Kamala Har­ris bets on Philadel­phia despite slump­ing vot­er turnout

PHILADELPHIA — Vice Pres­i­dent Kamala Har­ris is mak­ing an unmis­tak­able bet on Philadel­phia in the face of a years­long decline in vot­er turnout that could cost her Penn­syl­va­nia and per­haps the elec­tion.
She chose the city to launch a bat­tle­ground tour with her new run­ning mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D‑MN), on Tues­day and has vis­it­ed the state six oth­er times this year, includ­ing a Philadel­phia town hall she attend­ed in July.
The Democ­rats’ abil­i­ty to win the city is not in doubt. With a 7‑to‑1 vot­er reg­is­tra­tion advan­tage, Har­ris can count on a deci­sive vic­to­ry here and in Pitts­burgh, anoth­er blue strong­hold, even as for­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump runs up the score in more rur­al parts of the state.
But Democ­rats are left guard­ing against two trends under­min­ing their chances in Novem­ber. In 2020, Philadel­phia brought out the high­est num­ber of vot­ers in two decades, fueled in part by the rise in mail bal­lot­ing. Yet turnout has fall­en sub­stan­tial­ly bel …