The longtime Democratic mayor of a major city in one of Pennsylvania’s most swing counties said he believes the GOP and the Trump campaign are connecting better with voters in this close race than the vice president and her campaign are.
“I think the Democrats are being out-messaged by the Republicans,” Easton Mayor Salvatore “Sal” Panto, Jr., said during a Monday interview with Fox News Digital.
“In the one commercial where Kamala Harris is saying, ‘Well, that’s Bidenomics,’ I think that is hurting this because I think the Trump campaign has done a much better job of saying ‘things are really bad.’”
Easton is the county seat of Northampton County, about 70 miles north of Philadelphia. It flipped from voting for former President Donald Trump in 2016 to President Biden in 2020.
Easton Democratic Mayor Salvatore “Sal” Panto Jr. in his office. (Charlie Creitz/Fox News Digital)
Panto, a popular, moderate Democrat who has served six terms in office over two nonconsecutive periods since 1984, added that when his party identifies something Trump says that is untrue, they should drill down on it.
“I know in running my own campaigns it’s easier to embellish the negative rather than the positive. And that’s what I think [Trump] is doing very well. I mean, we know that he lies about things, and we prove that he lies, but then it drops. And I don’t think they should let it drop,” he said.
“I get more of that on the Stephen Colbert show at night than I do from the Kamala Harris campaign. I think she should be pointing out that his 2025 plan is much different than her plan. And she’s not afraid to talk about her plan. He hasn’t said ‘boo’ about his.”
Easton is one of the three cities – along with Allentown and Bethlehem – that make up the diverse and electorally crucial Lehigh Valley of the Keystone State.
Allentown is the largest – and the third such in Pennsylvania – while bi-county Bethlehem was long known for its steel mills and otherwise as a leafy college town that embraces its “Christmas City” identity every winter.
Easton, facing Phillipsburg, New Jersey, across the Delaware River, is a multifaceted city home to Lafayette College, the Crayola company, several historic sites and a few famous people, including former boxing champion Larry Holmes.
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The Centre Square at 3rd and Northampton Streets in Easton, Pennsylvania. (Reuters)
Panto said College Hill, where Lafayette is located, was once a Republican stronghold – though not a right-wing one per se – during his earlier terms in office.
“Today, Democrats and Republicans are 50-50,” he said, as Democrats in town lean conservative, and Republicans lean moderate in the vein of the area’s former Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa.
That voting bloc is crucial for both top-tier candidates this year, and both Harris and Trump have welcomed members of each other’s parties into their folds.
Harris recently welcomed the endorsement of former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and while in office, Trump celebrated party-switches by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J.
In that regard, Panto said political extremes hurt both parties, and that College Hill’s “liberal Republicans” and the city’s moderate Democrats tended to complement with each other in Easton’s case.
“I don’t believe in the fringes. I think the fringes are hurting both political parties … I believe the economy is going to be the biggest thing [this election],” he said.
“Inflation is down, interest rates are down and investments are up. But that’s not the message. I think Democrats are very poor at messaging. I think Donald Trump is much better at messaging, and it’s always easier to be divisive and talk about the negative. People like to hear the negative. They don’t like to hear the positive.”
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Easton, Pennsylvania, is seen from above the former Lehigh Valley Railroad viaduct on the city’s South Side. (Reuters)
With its swing status, the Lehigh Valley has become festooned with billboards, particularly for Harris and many by third-party PACs or supporters, including along Interstate 78 and US-22, which see thousands of commuters and travelers per day.
“I never ran a national campaign, so I know you pick out your points, and you’ve got to just experiment. But I see the billboards in the Lehigh Valley, and they say Kamala Harris voted for [increasing the] minimum wage. Minimum wage doesn’t matter,” he said.
“Nobody’s paid minimum wage because you can’t get employees. The unemployment rate is down to 2.1%. I mean, [what] they need to talk about in the Valley is lowering the price of goods … not increasing the minimum wage.”
He noted that with the formerly-industrial Lehigh Valley’s rebirth as a commercial center for warehousing and the like, there are labor jobs paying more than $23 per hour regardless of federal minimums.
The election will likely come down to GOTV or “get out the vote” efforts by the campaigns, Panto predicted.
He quipped that when he is up for re-election, his critics are often very energized to vote – and that that dynamic of voting “against” someone is not ideal in any respect.
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“That’s not a reason to vote. The reason to vote is a vote for the best person. And I think if you look at the experience and the vision, Kamala Harris should win,” he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.