Latest / The Real News Podcast / Data centers, grocery bills, and the Epstein files: Inside the Pennsylvania swing district that could decide the House

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Data centers, grocery bills, and the Epstein files: Inside the Pennsylvania swing district that could decide the House · The Real News Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Pennsylvania's 7th District is a diverse community stretching across the
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Lehigh Valley. But just before the midterm election, there is
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: a common theme from residents that we spoke to.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: We are not liking what we see in our country.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Anger and the desire for change.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: We're not liking the effects of the things that are
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: taking place in Washington, and therefore people are out trying
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: to make a change.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: And how voters feel here could be critical to who
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: controls the House. It is one of more than a
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: dozen battleground districts, which is why we spent several days
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: speaking to the people who will determine the outcome. Many
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: said high prices, lack of affordable housing, and a disconnect
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: between Washington and the concerns of working people were motivating
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: their vote.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: But from what I see, a lot of people, including
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: people that were always Trumpers or used to be always Trumpers,
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: are actually changing their mind.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: They're really upset.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: They're When they go to the grocery store, my grocery
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: bills in the last year have tripled.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: But we also learned there are other, more specific issues
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: that could sway the election. Data centers have become a
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: national issue, but the impact is truly local. Last week,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the Bethlehem City Council met to approve more restrictive zoning
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: regulations for data centers. The law would create wider setbacks
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: from residential neighborhoods and limit noise levels. For some, data
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: centers were the deciding factor on how they would vote.
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: I actually see this as it being forced on us,
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: it being forced on us quickly, it being, you know,
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: forced on us without the proper studies and concern about
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: the environment that honestly, I think it's across the board.
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: People don't want them. And this is an issue that
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: I think Republicans, independents, and I think this is our
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: stamp act.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: A unifying issue in an otherwise fractured electorate.
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: Doors and on the phones across our turfs in Pennsylvania
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: right now, affordability, housing, and data centers are the top issues.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: I think there's a lot of reasons to hate data centers, right?
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: But the fact that like 40% of Pennsylvanians can't afford
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: their bills right now, knowing that these things are going
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: to raise their utility bills is a huge reason that... Yeah,
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: it's on people's minds and they're thinking about it going
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: into this election.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: The race between Democrat Bob Brooks and Republican Ryan McKenzie
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: is tight. The Cooks political report gives Brooks a five
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: point lead, but 16 percent of voters remain undecided. Neither
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: attended the hearing. Brooks did make an appearance when the
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile visited Bethlehem.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: It's a moving repository of Epstein investigatory files and emails
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: that has traveled across the country. We asked Brooks if
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: he thought that the Epstein scandal would impact voters.
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: I think they're a huge factor. People of all walks
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: want to see these things released. I think it's a
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: huge issue. I know within my union, I've watched my
• 2:53
  Speaker 5: union members feel like they've been lied to. And this
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: is one of the big topics that they voted that
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: way in the beginning, and now they're feeling lied to.
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: So I think you're going to see it be a
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: really big factor.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: At another stop, residents agreed.
• 3:06
  Speaker 6: I wanted this. I wanted to see the 3.5 million books.
• 3:11
  Speaker 6: I wanted to see what it was all about. And
• 3:16
  Speaker 6: that I can't believe our leaders in our country are
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: saying this is a hoax.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: However, looming over the district were other, more foreboding concerns,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: that democracy itself was on the ballot and that their
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: vote would not be counted.
• 3:38
  Speaker 7: I am going to vote by mail, but I'm going
• 3:41
  Speaker 7: to put my ballot in a drop box as opposed
• 3:45
  Speaker 7: to the mail because I don't trust that process, which
• 3:50
  Speaker 7: is ridiculous. The United States Postal Service... that we feel
• 3:54
  Speaker 7: like we can't even trust that anymore.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: I think that there's a strong possibility that they would
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: block as many votes as possible.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: We will continue to be on the ground in this
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: critical district as the midterms unfold. This is Taya Graham
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: and Stephen Janis reporting for you.