‘Silver surge’: Report calls out ‘warning sign’ for GOP in major battleground state

A new report flagged what it called a “red flag” for the Trumpcampaign in a key battleground state that could decide the presidential election.Donald Trump is trailing Kamala Harris in early voting among seniors in Pennsylvania, Politico reported, calling the finding a “warning sign” for him that mirrors data and polling across swing states. The report comes after Republicans won the constituency in each election since 2004.The report said adults over 65 account for nearly half of early voters in Pennsylvania. Registered Democrats account for about 58 percent of those votes, and about 35 percent are Republicans. While Republicans have noted that gap is smaller than it was when Joe Biden won in 2020, Politico noted those votes are “in the bank” for Democrats. Republicans are betting that seniors will hit the polls on Election Day.Democratic strategist Tom Bonier told the outlet it represents a “silver surge.”“Our expectation going into the early vote was that it would, in general, skew substantially more Republican than in 2020,” Bonier said. “There is no more pandemic, Democrats were more Covid conscious … and Republicans have been pushing early voting.”Pennsylvania recorded about 2.5 million total early votes in 2020, a significant increase over previous elections, partly due to the pandemic. Of those, about 1.2 million were adults over 60.So far, the state has recorded about 1.6 million early votes, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab. About 56.5% were from Democrats and 32.6% were from Republicans.The report comes after Marc Short, who served as Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, warned Thursday that an increase in Republican voters during early voting may not be something Donald Trumpshould celebrate.”There’s more evidence of Republicans crossing over than Democrats crossing over,” Short told MSNBC. “You are looking at [higher] Republican numbers, but I’m not sure that tells a full story right now.”

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