Women with ties to Pittsburgh hired to help Joe Biden's Pennsylvania campaign

Two staff members with ties to Pittsburgh-area politics will help to lead former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign in Pennsylvania, the campaign announced Monday.

Nikkilia Lu, a political organizer and strategist who served as the Western Pennsylvania political director for Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ and the Pennsylvania director for the State Innovation Exchange, will serve as the campaign’s deputy state director.

Keyva Clark, who served as the chief of staff for state Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Pittsburgh, and as a communications analyst in the office of Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, will serve as the campaign’s coalitions director.

Clark and Lu were not available for comment Sunday.

A Franklin & Marshall College Poll released July 30 shows that Biden leads President Donald Trump among Pennsylvania’s registered voters 50% to 41%.

About 2% of voters said they would vote for another candidate and 6% said they are undecided.

A July 15 Monmouth University poll also puts Biden ahead of Trump by 13 percentage points in Pennsylvania, with 53% of respondents supporting Biden and 40% voting for Trump.

Trump took Pennsylvania in 2016 with 48.8% of the statewide vote. He won most of Southwestern Pennsylvania with the exception of Allegheny County, which tipped in favor of the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton.

Biden kicked off his 2020 presidential campaign at the Teamsters Local 249 banquet hall in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood in April 2019.

He told the crowd of about 600 that he chose Pittsburgh for his first campaign stop because the city represents working-class Americans.

“I also came here because, quite frankly folks, if I’m going to be able to beat Donald Trump in 2020, it’s going to happen here,” Biden said during the event. “With your help, I think we’re going to be able to do that.”

Biden, a Scranton native, in early July visited Northeastern Pennsylvania to deliver an economic plan that included plans to boost the manufacturing and technology sectors, establish a $15-per-hour minimum wage and focus on labor policy.