008-20.
Pennsylvania is part of the Democrats’ “blue wall,” with Michigan and Wisconsin, all considered pivotal for a path to victory.
On Tuesday, hundreds of Democratic supporters milled about the Curiosity Hall room, picking at hors d’oeuvres, sipping beverages and repeatedly peeking up at the video wall for election updates.
“I feel good about the Lehigh Valley and I feel good about Pennsylvania and the rest of the nation."State Rep. Mike Schlossberg
In an adjacent banquet room, state Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-132nd District, sat at a table with his head down, staring at election data results on his smartphone.
He quietly mentioned to his wife that he believed Harris was doing well hours before the outcome of the presidential race in Pennsylvania would be known.
“I feel good about the Lehigh Valley and I feel good about Pennsylvania and the rest of the nation,” Schlossberg said.
“I guess we’ll have to see. But I think that the campaign did as best of a job as they humanly possibly could have.
"I think they ran an aggressive, hard-working and really, really fantastic ground game. Then you cast your fate to the wind.”
While Schlossberg exuded confidence in Harris’ chances at victory in Pennsylvania and the nation, he conceded that “we’re all a little twitchy.”
“But so far,” he said, “I’d still rather be her than Trump.”
'Center of the political universe'
U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, D-7th District, who was hoping to withstand a challenge from Republican challenger Ryan Mackenzie, addressed the gathering around 10 p.m.
“We’ve been the center of the political universe,” Wild said. “My prediction is, whoever wins PA-7 will win Pennsylvania and those 19 electoral votes.”
Several Democratic supporters at the watch party showed their allegiance by wearing Harris-Walz T-shirts and baseball-type caps.
One woman in such a T-shirt was munching on a mini crab cake and chatting with friends.
“If Harris doesn’t win — if he wins — I just don’t know what will become of us,” she said.
“Stop looking at the results because it’s too early,” a colleague advised. “[Harris’s] states will come in later.”
“Remember what that baseball player used to say,” she said, forgetting the legendary Yogi Berra’s name. “He said, ‘It’s getting late early.’”
