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Harris gives short speech in Rankin; Trump gets support from Clemente Jr. | TribLIVE.com
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Harris gives short speech in Rankin; Trump gets support from Clemente Jr.

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AP
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris (right) addresses a rally crowd in Rankin; and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump (left) speaks at a rally at PPG Paints Arena. Both appeared in Pittsburgh on Monday.
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Kristina Serafini | TribLive
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on the eve of Election Day, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024.
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Louis B. Ruediger | TribLive
Vise President Kamala Harris speaks Monday night at a rally at the Carrie Furnace in Rankin.
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Kristina Serafini | TribLive
A supporter dons Trump merchanise during a rally at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh for President Donald Trump on the eve of Election Night, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024.
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Louis B. Ruediger | TribLive
Suporters cheer as Vise President Kamala Harris speaks Monday night at a rally at the Carrie Furnace in Rankin.
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Louis B. Ruediger | TribLive
A production crew for the Harris Campaign hoist a huge flag in preparation for Kamala Harris rally at the Carrie Blast Furnace in Pittsburgh.
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Massoud Hossaini | TribLive
Supporters of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump take their seats during a campaign rally at PPG Paints Arena on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Pittsburgh, PA.
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Louis B. Ruediger | TribLive
Vise President Kamala Harris speaks Monday night at a rally at the Carrie Furnace in Rankin.
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Louis B. Ruediger | TribLive
Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris line up Monday afternoon at the Carrie Furnaces in Rankin.
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Louis B. Ruediger | TribLive
Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris line up Monday afternoon at the Carrie Furnaces in Rankin.
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Kristina Serafini | TribLive
Supporters listen to instructions from a security guard as they line up outside PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
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Kristina Serafini | TribLive
Supporters line up outside PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh ahead of former President Donald Trump’s rally there Monday on the eve of Election Day.
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Louis B. Ruediger | TribLive
Harris Campaign volunteer, Daniel Unikel of Pittsburgh helps direct spectators as they enter a rally for Vise President Kamala Harris at the Carrie Blast Furnace in Pittsburgh.
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Kristina Serafini | TribLive
Supporters line up outside PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh ahead of former President Donald Trump’s rally there on the eve of Election Night, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024.
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Kristina Serafini | TribLive
Supporters hold signs during a rally for former President Donald Trump at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on the eve of Election Night, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024.
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Kristina Serafini | TribLive
Supporters salute during the national anthem during a rally for former President Donald Trump at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on the eve of Election Night, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024.
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Massoud Hossaini | TribLive

The next American president rallied Pittsburgh-area voters Monday as a contentious campaign comes to a close.

Both candidates — Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic heir to President Joe Biden, and former President Donald Trump, who has transformed the Republican Party with his bombastic, populist rhetoric — visited the region on the eve of Election Day.

Harris would be the first female president. Trump would be the second man elected to nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, during the Gilded Age.

Harris’ rally was at Carrie Blast Furnaces in Rankin and featured musical performances from pop star Katy Perry, DJ D-Nice and singer Andra Day.

Trump’s rally was at PPG Paints Arena in Uptown Pittsburgh and included Megyn Kelly, some of his family members and an endorsement from Roberto Clemente Jr., the son of the legendary Pirates outfielder.

The former president’s motorcade went through Downtown Pittsburgh toward the arena about 7 p.m., an hour later than expected. It marked Trump’s first public event in the city of Pittsburgh during this election cycle.

He took the stage shortly after 7:30 p.m. Some supporters were seen leaving the venue as Trump’s speech entered its second hour.

It was after about when the crowd left that Trump received the endorsement of Clemente Jr.

Harris began speaking shortly after 9 p.m. and was finished by 9:15, as Trump’s speech surpassed the 90-minute mark.

“Make no mistake, we will win. And we will win because when you know what to stand for, you know what to fight for,” Harris said.

It was time to move on from a politics of division, she said.

“And we are not going back because America is ready for a fresh start,” Harris said. “Ours is not a fight against something, it is a fight for something.”

Pop star Katy Perry performed after Harris left.

In a statement, the Harris campaign said second gentleman Doug Emhoff was to accompany the vice president at her Pittsburgh stop, as well as a later campaign event in Philadelphia, which will include performances by DJ Cassidy, Fat Joe, Freeway and Just Blaze, Lady Gaga, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Ricky Martin, The Roots, Jazmine Sullivan and Adam Blackstone and Oprah Winfrey.

Trump also headlined rallies in Reading, Raleigh, N.C., and closed out the night in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The Pittsburgh area has received more visits from presidential candidates than any other region in the country. With 19 electoral votes, Pennsylvania is the country’s largest swing state.

Related:

• The Home Stretch: Here's the election news for Nov. 4
• High anxiety: 2024 election takes heavy toll on stressed-out voters
• Democrats, once supreme in Pittsburgh region, now overtaken by GOP

Readers can also follow along as our reporters post on X (formerly Twitter).

5:30 p.m.: Supporters wait as candidates make way to Pittsburgh area

People were filing in to both Pittsburgh-area venues as the candidates traveled to the region.

Trump’s rally in Reading wrapped up about 4:15 p.m. and the program at PPG Paints arena started at 5:30 p.m.

Harris spoke for about an hour in Allentown before her expected stop in Rankin.

Her rally started shortly after 7 p.m. with remarks from Pittsburgh’s Democratic Mayor Ed Gainey.

4:15 p.m. UPDATE: Awaiting potential milestone

Kara Murtha, 40, of Delmont brought her 11-year-old daughter Madeline to see Harris.

“We’re really hoping that Kamala wins,” Murtha said. “I wanted her [Madeline] to see hopefully the first female president speak before she’s elected.”

