A Pennsylvania County and the Political Tensions in America

Luzerne County is one in every of many counties in Pennsylvania — and throughout the nation — that shifted to the correct this yr.

We spent two weeks there earlier than and after the election to know what’s driving these modifications.

On the Sunday earlier than the election, the state chapter of Bikers for Trump organized a journey of 100 bikes in Luzerne County.

They deliberate to journey from simply exterior Wilkes-Barre to Scranton, President Biden’s hometown, in neighboring Lackawanna County.

This northeast nook of Pennsylvania was once referred to as coal nation.

At the moment the most important non-public employers are warehouses, together with amenities for Amazon, T.J. Maxx and the pet-supplies retailer Chewy.

The politics of the world have additionally shifted.

For twenty years its voters reliably leaned Democratic, however Donald Trump gained the county in 2016 and once more 4 years later, each occasions by strong margins.

Dwayne McDavitt, a retired jail guard and a Bikers for Trump chief, is likely one of the extra seen native backers of the previous president.

Earlier than the rally in Scranton, he defined that he doubted the results of the 2020 election as a result of he merely didn’t consider Trump may have misplaced pretty: “Inform me how Joe Biden may get 81 million votes.”

However Democrats hoped they may transfer the county again of their path and made an intensive effort to take action.

Within the weeks forward of the election, busloads of Democratic canvassers fanned out throughout Luzerne County.

Kevin Kraynak, a Luzerne County native, traveled from his house in California to attempt to get out the vote.

He hit his a hundredth mile of canvassing in Forty Fort, exterior Wilkes-Barre. “I’m going to stroll till my legs fall off,” he stated.

County officers have been vigilant main as much as Election Day. Luzerne County turned a hotbed of election denialism in 2020, and Pennsylvania is an open-carry state. Some folks feared voters would possibly carry weapons to the polls. Election staff have been instructed they may carry their very own weapons.

The evening earlier than the election, a bunch of marketing campaign volunteers organized by Jennifer Ziemba, the spouse of the Luzerne County Republican Occasion chairman, gathered at Ziemba’s house in Harveys Lake, a affluent group exterior Wilkes-Barre.

They have been calling Republican voters whose mail-in ballots had flaws like a lacking date to inform them they needed to solid provisional ballots in particular person.

“We’re not likely MAGA-looking,” one of many ladies stated. However they have been staunch Trump supporters.

“The ladies voting solely on abortion make me loopy,” Ziemba stated. “I’d gladly quit my abortion rights and my daughter’s for my son to not need to go to warfare. We’ll have peace with Trump.”

One other girl, Lee Ann McDermott, who owns an actual property appraisal enterprise together with her husband, John, thinks the economic system will enhance below Trump. “With the rates of interest excessive, nobody was refinancing.”

On Election Day, many of the state’s counties shifted additional to the correct, tilting Pennsylvania and its 19 Electoral School votes to Trump by about 130,000 voters.

Simply over 152,000 whole ballots have been solid in Luzerne County — about the identical as in 2020.

However Trump elevated his margin to twenty factors from 14. In just one different Pennsylvania county have been Trump’s features better.

For Democrats, it was a devastating end result.

“That is scary to me,” Constance Wynn stated. She had downloaded Venture 2025. “I want to know what he’s planning on doing.”

She was sitting within the entrance parlor of her Wilkes-Barre house, constructed by her great-great grandfather.

Wynn’s ancestors escaped slavery by fleeing to Pennsylvania earlier than the Civil Struggle.

The morning after the election, a few of the Bikers for Trump gathered to have fun at D’s Diner, within the Wilkes-Barre suburb of Plains Township.

A person they didn’t know, a retired monetary planner named Kim Tempo, approached their desk. He started by saying that his spouse didn’t suppose it was a good suggestion to speak to them. He had voted for Harris.

“Congratulations, guys,” he stated. “I hope all of it works out.” His tone advised that he was uncertain.

