Yesterday evening, on US election eve, both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris descended on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – a pivotal city in a pivotal state. I went to the sites of both rallies to talk to voters and rally-goers about why this election – and their candidate – matters most to them. I started my afternoon walking through the lines at PPG Paints Arena in downtown Pittsburgh, where the Trump rally was about to take place. Even though I arrived exactly at the doors opening at 2:00 PM, three hours ahead of the start of Trump’s event, I was greeted with what initially appeared to be a sea of red. The sea, however, was deceiving – the line went down two blocks, but only a few hundred attendees were there. Granted, it was still early in the afternoon.

There were people of all ages in the Trump line, including families with babies and older citizens, as well as teens, waiting excitedly to get into the arena. Short chants of “USA, USA” broke out every so often – I counted four bouts in the hour I was there. What I did not see much of, however, were people of color and queer-presenting individuals. Additionally, the male-to-female attendee ratio skewed heavily male.

While introducing myself as a correspondent for JURIST, a nonpartisan legal news site, many people were interested in speaking with me. Just as many, however, retorted that “they do not speak to the media,” and that “the media is the enemy.” Some googled JURIST while asking if I was on the “right side,” despite my insistence that JURIST is independent and nonpartisan. Most asked to stay anonymous (though for the sake of this reporting, I will not name any individuals I spoke with).

While one might have expected people passionate enough to go to a Trump rally to talk about LGBTQ+ issues, abortion, and immigration (which some did to a certain extent), when I asked individuals what their priority in this election was, the majority of responses targeted the economy, which they perceived to be failing under the Democrats. In politics perception is everything. Especially in Pittsburgh, what was once known as the “Paris of Appalachia,” people recall booming factory work – be it in steel, coal, and other manufacturing. Here, where generations of American laborers and blue-collar workers once thrived, people are now deeply concerned with making enough to survive, much less thrive. One man, a Pittsburgh native, told me that he was the fourth generation factory worker in his family, and that he was out of a job. He told me that he was voting for Trump because he believed he’d bring back manufacturing jobs.

A woman in a MAGA hat nearby overheard our conversation and chimed in with a different take on the economy – “We have the opportunity here to make the ‘American dream’ come true. It is being taken away from us, especially in the last four years with record inflation, record illegal immigration, and record conflicts around the world. Everyone is supposed to win in the ‘American dream,’ but the only ones winning now are the illegal aliens that are being shipped in by the Democratic party – they’re getting free housing in five-star hotels, money for food stamps, money for anything.” Another person I spoke to later responded similarly – that to fix the economy, the “border needs closed” and the “energy sector opened up, bringing coal back to the region.”

After about an hour speaking to Trump supporters, I made my way south-east, just outside of the city to Carrie Blast Furnaces, where Kamala Harris was scheduled to speak. A remnant of the once-massive Pittsburgh steel industry, the factory now functions as a national historic landmark, a monument to Pittsburgh’s 20th-century Pittsburgh domination of US Steel. Projected on one of the remaining furnaces was the slogan “Steel Workers for Kamala.” This rally-in-the-making felt massively different in energy to the Trump rally. Seemingly more organized, it felt more like a festival – a massive stage sat in front of the remnants of the factory, food trucks dotted the edges of the field, and upbeat pop music could be heard being blasted through speakers throughout the venue. Despite having been unable to get a press pass for the Trump rally (despite my efforts, I was unable to find any volunteers or staff to assist me in finding a press check-in), the Harris-Walz team on-site spotted my JURIST credentials and put me on a golf-cart that took me directly to the front of the approximately mile-long entrance to the venue. After some mysterious radio calls to the powers-that-be and a fifteen-minute wait, I was handed an official event press pass and brought to directly to the press area. I wandered through and then promptly left – I wasn’t interested in other members of the press.

While walking around the rally searching for people to interview, I encountered many people with very different demeanors from those attending the Trump rally. I noticed far more ethnic diversity, far more children, and far more queer-presenting people. Many people I approached were excited to share – none requested anonymity, even when offered. While the first person I spoke to briefly (and vaguely) mentioned price gouging, she quickly moved on to explain that what mattered most to her were women and LGBTQ rights. She told me that protecting her wife and step-daughter were her top priorities. When I asked her what she might say to voters out in the rest of America, she responded with “Vote like there are women in your life that you actually care about.” The sentiment was cheered by five or six rally attendees nearby who were listening in. Her 11-year-old step-daughter immediately asked if I could interview her. She told me that it was important for children to be paying attention to politics, because as she put it “we are the future.”

A man from West Virginia stopped me and asked for an interview. When asked what his top priorities were, he explained that he was a gay man – his mother was a school-teacher and his father a steel-worker. He too lamented the status of gay and women’s rights under Republican leadership. A high-school student wearing a “Students for Kamala” shirt nearby stood watching. I asked him how he felt about the upcoming election. He spoke about immigration and the hateful rhetoric of the right – he also mentioned Project 2025, a federal policy agenda and blueprint for a radical restructuring of the executive branch authored and published by former Trump administration officials in partnership with The Heritage Foundation, a longstanding conservative think tank that opposes abortion and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, and racial equity. 

Still, it struck me that attendees at both rallies echoed each other. They wanted US citizens to be united, looking to better the world for their children, and thriving in today’s world. They just couldn’t agree on who could do that for America – and only one candidate will get the opportunity to try,