Murtha said she wants to see Harris implement gun control measures and protect women’s rights.

“I feel like we’re all here in support of young girls, for their future, showing them they can be anything they want to be,” Murtha said.

She said she’s eager to cast her ballot for Harris tomorrow.

“I like going the day of and voting,” she said. “I like the experience.”

Madeline said she was excited to see musical guest Katy Perry — but she was even more excited to see Harris.

Erika Shaw, 40, of Pittsburgh’s Swisshelm Park neighborhood, shared a funnel cake with her daughter Everly, 6, before the rally started.

“We are embracing it,” Shaw said of the Harris campaign. “I think it’s really important to show her [Everly] the power of what a woman can do.”

Shaw said she’s been talking to her daughter about the election.

“She sees the commercials,” Shaw said. “She knows there’s a red team and a blue team. She can tell at this age which commercials stand for what team.”

Shaw said she plans to take her daughter with her to the polls tomorrow when she casts her ballot.

When asked why she supports Harris, Shaw said, “She stands for hope. She stands for joy. She stands for progress and moving forward.”

Janet Johnson, 59, of Ridgway in Elk County, said she drove to Pittsburgh Sunday for the rally. After some uncertainty about where the rally would happen — she was hoping for some place closer to her hotel near the David Lawrence Convention Center — she said she was excited to just be at the rally.

“Women’s reproductive rights is my top issue,” she said.

Johnson said she dropped off her mail-in ballot Oct. 29. Voting early, she said, frees her up to volunteer on Election Day and drive people to their polling places.

She’s driving the approximately two hours back to Ridgway first thing tomorrow morning so she can help other voters.

Myra Freeman, 81, of Homestead, said she always makes sure to cast her ballot.

“I voted as soon as I was old enough to vote and I’ve been voting ever since,” she said.

She already mailed in her ballot for Harris this year.

“I like the concept of mail-in voting,” she said. “You don’t have to stand in those lines. It’s kind of intimidating. You have people pouncing on you, handing you flyers and everything.”

Freeman said she wants to do everything she can to support Harris. She was wearing a shirt with a comma and the letters ‘la,” a reference to the pronunciation of Harris’s first name.

“I have been supporting Kamala ever since she decided she was going to run,” Freeman said. “I love everything she stands for.”

Heather McDonald, 50, of Pittsburgh’s Sheraden neighborhood, said the contrast between Harris and Trump is simple: “She’s sane, and he’s totally not.” She’s worried Trump could be “the end of the country as we know it.”

The message was different about 9 miles (a 29 minute drive west) at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh’s Uptown.

There, Donna Erb said she believes the country needs saving.

“We need to save our country from a lot of stuff — immigration to the economy to just some weird leftist values that are out there,” said Erb, 63, of West Mifflin.

She attended Trump’s rally Monday with daughter Claudia Park and son-in-law Ryan Park.

Ryan Park, 35, of the South Hills is optimistic his home city will lean toward Trump at the polls Tuesday.

“Most cities tend to lean heavily blue, but I think this year is totally different. It’s just good to be awake and aware and not ignorant of what’s going on in the process — just support what’s right.”

George Zadigian has attended four Trump rallies in Western Pa. in the last two months — but not to support the former president.

“We all know Pittsburgh is a hugely important swing state and I hope to influence at least a few voters and get them to realize that Trump is not the answer to what ails us,” said Zadigian, 68, of Alliance, Ohio.

“America already is great. We have opportunity and room to improve, but Trump will not do that. He will take us back and really hurt the middle class — hurt everything about America.”

Zadigian has been a Republican for 40 years and a conservative since he learned what the word meant, he said.

But Zadigian does not believe Trump’s policies align with true Republican values.

Holding a sign that read “Reject all MAGA candidates,” Zadigian has advocated against Trump since 2016.

“I’ve been trying to plant a seed with fellow Republicans, as well as anyone that might listen, that maybe Trump really isn’t a Republican,” he said.

“He’s not a real conservative, and he’s not pro-life, and he’s not in their best interest — in the economic best interest or the best interest of the country,” he said.

3:15 p.m. UPDATE: ‘When I’m 64’

Three Trump supporters from different Pittsburgh neighborhoods are the same age: 64.

Tom Sweeney lives in Shadyside, Theresa Mawritz lives in Liberty and Janine Valensic lives Uptown. All are 64 and they met in line as they waited to see Trump make his final campaign stop in western Pennsylvania and his first in Pittsburgh’s city limits.

Trump’s message can’t be argued against and he’s proud to show his support, Sweeney said.

“We’re part of the mob. People are fed up with the lies they tell us,” Sweeney said.

Mawritz said she’s 100% confident of a Trump victory. “This has all been a show we’re watching.”

Zachary Fehr of the Pittsburgh’s Southside and Brandon Flaherty, were in line since before 2 p.m. to see Trump.

They both said they’re optimistic the vote will go their way on Tuesday Fehr is seeing Trump for the first time. Flaherty saw him speak at the second rally in Butler in October.

“Look at this line, in Pittsburgh, at 2 p.m. on a Monday, in the city,” Flaherty said.

Fehr said he’s nervous about the race’s outcome and marveled that both major candidates will be in the Pittsburgh region.

“I am just happy it’s peaceful and I can see both sides point of view. It’s great we can disagree and be civil,” Fehr said.

People were still waiting to get inside as of 3 p.m.

Meanwhile, in Rankin, people were making their way through security and listening to Beyonce songs during the event to support Harris.

Hundreds of Trump supporters were waiting for doors to open at PPG Paints Arena.

Likewise, on the banks of the Monongahela in Rankin, Harris supporters lined up at the site of a former blast furnace.

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