(Pennsylvania) Catholic voters here in Pennsylvania will make up a likely quarter of the electorate and could decide who wins the 2024 presidential election. According to AP VoteCast, in 2020, 27% of Pennsylvania voters identified as Catholic, and neighboring swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin also have ample Catholic populations. 

Pennsylvania Catholics, who are overwhelmingly white and non-Hispanic, supported Trump over Biden by a 55%-44% margin in 2020, whereas the national Catholic vote, with a much larger Hispanic share, was about evenly split. 

The only Catholic among the candidates for both the President and Vice President of the United States is Republican Vice-Presidential Nominee, Senator J.D. Vance, who has been strongly influenced by conservative Catholics. 

Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris have also urged her campaign to pay more heed to Pennsylvania’s Catholics. 

Abortion is one of the main issues during election time, and U.S. Catholic bishops, in their guide to Catholic voters, declared opposing abortion, “our pre-eminent priority because it directly attacks our most vulnerable and voiceless brothers and sisters.” 

Source for Photo: FILE – A parishioner prays at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Reading, Pa., on June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)