| − | '''Pennsylvania''', which means "[[William Penn|Penn]]'s woods" or "Penn's land," was one of the original thirteen colonies in the [[United States]]. Its capital is [[Harrisburg]] and it borders [[Ohio]], [[Maryland]], [[New York]], [[New Jersey]], [[Delaware]], and [[West Virginia]]. For two decades Pennsylvania repeatedly voted for the [[Democrat]] candidate for president, but in 2016 [[Republican]] [[Donald Trump]] carried the state by 44,000 votes with his message of "Make America Great Again" along with his criticism of [[free trade]] and illegal [[immigration]]. In 2020, Trump won by a landslide among in-person voters, but more than 2 million (out of 2.7 million total) mailed-in votes without the statutorily required signature verification were counted in favor of [[Biden]], and he was declared the winner in a disputed outcome.<ref>"The Pennsylvania Secretary of State reported that 2,704,147 mail ballots were cast in the 2020 presidential elections, which was about 39 percent of the total ballots cast statewide." An overwhelming percentage of the counted mailed-in ballots were cast, but someone if not the voter, for [[Biden]]. [https://electionlab.mit.edu/articles/how-many-naked-ballots-were-cast-pennsylvanias-2020-general-election MIT election lab citing the PA Secretary of State for the 2.7 million total number of mailed-in ballots]</ref> | + | '''Pennsylvania''', which means "[[William Penn|Penn]]'s woods" or "Penn's land," was one of the original thirteen colonies in the [[United States]]. Its capital is [[Harrisburg]] and it borders [[Ohio]], [[Maryland]], [[New York]], [[New Jersey]], [[Delaware]], and [[West Virginia]]. For two decades Pennsylvania repeatedly voted for the [[Democrat]] candidate for president, but in 2016 [[Republican]] [[Donald Trump]] carried the state by 44,000 votes with his message of "Make America Great Again" along with his criticism of [[free trade]] and illegal [[immigration]]. In 2020, Trump won by a landslide among in-person voters, but more than 2 million (out of 2.7 million total) mailed-in votes without the statutorily required signature verification were counted in favor of [[Biden]], and he was declared the winner in a disputed outcome.<ref>"The Pennsylvania Secretary of State reported that 2,704,147 mail ballots were cast in the 2020 presidential elections, which was about 39 percent of the total ballots cast statewide." [https://electionlab.mit.edu/articles/how-many-naked-ballots-were-cast-pennsylvanias-2020-general-election MIT election lab citing the PA Secretary of State for the 2.7 million total number of mailed-in ballots] An overwhelming percentage of the counted mailed-in ballots were cast, but someone if not the voter, for [[Biden]].</ref> |
| | In 2022, Pennsylvania is a [[battleground state]] for control of the [[U.S. Senate]], as [[Trump]]-endorsed [[Republican]] [[Mehmet Oz|Dr. Oz]] faces off against [[Leftist]] [[Dem]] John Fetterman for the seat held by retiring Republican [[Pat Toomey]]. | | In 2022, Pennsylvania is a [[battleground state]] for control of the [[U.S. Senate]], as [[Trump]]-endorsed [[Republican]] [[Mehmet Oz|Dr. Oz]] faces off against [[Leftist]] [[Dem]] John Fetterman for the seat held by retiring Republican [[Pat Toomey]]. |