JOHN YANG: This fall, Pennsylvania is living up to its nickname as the Keystone State.

Both the Harris and Trump presidential campaign see its 19 electoral votes as key to getting to the 270 needed to win.

In addition, Pennsylvania contests could determine control of Capitol Hill, so it's where we begin our check ins on battleground states in the final three weekends of the race.

Julia Terruso is national political reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Julia, let's start by just telling me what's the state of the race now.

In Pennsylvania, how do things feel with a little about two and a half weeks to go?

JULIA TERRUSO, National Political Reporter, The Philadelphia Inquirer: he state of the race is neck and neck in Pennsylvania.

You see that in polling with a tied race here anywhere between one and four points separating Trump and Harris, and then you also just feel it in terms of the amount of time both candidates are spending in this state.

Both of them and their running mates were here in the past week, along with surrogates, just kind of blanketing the Commonwealth.

JOHN YANG: In those visits.

Are they focusing on different parts of the state and sort of, how does that fit in with the political geography of Pennsylvania?

JULIA TERRUSO: Sure.

So I think former President Trump's strategy had been to focus really on a lot of those Rust Belt white working class parts of the state that really helped carry him to victory in 2016.

Vice President Harris has had been focusing the suburbs Philadelphia, but then also traveling to a lot of the areas where President Biden was able to do a little bit better than Hillary Clinton in 2020 and win.

You know those collar counties represent about 30 percent of the voting population in the state, and so I think you're seeing both Harris double down there, and former President Trump trying to, you know, lose by less in some of those democratic suburban areas where there are just a lot of voters.

JOHN YANG: We've got a little bit of sound from two Pennsylvania voters I'd like to play for you.

MARK LOPATIN, Harris Supporter: The MAGA movement has veered away from Republicans and become a totally extreme group.

I've maintained my Republican stature, but I can't support a movement that just doesn't stand for human decency.

MARY, Trump Supporter: I was happy when he was president, because we could live better.

Taxes were lower, food was lower, gas was lower.

I could afford to live better.

You made me happy.

JOHN YANG: Julia, as you talk to voters around the state, what are they telling you is on their minds as they try to decide their vote?

JULIA TERRUSO: I think those two voters you just illustrated are very representative of what I hear.

You know, the number one issue in Pennsylvania is the economy.

But when you talk to voters about what's motivating their vote, supporters of former President Trump say the economy.

They say immigration and the border.

Supporters of Vice President Harris say really the threat of another Donald Trump presidency to them their fears about what would happen to abortion rights and kind of other democratic freedoms, is a lot of what I hear from you know, folks supporting Harris.

JOHN YANG: And of course, this is an important Senate race in Pennsylvania, Democratic Senator Bob Casey running for reelection against hedge fund businessman named David McCormick.

Tell us about that race.

JULIA TERRUSO: Senator Casey is a well-known senator in the state, and up until about August, he was leading in this race by about eight percentage points.

It was looking pretty good for him, but Dave McCormick has run a very strong campaign here.

He's narrowed the gaps to about four or five percentage points.

I think you see Casey getting a little bit nervous.

He recently came out with an ad in which he touts having bucked Biden on a fracking decision that the president made, and he touts siding with Trump on putting tariffs on China.

So that shows you that a Democrat who is also a very close ally of Joe Biden sees the political advantage of indicating to potential split ticket voters that there's, there's a home for him, you know, with them.

JOHN YANG: And also with the battle for the control of the House.

There are three House races in Pennsylvania that are considered toss ups.

Tell us about each one of those.

JULIA TERRUSO: First, you have two Democrats who are hoping to hold on to their seats.

There's Susan Wild facing Republican State Representative Ryan MacKenzie.

That's in the Lehigh Valley, which is a battleground part of Pennsylvania.

Wild only won that seat by less than two percentage points in 2020 so I think it's a place where Republicans are really hoping they might be able to pick up the seat there.

It's an area where the Latino population is growing.

It's one of the largest Latino populations in the state.

But it's also a district that the Biden did win by more than four percentage points in 2020.

The second Democrat is Congressman Matt Cartwright, who represents the northeast portion of Pennsylvania.

That's a district that actually Trump won in 2016 and in 2020 so he's managed to hold on in this plus Trump district for the last number of cycles, really, by running very local races, kind of focusing on being a moderate.

His challenger is a man named Rob Resnahan who has been a prolific fundraiser, and that's actually a race that where you see the most money spent in the state, and then finally, in the south central part of Pennsylvania, it's where Harrisburg is, York County, you have Republican Congressman Scott Perry.

Perry has been a long time Trump ally.

He was investigated by the FBI for his role in trying to overturn the election results in Pennsylvania here.

So I think there was a lot of thought among Democrats that he might be vulnerable the last time he ran.

This time a popular former news anchor, Janelle Stelson is running against him, and she has massively outraised him in that race, so she actually had a lead.

It looks like it's narrowed, definitely the three to watch in Pennsylvania.

JOHN YANG: Julia Terruso, the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Thank you very much.

JULIA TERRUSO: Thank you so much for having me.