Dave Ragan, a U.S. Military veteran who had arrived on his bike, stood as much as reply. “We modified the world!” he stated. “I don’t have to fret about my stepdaughter having a boy within the locker room.”

“Let me inform you one thing,” Tempo stated. “That stuff is overblown.” He wished them nicely and left.

Away from the desk, he stated, “If Harris had gained, there was going to be bother.”

Within the days after the election, political tensions lingered locally.

On Thursday night, John McDermott, a retired lieutenant colonel within the Military Reserve, sat at house together with his spouse, Lee Ann, consuming a vodka and tonic after a spherical of golf. McDermott voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Trump in 2020.

This yr, he voted for Harris. “I couldn’t carry myself to vote for him,” he stated. “He’s a convicted felon. He believes in conspiracy theories.”

Lee Ann, a county council member, noticed issues in a different way: She was one of many ladies making calls at Jennifer Ziemba’s home on the eve of the election. Now she was on her approach to meet a few of them at a restaurant to toast Trump’s win.

The temper was festive when McDermott arrived. “We’re getting Trumpy!” one of many ladies exclaimed, as they raised their cosmopolitans and glasses of wine.

Among the many revelers was Shelley Meuser, the spouse of Consultant Dan Meuser, whose district contains part of Luzerne County.

“We acquired our nation again!” shouted Terry Eckert, who’s an actual property agent.

Thirty miles down the street from Wilkes-Barre is Luzerne County’s different metropolis, Hazleton. Its inhabitants of 30,000 is 63 % Latino, an estimated 90 % of whom are from the Dominican Republic.

Trump gained the town decisively, rising his share of its vote from 2020 by 7 factors — considerably greater than the 1.9 factors he gained statewide.

The group is usually low-income, churchgoing and conservative.

Adaíris Casado, who was at Ada’s Assortment, the native retailer she owns, stated that her faith — and a conviction that Trump shares her values — led her to vote for him. “I’m nervous about homosexual marriage,” she stated, “and transgender.”

Fredelina Paredes, a paraprofessional on the close by highschool, was at house the weekend after the election together with her three youngsters and husband, who works in a plastics manufacturing facility.

She has voted for Democrats prior to now, together with Hillary Clinton, earlier than voting for Trump twice. Considered one of her brothers, a first-time voter, additionally voted for Trump. Paredes stated the Democrats not symbolize her values, particularly on the problem of abortion.

She was upset in regards to the economic system, saying she simply spent $9.99 for a package deal of grapes. “For grapes. Are you able to think about that?”

Like others in Hazleton, she supported Trump’s immigration insurance policies, together with deportation plans. “I really feel dangerous for those I’ve recognized,” she stated, “associates who’ve been right here 15 or 20 years. However you have been right here all that point, why didn’t you attempt to get your papers?”

There are no less than six Catholic church buildings and plenty of Pentecostal congregations locally. Considered one of them is the Iglesia Cristiana Agua de Vida Hazleton, the place Elizabeth Torrez is the pastor.

Torrez voted for Trump and made each effort to influence her parishioners to do the identical. It wasn’t troublesome, she stated.

“He’s at all times speaking about God and the Bible,” she stated by means of an interpreter. “He solely has God in his mouth.”

She additionally supported Trump’s immigration insurance policies. There are church members who’re undocumented, she stated, however she was satisfied they’d be deported provided that they commit crimes.

A type of undocumented members of the congregation is Wadan Fernandez, who has kinfolk in Hazleton and stated he got here to the US about two years in the past to start out a brand new life. He has overstayed his vacationer visa and has been working in building and different jobs.

“I really like Mr. Trump,” Fernandez stated. “After all he may ship me again at any second, but when he did, I’d nonetheless love him.”

Philip Montgomery is a photographer whose work examines the fractured state of America. Michael Sokolove, a contributing author for the journal since 2002, has written extensively on Pennsylvania and its politics.

Movies by Tre Cassetta.