just between 2020 and 2022). Similar to communities like Hershey in neighboring Dauphin County, which has held a Democratic voter-registration majority since 2008, Cumberland is a long-time GOP county that’s increasingly being targeted by Democrats. Cumberland’s West Shore also exemplifies what David La Torre, a Harrisburg-based communications strategist, described as the “hospital arms race across Pennsylvania.
La Torre has witnessed the political transformation firsthand as a resident of Camp Hill, a charming borough just across the Susquehanna from the state Capitol. “No borough was more staunchly Republican in the past 50 years than Camp Hill,” said La Torre, who in 2021 ran as a Republican in a local school board race. Today, though, Democrats hold a voter-registration majority in Camp Hill. “The entire Camp Hill borough council is comprised of Democrats.
Next year, when Pennsylvania will repeat its crucial role in the presidential election — in addition to hosting a pivotal U.S. Senate race — the health care suburbs of Harrisburg’s East and West Shore will factor into the final outcome. In a state where winning margins are perennially narrow, suburban communities like Hershey, which shifted from Trump to Biden in 2020, are essential for Republicans to improve their performance.