Keeping Pennsylvania’s scales tipped into the red ahead of the 2026 midterms was underscored again this week as Vice President J.D. Vance visited Allentown, stumping for his boss’s economic policies and bringing Republican hopefuls into the limelight with him.

While there, he told a crowd gathered at Uline Shipping Supplies in Alburtis that “his job every single day is to make it so that you guys can have a safe and prosperous life in this country that all of us love.”

“We inherited a mess, but I think that in 11 months, we have made great progress to making this a safer, a more secure and a more prosperous nation,” he said. “Let's work for the next three years to do even more great work for the American people, and let's rebuild this country together.”

While the city itself is a Democratic stronghold, the surrounding areas in the county – and the broader Lehigh Valley – contain more conservative suburbs and rural areas, making the overall region a crucial swing area for both major parties.

Vance acknowledged the still-high prices and affordability issues concerning many Americans, attributing them to the previous administration’s high deficits, energy costs, and inflation. He cautioned that fixing high prices would take time, but added that progress is being made.

It’s a familiar message President Donald Trump first gave when he visited Monroe County last week to energize the party’s base and put more Republicans into state and local offices.

Treasurer Stacy Garrity hopes to be one of them as she vies to unseat Gov. Josh Shapiro next year, alleging he’s more focused on his rumored presidential ambitions, casting him as an adversary who fights the administration in court instead of working with it.

But she faces an uphill battle. Shapiro is recognized as a formidable candidate with broad appeal who trounced his Republican challenger, Sen. Doug Mastriano, in the 2022 gubernatorial election by double digits.

According to a Quinnipiac University poll released in October, Shapiro’s 60% approval rating was a new record best since he took office in 2023. A hypothetical match-up with Garrity puts him ahead 55%-39%, while 7 out of 10 respondents said they don’t know enough about the treasurer to decide whether she’d get their vote.