Pennsylvania was a critical battleground state in the 2020 presidential election. Trump won PA by only 44,000 votes in 2016, and there had been a lot
of media attention about whether this would happen a second time because of Pennsylvanians who work in the natural gas and petrochemical sector.
Joe Biden's early conflicting messaging about fracking led many, including the president, to run with the false narrative that a Biden administration
would decimate the fracking industry and PA's economy. Despite clear messaging, Biden had seemingly struggled to get past the president's constant
messaging that Biden would ban the practice outright. The state's numbers suggest the sector only employs around 26,000 people—far fewer than the
figures the president claimed, such as 900,000. Some polls also suggested that a majority of residents opposed fracking. The narratives surrounding PA
in the election had centered on a debate about whether the next president would remove or create new fracking jobs, overlooking many of the needs
and concerns that PA voters viewed as more essential factors in their voting decisions.
These images were taken in Western PA—Washington County, Erie, and the greater Pittsburgh area—two weeks before the 2020 election.
Certainly, fracking provided benefits to some, particularly landowners who can lease land for development. However, for many, it is an industry in their
backyard that can cause serious health, socio-economic, and environmental problems. For those residents, the conversation was not about jobs but a
need to regulate the natural gas and petrochemical sector and the long-term damage that the development of that infrastructure and extraction has had
on health, quality of life, and the region's environment. Despite this relationship with fracking, however, those photographed here were not making their
choice for president based on the future of fracking. Many common 2020 voting issues were represented and being rallied for in Western PA, such as
debates centered around religious beliefs and abortion, immigration, COVID-19, strong unions and long-term union jobs, Civil Rights and the Black Lives
Matter Movement, and fears about potential economic harm in uncertain times ahead.
* Produced with support from the Magnum Foundation
© 2021, Jared Stapp