Feb 28, 2020 3 min read

Jon Delano dismissed a report in the esteemed Wall Street Journal, stating that Marshall Township in northern Allegheny County will be be pivotal as to which presidential candidate will take Pennsylvania in November.

“Washington County is the bellwether for who is going to win the White House in 2020. This region is a key to the presidency,” he said to an audience in the middle of . . . Washington County.

The money and politics editor of KDKA-TV2 was the breakfast speaker Thursday morning at the Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh/Southpointe, an event organized by the Southpointe CEO Assoc. His energized hourlong address had virtually nothing to do with money, though. Delano, a political analyst with the station since 1994, focused on that realm, primarily on the race to be commander in chief.

“Pennsylvania is a must-win state this election year, as it was in 2016. And we know what happened in 2016.”

Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania AND the general election. Delano, however, pointed out that the president prevailed in the Keystone State by 44,300 votes, less than 1% of the 6.1 million Pennsylvanians who went to the polls.

Still, Trump did win the state, partly because – as Delano pointed out – he won every county west of State College, except Allegheny.

In eight months, the president will seek reelection against one of – currently – seven Democratic candidates.

This being a battleground state that could go either way, the analyst said. Trump will likely visit Pennsylvania “many times” in upcoming months. Delano said he reported recently that the president plans a trip to Beaver County in April.

He said there are three factors on which the presidential election could turn, the initial one being African-American voters. “That is a key constituency,” Delano said. “If Republicans can take some African-American votes away from Democrats, that can give Republicans a better chance.”

Suburban women, especially from what he termed “collar counties” near Philadelphia, is another grouping Delano designated as key. “How do they feel about Donald Trump?”

White, working-class voters is the third factor, and grouping. “That’s a huge and important constituency, which was pretty much the Democratic Party 50 years ago,” Delano said. “It’s a key Trump constituency.”

The guest speaker made it clear he is not a letter-day Nostradamus, refusing to predict who will emerge as the Democratic winner in the Keystone State, and who eventually will prevail in November.

“If you want to get a name out of me, you’re not going to get one,” he said coyly in closing.