Pennsylvania native Taylor Swift ignited a prepared base when she endorsed Kamala Harris

PHILADELPHIA – Swifties had already begun organizing for Vice President Kamala Harris en masse before their “Fearless” leader’s endorsement on Tuesday. Now their impact is poised to grow – especially in the key battleground state where singer Taylor Swift was born.

Already, Swift loyalists have raised tens of thousands of dollars for Harris’ campaign and voter registration efforts, and, following the musician’s Instagram post Tuesday endorsing Harris, hundreds of thousands of people visited a voter registration website.

Embracing the strong bond that comes with their fandom, Swifties are well-positioned to make an impact in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state that former President Donald Trump and Harris both see as crucial for their paths to the White House. Swifties are multigenerational, but they skew younger – a voting bloc particularly important for a Democratic win that both candidates have their eyes on.

Michele Ramsey, who teaches a class about Taylor Swift at Pennsylvania State University’s Berks County campus, said the biggest impact of Swift’s endorsement isn’t necessarily changing people’s views, but rather garnering engagement and registration, as demonstrated by Swift’s endorsement post prompting more than 400,000 visitors to vote.gov within 24 hours. Ramsey, 56, said that Swift’s (at least appearance of) authenticity is key, and multiple Swifties said they appreciated her focus on people doing their own research in her announcement, which has garnered more than 10 million likes on Instagram.

Ramsey, of Reading, also thinks attacks on women’s rights from the Republican Party and a post by conservative tycoon Elon Musk that has been painted as creepy are only motivating Democratic-leaning Swifties more during a moment in pop culture where “women’s stories are central to popular culture,” a la Swift, Beyoncé, Chappell Roan, and the like.

“It feels like a really bad time to poke the Swiftie bear, but they’re doing it,” Ramsey said. “They have a very strong parasocial relationship with Taylor,” she added of Swifties.

Swifties for Kamala

One group of Swifties formed immediately after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris: Swifties for Kamala (S4K). The group is entirely run by volunteers, including Philadelphia-based digital mastermind Annie Wu Henry, a political and digital strategist working as the group’s campaign manager. Henry has previously worked for Sen. John Fetterman, D.-Pa., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D.-N.Y.

The group’s inaugural Zoom call boasted guest speakers including singer-songwriter Carole King, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D.-Mass., Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D.-N.Y., and Pennsylvania’s own Swiftie Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Pittsburgh-area Democrat. More than 20,000 people tuned in.

“We are abundantly aware of how important Pennsylvania is in this election cycle,” said Henry, who grew up in Central Pennsylvania.

Though she was tight-lipped on state-specific plans, she said the group will ensure it will “activate the community” to mobilize in the commonwealth.

But the group has already shown an impact, and Pennsylvanians are playing a larger role than Swifties in other swing states.

The group has tallied nearly 100,000 “actions,” which it classifies as checking your registration, registering to vote, or making a voting plan, Henry said.

Nearly 80% of those 100,000 actions were completed by Gen Z and millennial voters, according to Henry. And of those actions, 33% were in swing states, including more than 7% in Pennsylvania, the highest rate among those states.

In a Discord group chat of more than 3,500 Swifties, S4K has identified more than 185 who live in Pennsylvania.

S4K has raised nearly $165,000 for the Harris campaign through ActBlue and more than $13,000 for voter outreach and registration groups through the group’s merchandise sales. S4K also has more than 7,000 e-mail newsletter subscribers.

The group’s efforts are for Swifties, by Swifties. Its custom merch was designed by a Swiftie and is sold through Social Goods, whose founders are part of the fandom.

The group incentivizes its members to get electorally engaged through a sweepstakes to win tickets to Swift’s Eras Tour through Fan Out, a company also created by a Swiftie. People get entries by getting their friends to check their voter registration and create voting plans, and more entries if they’re in a swing state.

Morgan Strehlow, a literary agent who runs the S4K Threads account, said she has been impressed by young fans taking the reins of the movement, most of whom are in their 20s, with a few in their 30s. Strehlow, 34, copyedited a mission statement that was drafted by college students when she first got involved.

