Route 22 battle royale: Murrysville area serves as ground zero for Biden, Trump supporters
The battle for the crucial suburban vote in the Nov. 3 presidential election is playing out along an unlikely 7-mile stretch of Route 22 through Murrysville and neighboring communities through competing campaign offices and billboards.
The affluent Westmoreland County community of about 20,000 grew up in the post-World War II era as families headed for the farmlands just east of the Allegheny County line. Voter registration there has skewed Republican for decades.
In 2016, Murrysville voters gave Donald Trump a 26-point edge on his way to winning the presidency.
Pollsters say Trump, who is trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in national polls, needs to shore up that kind of support among white suburban women — a demographic that polls suggest has been increasingly turning away.
The president acknowledged as much Tuesday at a rally in Johnstown.
“I ask you to do me favor, suburban women. Would you please like me? I saved your damn neighborhood,” Trump said.
Democrats and Republicans alike say Murrysville, which hosts an official Trump 2020 Victory Center campaign field office along Route 22, is likely to break for Trump again this year.
Michelle McFall wasn’t about to let that stop her.
The 52-year-old former English teacher, who has been active in Democratic campaigns in recent years, knew there were others in Murrysville who shared her convictions. Conversations with like-minded friends in her neighborhood and on Facebook grew into something more in late summer, when the group decided to pool their resources to make a stand for the Biden-Harris ticket.
Last month, the grassroots group, which is not part of the official Biden-Harris campaign, opened an office along Route 22 across the busy commuter corridor about 100 yards east of the Trump field office.
The Trump office, which boasts a wide range of Trump regalia and signs, is staffed fulltime by a campaign worker and multiple volunteers. Although the Biden-Harris headquarters is well marked, the office relies on a small corps of volunteers and is open only three days a week.
But business is brisk.
“It’s great to see the number of people who come here,” said Christa Ross, a real estate agent and office volunteer. “There’s a changing demographic here with more young families moving in. I think we’re making some real inroads.”
McFall said demand for campaign signs, which have been popping up in neighborhoods awash with Trump signs, has been brisk.
“Saturday, I drove to Beaver County to pick up 1,600 more yard signs,” she said.
At the Trump headquarters, Brenda Perez McKenna, a retired high school Spanish teacher, is marking her second campaign as a Trump volunteer. On a weekday morning, a nonstop stream of passersby stopped to gaze at the assortment of yard signs, flags, sweatshirts, caps, bumper stickers and assorted paraphernalia stacked on tables in the office.
McKenna, 73, a native of Ecuador who came to the area as an 18-year-old college student, became a U.S. citizen in her 30s. She said she supports Trump because she likes the concept of small government.
“Of course I respect the environment and I believe all children should have an education. Legal immigration is very important to me, but I definitely am not for socialism. I listened to AOC (U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a N.Y. Democrat) and her crowd and their speeches, and they scare me,” McKenna said. “My big fear is Biden is old and Kamala Harris is going to be the president. She is the most liberal senator.”
Like McKenna, Joan Kerns volunteers every week at Trump headquarters.
The 79-year-old was a member of Murrysville council for 18 years, including a six-year stint as president. Known for her work advocating for “sensible land development” in the community, she said she supports Trump because of his approach to government.
“He gets things done. I’m pleased with what he’s accomplished, but I’m not pleased with his rhetoric,” she said.
Back at Biden headquarters, Ross, 52, said she worries there are two Americas. The mother of two teenagers is concerned about the nation her children will inherit.
“Look, people in Murrysville are doing great and things here are fine, but go into parts of the city or more rural areas, and you see that housing and income opportunities are not what they are here,” she said. “We have such an economic divide going on in this country, and it’s just getting bigger and bigger. Housing and economics drove me to get involved.”
She’s one of about 10 volunteers putting in long hours to make a stand for Biden.
“We have no expectation we’re going to win in Murrysville. Our goal is just to cut the gap here. And we’re seeing people from all over stop in. We’ve seen people from Johnstown, Donegal, Duquesne stopping by to get materials,” she said.
Her group has staked out an even bigger presence.
Seven miles to the east on the Route 22 corridor, they again pooled their resources through the IE Commonsense PAC to purchase a full-size highway billboard.
The billboard, which faces eastbound traffic, is planted in the middle of a pickup truck lot and just beneath a tractor billboard. It proclaims: “You’re in Biden Country.”
It is a small presence with a big message.
About 100 yards away in the same lot, a digital billboard facing westbound traffic flashes ads for restaurants, a construction company and a nursing service amid admonitions to “read the Bible” and an attack message reading “Biden’s dimensia [sic] is worsening. He is not fit.”
The billboard is owned by Penneco. The privately held local corporation has an outdoor advertising company as well as an oil and gas exploration division.
Ben Wallace, chief operating officer for Penneco, laughed when asked about the dueling signs. He said Penneco has devoted 26 of its 100 highway billboards to the Trump campaign through Citizens for American Energy, a federal PAC.
“The issues in this election are quite clear,” Wallace said. “One candidate advocates for hydrocarbon-based fuels, the other wants to eliminate them. To believe America and our way of life can exist without oil and gas is folly. You can’t even build solar panels without hydrocarbons.”
Wallace, 50, a lifelong Westmoreland County resident who grew up in North Huntingdon, is proud of the role the region has taken on in this election.
“Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, represents the Trump electorate and the heart of the American electorate,” Wallace said.
As for Murrysville and the Route 22 corridor, McFall said her group wants to ensure like-minded voters they are not alone in this small corner of Trump Country.
Deb Erdley is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Deb at derdley@triblive.com.
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