Biden campaign launches digital ad highlighting Scranton

The Biden-Harris campaign on Tuesday released a new digital ad highlighting the city of Scranton, President Joe Biden’s hometown, the same day he’s scheduled to make a major economic address there.

Simply titled “Scranton,” the 90-second spot features people in the Electric City who know Biden, local business owners, an image of his childhood home, and Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan, who says the area is better off than it was four years ago. “We were distressed, we’re out of financial distress as a city, people are working people are I think happier because they can find a job,” Gaughan says.

The ad is the second of the current election cycle that specifically highlights Biden’s Scranton roots. In October, the campaign launched “Never Left,” which mentioned Biden’s  connection to middle-class voters and touts some of the administration’s cost-saving initiatives. The ad was part of a larger $25 million media campaign that Biden-Harris rolled out in battleground areas like Pennsylvania.

Tuesday is Biden’s first campaign visit to northeastern Pennsylvania of the 2024 cycle, and is viewed as a must-win for him and for his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.

In 2016 Hillary Clinton won Lackawanna County by 3.5 points over Trump, after President Barack Obama won the county over Republican Mitt Romney by 27 points in 2012. Trump flipped neighboring Luzerne County red in 2016, winning it by just under 20 points, while Obama carried Luzerne County by about 5 points in 2012.

In 2020, Lackawanna stayed blue and Luzerne County stayed red, although Biden made improvements in both. He won Lackawanna County by nearly 8.5 points over Trump, while Trump won Luzerne County by about 14.5 points.