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Voter reactions to Joe Biden’s decision run the gamut in central Pennsylvania

FILE - President Joe Biden, right, walks with Vice President Kamala Harris after speaking on updated guidance on face mask mandates and COVID-19 response, in the Rose Garden of the White House, May 13, 2021, in Washington. President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, July 21, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

FILE - President Joe Biden, right, walks with Vice President Kamala Harris after speaking on updated guidance on face mask mandates and COVID-19 response, in the Rose Garden of the White House, May 13, 2021, in Washington. President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, July 21, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The shakeup in the Democratic presidential race is charging up voters in central Pennsylvania.

And it’s leaving others feeling flat. 

It will drive some to the polls. 

And it might be the final straw that keeps others home on Election Day.  

WITF reporters spoke with voters in and around Harrisburg the day after President Joe Biden quit his campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party’s nominee. 

That endorsement doesn’t make her the nominee. That will be decided by delegates to the Democratic National Convention. 

Here’s a sampling of what voters are saying:

Jonathan Roial felt disillusioned by the news. 

“I don’t really care,” he said. “They are going to put who they want to put in there.” 

Roial said he is a registered Independent and was once a Democrat. He thinks it will be difficult for Harris to win the White House.

“They don’t want a woman in there,” the Harrisburg man said. “Because men want to control everything and they’re not really ready for that. This country isn’t ready for a woman to go in there.” 

Roial also said he’s less likely to vote this fall, even though he voted for Biden in the primary. 

“I really don’t like Trump,” he said. “I’m not going to waste my time putting in a ballot and somebody else going in there.” 

Kristen Buckwalter is charged up about the prospect of Harris as the Democratic nominee. 

“I think it is exciting to see someone who is competent and also has a clean slate who is running,” the Harrisburg Democrat said. “And it’s exciting to have an option who is a woman.” 

Come this fall, Buckwalter is more excited to cast a ballot. 

“It’s somebody who I find more relatable,” Buckwalter said. “I was planning to vote for Biden but I was not excited about it.” 

“I’m excited to see a fresh face,” Buckwalter added. 

Nora Elliot was concerned before Biden ended his campaign, and that news has not helped. 

“There’s not a lot of time to get another nominee and I don’t know how well Kamala is going to do with the rest of the party,” Eilliot said. “In truth, I’ve become disillusioned with the whole election and politics in general.” 

Elliot is not sure Harris can beat Trump. 

“Biden, I thought, had more of a mass appeal because he’s a white man,” Elliot said.

The Democrat from Mechanicsburg noted some people were questioning Biden’s mental acuity. 

“Kamala is going to be better at speaking but she’s a Black woman,” Elliot said. “So, I think some people are going to be less likely to vote for her because of that.” 

Angela Taylor is ready for someone younger to be in the White House. 

“I’m Gen X,” she said. “I’m tired of it being run by people who are senior citizens. People who would not be able to hold down a job if they were in the workforce due to their age.” 

The Harrisburg Democrat was concerned that Biden’s departure meant voters would not pick the nominee. 

“The Democratic National Committee is going to elect someone and they have no idea of who the national Democrats would want to represent them,” she said. “It is up to the politicians to make a choice, of which they have no information. Kamala Harris is attached to Biden. It seems an obvious choice, but it is not a given.” 

Taylor said she doesn’t always vote with her party, and doesn’t yet know who she will vote for in November.

“I like to vote for the best candidate and I truly feel that the Democrats are not going to be properly represented at this time,” she said. 

Taylor also had a worried eye on the days after the election. 

“I’m concerned about how the general public is going to react to the results no matter how they come out,” she said. 

Nancy McKinney, a Republican from New Cumberland, was grateful Biden ended his campaign. 

“I really do appreciate all that he’s done for us,” she said, “but it’s pretty clear that his health is failing and he just needs to step aside and let a younger person, the next generation basically, help our country,” she said. 

McKinney always planned to vote in November but she’s more excited to vote now because of her choices. 