“Since then, a lot of really, really impressive people have gotten involved,” she said.

Strehlow believes that the group’s ability to weave Swift references into election discourse makes politics more accessible. For example, she’s been able to break the ice by discussing political themes in Swift’s songs with her younger sister, a fellow Swiftie whom she typically wouldn’t discuss politics with.

“It’s given me a comfortable door to walk into that conversation with someone in my life who it’d be hard to otherwise,” she said.

The ‘endorsement kind of snapped me out of it’

Bryn Mawr resident Lisa Green, 23, who works as an officiant and matchmaker, said Swift’s endorsement inspired her to share her political views online again. Green was an outspoken politically involved teenager, but she closed off in 2020, afraid to speak out among rising polarization.

“That endorsement kind of snapped me out of it,” she said.

Green said she sees a lot of similarities between Harris and Swift.

“They both just make me feel so empowered as a woman, and they both uplift community, and uplift friendship and compassion,” she said, adding that they both make her feel like her beliefs “are worthy of being proud of and standing up for.”

Other Swifties have flocked together in Pennsylvania, like Katie Lehatto-Kopcik, 43, who created a Facebook group for Berks County Swiftie Harris supporters. The Sinking Spring resident just started the group with a few of her friends, and now it has 368 members (though not all are Pennsylvania residents). She described the group as a small community for sharing ideas, joys and frustrations.

“I’m a nurse, I’m a mom. I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said. “I just put this together, and people just started reaching out.”

A local Democratic leader saw the group, and now the Swiftie is a local Democratic committee member. She shares local events with members of the group, like a friendship bracelet-making event organized by the Democratic Party to support U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan and Harris.

“We don’t all attend everything, but we all attend something,” she said.

Gena Jaffe, a business owner and lawyer who lives in Newtown, hung up a Swifties for Kamala yard sign in her Bucks County neighborhood, which is otherwise full of Trump signs.

Jaffe, 39, took it upon herself to plan a comedy show fundraiser for Harris, which featured also Harris-themed Swiftie-style friendship bracelets.

Though she’s too busy to plan another, she said the last-minute plan brought 40 people together and raised more than $2,000 for the Harris campaign.

For some, mixed emotions

Swift’s endorsement caused whiplash for some supporters, particularly in the queer community, who felt betrayed by photos of her embracing former soccer player Brittany Mahomes, who went viral for “liking” Trump’s platform on Instagram and has been praised by Trump as a “big MAGA fan.”

Sophia Schiaroli, 25, a Philly-based LGBTQ content creator and Swiftie, felt bittersweet about Swift’s endorsement.

“I’m ecstatic and so over the moon that she endorsed Kamala, but I’m not going to forget how it felt when she remained silent for so long and remains silent on so many issues that she has the voice to speak on,” Schiaroli said on her Instagram story on Wednesday.

Some figured that Swift was waiting for the European leg of her Eras tour to conclude after a terroristic threat was directed at her concert.

Schiaroli attended a Harris campaign watch party on Cherry Street Pier on debate night – the same one that Harris dropped in on for a surprise appearance. Also in attendance was Bridget McFadden, 29, a Philly-based content creator who focuses on comedy and Taylor Swift content.

They both posted about Swift’s endorsement with excitement Tuesday night. Harris’ campaign also embraced it, playing Swift’s “The Man” as she walked off the stage and releasing Swiftie-style friendship bracelets in a flurry.

McFadden has previously posted a video with Gov. Josh Shapiro asking him if he prefers Beyoncé or Swift. Seemingly paralyzed by the decision, he went with Swift, who is from Berks County. Shapiro lauded the singer’s endorsement, telling NewsNation that he’s in his “Speak Now era” and that “her speaking out is a big darn deal.”

McFadden thinks it’s easy to connect Swift’s fandom with Harris because the West Reading native has “always been an advocate for women’s rights and being a strong woman,” she said. She said some of Swift’s music, and the Eras tour in itself, is “just very girl power.”

“You can feel that, and I think that it just very much aligns with like – it’s time. We need, we want, a woman in the office now,” McFadden said.

She suggested listening to “Only the Young,” one of Swift’s most political songs.