As the presidential hopefuls have focused on fracking when discussing the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, State House Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler (D) on Monday said that she thinks that voters in the Keystone State care about a number of issues including unions, health care and the economy.
“The reality on the ground in the state here is people are very concerned about, I would say, three things — Health care, housing and jobs,” the state lawmaker said in an appearance on Hill.TV’s ‘Rising’ program.
“That is true regardless of whether you’re in western Pa., here in Philadelphia or in the northeast.”
Her comments come as fracking has become a front and center issue in the Keystone State as President Trump has accused Democrats and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden of wanting to ban the industry that has a large presence in Pennsylvania.
“Obviously fracking is something that came up in the last debate and that the president has tried to, you know, really go quite far on,” Fiedler said.
“But the poll numbers make it clear that it is not true that a majority of Pennsylvanians want to continue business as usual. And that’s true when it comes to fracking as well people want to have clean water, they want to have clean air.”
Fiedler went on to touch on the importance of unions to Pennsylvania voters, saying they allow for “job security, fair wages [and] safe working conditions.”
Biden and Trump have both campaigned heavily in Biden’s home state with Trump holding three campaign events in the state on Monday. Former President Obama made his first in-person appearance on the campaign trail last week in Philadelphia.
Biden is currently ahead in most polls in the state, but Trump has targeted his stance on fossil fuels to try and cut into the lead.
After last week’s final presidential debate, Biden said, “Eventually we’re going to have to go to oil, but we’re not getting rid of fossil fuels. We’re getting rid of the subsidies for fossil fuels, but we’re not getting rid of fossil fuels for a long time.”
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