All eyes on Pittsburgh as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump make final pitches to voters on eve of election

As Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump make their final pitches to voters at the end of a contentious and tumultuous campaign that is effectively deadlocked, according to the polls, both have chosen Pittsburgh as crucial to their final Monday push.

Though hosting both candidates on the same afternoon is new, Pittsburgh is no stranger to the last-minute presidential pitch.

As she addressed the crowd from behind a piano at then-Heinz Field on the eve of Election Day 2020, pop icon Lady Gaga said she knew the people of Pennsylvania.

"I used to live here, Joe's from here — you've got a lot of heart," she said, referring to then-Democratic presidential nominee and Scranton native Joe Biden before breaking out her hit song "Shallow" from "A Star is Born." "This is not a shallow people."

Biden then took the stage behind a podium with a message that read, "Battle for the Soul of the Nation." Voters, particularly those who helped flip key battleground states including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, later sent Biden to the White House.

Though one side's slogans and both sides' lineups have changed, that battle is still raging, and the front lines remain squarely in Pittsburgh — where steelworkers and suburban women and working-class voters in neighboring rural communities may very well decide who sits in the Oval Office next year.

"What better place than Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to wind up a successful campaign?" said Charlie Gerow, a Harrisburg-based Republican strategist. "Pennsylvania has been the epicenter of the political world this year, and Allegheny County and the surrounding counties will be key to winning the state and the election."

As he continually mocks Biden-Harris administration policies, Trump hopes to draw voters in the region concerned about high food, energy and home prices, crime and immigration. And Harris seeks to appeal to not only Democrats and independents concerned about Trump's corporate tax cuts but also the region's moderate Republicans, who may be wary of losing reproductive rights and may be fed up with Trump's divisive rhetoric.

Harris, who rose to become the nominee after Biden bowed out of the race, will hold a rally in the city from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday, but the exact location had not been announced as of Saturday evening. She had planned to hold it at 3 p.m. Monday at Point State Park, but the location was switched, a person familiar with the decision said late Saturday.

She plans to spend most of the day in the Keystone State — where 19 Electoral College votes are up for grabs — starting in Allentown before traveling to the Steel City and capping off the night with a rally alongside her vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in Philadelphia, where she chose to introduce Walz to voters nationwide in August.

Trump has a rally planned for 6 p.m. Monday at PPG Paints Arena as part of his final-day tour of Pennsylvania, according to his campaign. He's also scheduled a rally that afternoon in Reading, with the campaign emphasizing Friday that inflation under Biden-Harris had slashed more than $1,000 "a month from the average Pennsylvania family's budget." Trump will also hold a rally in Lancaster County on Sunday.

Allegheny County and city officials said Friday that with both campaigns visiting Downtown Monday, nonessential county and city workers can head home at noon. The County Office Building will remain open until 4:30 p.m. for ballot return, and other ballot return sites will be open until 7 p.m. Monday.

County Executive Sara Innamorato and Mayor Ed Gainey said in a joint release Friday that, "With expected road closures and traffic for both rallies on Monday, we want County and City employees to be able to get home safely and with minimal disruption. We encourage everyone who visits downtown for a rally on Monday to respectfully and peacefully make their voice heard and we are looking forward to a smooth Election Day on Tuesday."

Security and law enforcement officials have been on high alert in Pennsylvania and across the country after an attempt on Trump's life during a rally in July in Butler. The assassination attempt and a foiled attempt outside a Trump golf course in Florida remain under investigation by Congress and federal agencies.

"Having both presidential candidates in the city the day before the election requires considerable organization and manpower," said Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz.

"The Bureau works in close coordination with the Secret Service, as well as its local and state partners, to keep the candidates safe, with as little disruption to the city as possible, while also ensuring the public's safety. Our Intel detectives have extensive experience with dignitary protection and there is a detailed operations plan in place."

The Pennsylvania State Police communications director, Lt. Adam Reed, said that while he could not provide specifics, "We've been quite busy with the visits for much of the last couple months across the Commonwealth. No matter where the candidates plan to visit, or in what proximity, we do our part to provide the requested resources. We appreciate the teamwork and collaboration between all of the federal, state and local agencies we've been working with."

On top of the presidential candidates and their running mates, Pittsburgh has also drawn billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Cuban in support of Trump and Harris, respectively.

And voters in the area have been inundated with a near-constant barrage of ads from both sides.

The Democratic National Committee last week launched a six-figure ad campaign in a handful of newspapers across Pennsylvania and other battlegrounds. The ads argue that Trump is "unhinged, unstable" and "unfit to lead," according to the DNC.

At the start of last month, a staggering $954 million had flooded into TV, radio and digital ads across the Commonwealth — more money than any other state in an election cycle in U.S. history, according to AdImpact, a political ad-tracking firm.

The spotlight has been on the Commonwealth for years now — even before it became arguably the most critical battleground.

Former President Barack Obama visited Pittsburgh shortly before the Democratic primary in 2008, and he returned in the summer of 2012 during a bus tour. At a time when Pennsylvania was more solidly blue, Republican Mitt Romney's campaign made a last-ditch effort to win over Pennsylvania voters with a series of ads and visits in the final weekend of the 2012 race. Democrats mocked the move as an act of desperation.

In 2016, both Hillary Clinton and Trump visited the Keystone State more than a dozen times. And just as Biden emphasized Pennsylvania in 2020, Trump visited Butler, Reading and Pittston in the final days of the race four years ago.

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(Post-Gazette staff writer Megan Guza contributed to this report.)

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