unsaveSave
Democrat politician Eddie Day Pashinski and actress Christine Baranski, both Polish-Americans, knock on doors for Kamala Harris in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
1 / 6 Photo: Jonas Cullberg/TT
Can Eastern European voters help Kamala Harris win the Pennsylvania election?
That is the hope after NATO-sceptic outbursts from Donald Trump and the pair horse JD Vance’s statement that he “doesn’t care” about what happens to Ukraine.
Now the Harris campaign is sprinting in perhaps the most important state of the election – with the help of “Mamma Mia” star Christine Baranski.
At the Democratic campaign office in the city of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a group of volunteers of Polish and Ukrainian background are eating pizza and getting ready to knock on doors. Some of them wear embroidered Ukrainian shirts, and carry signs with the text “Ukrainian Americans for Harris and Waltz.”
In the televised debate against Donald Trump in September, Kamala Harris addressed the “800,000 Polish-Americans here in Pennsylvania” directly. She warned that Trump will sell out Ukraine to Vladimir Putin, and that Moscow’s next target will be Poland.
– It was like a light bulb went on above my head, says the actor Christine Baranski, one of America’s most famous Polish-Americans, who, among other things, appeared in the ABBA musical film “Mamma Mia” and TV series such as “The Gilded Age” . She has traveled here for the day from New York.
– I did not know that there are so many Polish-Americans in Pennsylvania. I decided to reach out to Kamala Harris’ campaign to try to help convince them.
Large group in key states
In a very even election, both Harris and Trump are betting on reaching out to voters with roots in Eastern Europe – a large group in the crucial swing states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
The gravel crunches under Christine Baranski’s Chanel shoes. Few are at home in the simple neighborhoods of Wilkes-Barre where she knocks on doors. Several houses are abandoned, with chipboards for the windows.
– This reminds a lot of the Polish neighborhoods in Buffalo where I grew up, says Christine Baranski.
Polish immigration took off in the 1800s, and many found work in Pennsylvania’s coal mines. Today, about 15 percent of Wilkes-Barre residents speak Polish.
– The message to Polish-American voters is that a lot is at stake in this election: Trump is comfortable with Putin, and that his way to get peace in Ukraine is to hand over the country to Russia, says Christine Baranski.
Half an hour’s drive north of Wilkes-Barre, in President Joe Biden’s hometown of Scranton, the war reminds one. A rumble can be heard from the city’s munitions factory, pumping out artillery shells for the Ukrainian army. Production has more than doubled since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, creating new jobs in Scranton.
Proud of Ukraine support
– I am proud that we play a role in supporting Ukraine, says Scranton resident Alex Groysman, who came to the United States from Kiev in the early 1990s.
At the end of September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi visited the factory.
– We stood outside with Ukrainian flags and tried to catch a glimpse of him, says Alex Groysman. He voted for Trump in 2016, but this year it will be Harris.
– Trump is too friendly to Putin, and will cut off aid to Ukraine if he wins.
But talking about a war 500 miles away is not a guaranteed winning recipe for Harris. Many Polish-American voters have conservative values, and do not necessarily vote based on their Polish identity.
– I’m Catholic and against abortion, and that doesn’t go together with voting for the Democrats, says Ron Ryczak, a retired engineer from Mayfield just north of Scranton.
– Trump has been careful to criticize Putin, but I don’t see anything wrong with him having some kind of relationship with him. “Keep your friends close but your enemies even closer”, they say. The Democrats believe that Putin controls Trump, but he is much smarter than many people think, says Ron Ryczak.
Even for his wife Catherine, who also has Polish roots, the abortion issue is a high priority in the election – but she is in favor of the right to free abortion and will vote for Harris.
“Never agree with each other”
– We never agree with each other on anything, says Christine Ryczak in the couple’s Halloween-decorated kitchen.
The Ukrainian-American Groysman family in Scranton is also divided over the election. Alex Groysman’s brother will vote for Trump.
– I have tried to discuss the issue with him, but it never ends well, says Alex Groysman.
– We stay away from each other until the election.
FACT Eastern European voters in the US election
Electoral swing states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin have large groups of residents with roots in Poland, Ukraine and other countries in Eastern Europe.
Nearly nine million Americans identify as Polish-Americans. About 780,000 of them live in Pennsylvania.
Kamala Harris began a push to reach out to voters with roots in Eastern Europe during the Democratic convention in Chicago in August, where several speakers focused on Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Kamala Harris and the organizations that support her try to reach out to these voters, among other things, by door-knocking.
America’s Future Majority Fund, a super-pac that supports Harris, has invested the equivalent of 12 million kroner in campaign films and digital ads aimed at Polish and Ukrainian voters in Pennsylvania.
Even Donald Trump targets Polish-American voters. He was due to appear alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda at a Catholic shrine in Philadelphia, but canceled for unknown reasons. Earlier in October, Trump participated in an interview with a Polish TV channel.
Read more