Chris Potter

From the outset of her candidacy, Harris faced a daunting task: Making her the party’s nominee just three-and-half months before the election was like appointing a female CEO to be the “fresh face” of a company on the verge of bankruptcy.

The race between Democratic incumbent Chris Deluzio and Republican challenger Rob Mercuri could help decide who controls Congress.

It came down to the wire, as it was always going to. And it came down to Western Pennsylvania, as everyone knew it would. Which is why Donald Trump and Kamala Harris came here, too, on Monday night, on the eve of the 2024 election.

With Democrats holding a one-seat majority in the state House of Representative, any race could shape the direction of Harrisburg for the next two years.

Through an Election Day that many Americans viewed with trepidation, Allegheny County reported a near-total absence of problems at its more than 1,300 precincts. Elsewhere in the state, however, multiple bomb threats were called in for polling locations and municipal buildings, but none presented a credible risk to the public, Gov. Josh Shapiro said.

Top races for Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh include U.S. Senate (Bob Casey v. Dave McCormick), U.S. House (Chris Deluzio v. Rob Mercuri), attorney general, treasurer, auditor general, state Senate and state House of Representatives.

Beneath the shadows of the century-old blast furnaces — among the last remnants of Western Pennsylvania's once-mighty steel industry — supporters of Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris began streaming in at mid-afternoon to wait for her planned appearance later in the evening.

Suffering anxiety and profound uncertainty about the upcoming election on Tuesday? Let me offer you this bit of comfort: No one else knows what’s going to happen, either.

Images of the display spread across social media Thursday, the morning after the Westmoreland County community’s Halloween parade. Mayor Diane Bailey said she was ”shocked” by the display.