“I am a Republican, but I don’t always vote Republican,” she said. “And this time I wasn’t going to, and I also didn’t really want to vote for President Biden, because I could tell that he was failing health wise and I was sad about that as an option.”

McKinney said she is pretty sure she knows who she is going to vote for but needs to see who the nominees are first. 

Sarah Jones, a Democrat from Mechanicsburg, found the Harris pick empowering.

“This is the land of opportunity,” she said. “It is. There’s a lot of challenges. But it is a land of opportunity and you see that and it’s empowering for people of color.”

Rich Bittinger said he is drawn to the party’s national platform. 

“I would have voted for Biden. I think he did the right thing stepping down,” the Hershey Democrat said. “I will vote for Harris, if that’s going to be the nominee. It’d be tough for me not to vote for a Democratic candidate.” 

Linda Diener, a self-described “true Republican,” works at a flower shop in Hummelstown and lives in Hershey. She said she wants younger people in office, but she is unlikely to vote for either party this November. 

Jeff Engle is a Republican who lives just outside Hummelstown. He said Biden’s decision won’t affect his vote regardless of who the Dems put on the ballot. 

“For me, it’s all about the issues,” Engle said. “The border, the economy, energy. Those are the most important things. It doesn’t matter who’s in charge.”  

Jeff Barnhart, Republican from Hummelstown, said he will now look a little closer at what the Democrats have to offer. 

Barbara Jarmoska lives in Lycoming County, beside the Loyalsock State Forest, and has been active in environmental causes. 

She said she was a registered Independent for many years and still considers herself to be an independent voter, but she registered with the Democratic Party to vote in the primary elections.

“My first reaction was a giant sigh of relief,” Jarmoska said of Biden ending his re-election bid. “I really like Joe Biden. I think he’s been a transformational president in so many ways. But his candidacy terrified me because there is just too much at stake in this election.”

Those stakes include a “shift to autocracy” in the Republican Party and climate change, she said.

Jarmoska has lived on the same land her entire life – 75 years. She said she’s seen the area change as gas drilling boomed. She’s said climate-charged storms, floods, and wildfires are scary. 

“The youngest of my grandchildren is 7. And I think about what these kids are going to face long after I’m gone,” Jarmoska said.

Jason Asbell of Lancaster is a registered Democrat. He said he’s feeling sad and excited at the same time. 

“I’ve really admired Joe Biden for such a long time,” Asbell said. “I think that he’s almost Jimmy Carter-like in just being a good person that was in the presidency, just a great public servant.”

Asbell said he thinks Biden stepping down was the right decision for the country. He’s not thrilled with Kamala Kamala Harris as a nominee. He thinks, at this stage, she has the best chance of beating Donald Trump, though he thinks she also has some weaknesses. 

“Donald Trump has had success against a Hillary Clinton-type of opponent in the past. And because I view some similarities between their personalities, I do wonder if in a month or so he’s going to figure out how to attack Kamala Harris in a way that was successful back in 2016,” Asbell said.

Normally, Asbell said the environment is his No.1 issue when voting. This election, it’s the integrity of the United States government.

“Because if we lose the integrity of the United States political system, then we’re not going to have a chance at the environment stuff,” he said.

Elizabeth Hoffman, a registered Democrat who lives in Lancaster, said the election is a contest of democracy versus autocracy.

“I would have voted for Biden because he had accomplished so much. He would have protected democracy,” Hoffman said. “That said, I really admire him for stepping aside. And I think he understood that this election was not about him, personally.” 

Hoffman said she is very excited that Kamala Harris may be the Democratic nominee for president. 

“I’m in my early 70s. I was beginning to think I would not see a woman elected president in my lifetime,” she said. “I was 20 when abortion was legalized, and am so angry that women lost that right, because of Trump, to make that decision. And so I’m hoping that we can reverse Dobbs through legislation, and Harris can articulate all of this that we are fighting for.”

WITF reporters Jeremy Long, Rachel McDevitt, Jordan Wilkie, and Ben Wasserstein and Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondent Trebor Maitin contributed to this report.  

 

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