No matter what poll you look at, nearly all of them show the race for the White House in a statistical dead heat. Both sides have conducted get-out-the-vote drives and events. Both Trump and Harris have spent much time in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania. The Harris campaign has concentrated on black and Hispanic voters, union members, and women. But Donald Trump might have an often overlooked and mostly silent part of the electorate on his side. There may not be enough votes to swing an election, but if the polls are right and the race is razor-thin, it might not take many votes.
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The Amish and Mennonite communities in rural Pennsylvania are probably the definition of would-be conservative Republican voters. They are people who live simple lives focused on their devout faith and their families. Part of that faith includes humility, and therefore, they do not engage in much of modern society. Traditionally, they are also not a population that votes, but in 2024, that might change.
The Amish population in Pennsylvania numbers around 92,000, the largest in the nation. In 2004, George W. Bush campaigned in Amish country, and voting among that population was at about 13 percent. Since then, the number has dropped off significantly to about only seven to eight percent. But the Amish community and Amish voters now have some representation in Congress. Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) is the first Amish-born Congressman. His district includes Lancaster County, where the majority of the Amish population lives. He says he is seeing a change, and knows one of the prime reasons for it:
“You have a minority of the Amish who are now farming and agricultural. They ran out of land in Lancaster County a long time ago. So, there’s a new generation of Amish who are business owners.”
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Smucker said there have been 1,500 to 2,000 new registered voters in his district, and he thinks that many more will cast votes. Someone instrumental in getting the Amish community registered to vote is Scott Presler and his Early Vote Action conservative PAC. With a group of employees and volunteers, Presler and his team have used public records to find Amish homes and engaged in good old-fashioned door knocking, asking Amish residents if they are registered to vote or if they have any children about to turn 18. In addition to offering rides to the polls, Presler described his approach to potential Amish voters.
“I go in, and I challenge them respectfully, and say, why don’t you guys vote? It’s actually very ironic, because Republicans are kind of against mail-in voting. But the Amish they like a mail-in vote because it’s secret and it’s private, right? So they love the idea of a secret ballot coming to them that then they just mail, and nobody in their town has to know that they voted. The Amish elder doesn’t know how they have voted. Nobody has to know.”
Even though Donald Trump is someone whose lifestyle is the complete opposite of theirs, Amish voters are obviously pro-life and like Trump’s focus on religious freedom and small-government positions. Top of mind for many in the Amish community is the plight of farmer Amos Miller. After years of fighting with the state over his selling of raw dairy products, earlier this year, the state Department of Agriculture executed a search warrant of Miller’s property and prohibited him from selling the products.
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Will support of Donald Trump by the Amish community help him in Pennsylvania? Possibly. Early Vote Action regional representative Tricia Aulbach says she has personally registered almost 200 people. If all Early Vote Actions employees and volunteers approach that number, the Amish could make a significant impact in Pennsylvania and might just be Trump’s secret weapon.