Camp Hill and Cumberland County in general is one of the few parts of Pennsylvania that has grown, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. It has also become younger and more diverse. And what was once a reliably Republican area now has a strong Democratic presence.

“When I moved here, Camp Hill County was controlled by Republicans,” said Al Holliday, a Democratic volunteer at the Fredricksen Library polling station who has lived in Camp Hill since 1968. “I was in the vast minority.”

He attributed the changes in the city’s political direction to “mainly new people moving in and old people retiring – to Florida or wherever.”

And with the changes, Holliday believes Democratic nominee for Vice President Kamala Harris has a good chance of winning the vote in Camp Hill. He hopes she will win state, too.

“Trump has made too many mistakes,” Holliday said. “He didn’t get good advice from his parents. Nobody ever said no to him.”

Like Holliday, other Camp Hill voters went to the polls on Election Day reflecting on the changing politics of their hometown and how they do and do not reflect the divide in national politics as a whole.

“Rejecting extremism, I think that’s going to be the story of this election,” said Brianna Labuskes, 37, who volunteered at Holliday.

Like Holliday, she remembers a time when it felt like she was virtually the only Democrat.

“I wrote an op-ed against (former President George W.) Bush in high school,” Labuskes, 37, said. “People would go up to my parents and say, ‘She doesn’t look like a Democrat.'”

But Labuskes traveled to Washington, D.C., after graduating high school, and when she returned to Camp Hill earlier this year, she saw a changing city.

She hopes to not only defeat Trump but also oust incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R-10th District), the former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus and a prominent denier of the 2020 election.

She sees both Perry and Trump as extremists who demonize their political opponents. It’s a style she rarely sees reflected in Camp Hill itself.

“Everyone is your neighbor here…You will see a lot less tension,” Labuskes said. “I don’t think the leaders of the party represent the people.”

Julie Young, 41, is also fed up with what she sees as radical politics. She volunteered at the Republican table, just a few feet away from the Democrats.

“I think we’ve really gotten off track on radical social issues,” Young said. “Really, the majority of Americans could care less what you do at home, who you love, what you do.”

Young said she believes both parties have radical views, whether it’s Democrats’ political correctness or Republicans’ abortion policies. And she doesn’t like how politicians from both parties demonize each other.

But unlike Labuskes, Young said, she feels those tensions at home. In 2019, she ran for a seat on the local council and felt she was facing hostility because of her political party.

“I didn’t call it Republican, I called it Democrat,” Young said. “But I was scrutinized as a Republican. I was treated pretty badly.”

Young blames people on both sides for the current political tensions. She supports Trump because she favors his policies and does not believe that any single politician is capable of lowering the temperature.

“It’s about the whole party,” Young said of her preference for Trump. “He’s a figurehead.”

Young believes tensions have increased not just at Camp Hill but across the country. And the changes began before Trump even entered the political stage.

“I don’t put political signs on my lawn because I have a daughter and I don’t want her to be ridiculed,” Young said. “I think we’ve lost that civility on both sides.”

Steve Voyzey, 55, another Republican and Trump supporter, said extremism and social change were not a priority in his election. But he has observed increasing hostility between the two parties in Washington, DC

“I think they could do a better job if they came together and did what was best for the country rather than what was best for the party,” he said.

Asked if he thought Trump was capable of reaching across the aisle, he said: “I like him better than what we have now.”

“I’m not that excited about it,” Voyzey said of politics. “Here’s what it comes down to: If you’re happy with the last four years, vote in one direction. If you’re not happy with the last four years, you vote differently.”

Miracle Mathis, 25, paid little attention to politics until she was old enough to vote, and she has never voted in an election without Trump at the top of the ticket.

“I’m not one to worry about it,” she said of the election outcome. “I will vote and we will see the result.”

Mathis is voting for Harris, largely because of her views on women’s rights and abortion. But no matter what happens, she said she won’t let it stress her out.

“I’m worried, but if it happens, it happens,” Mathis said of a Trump victory. “I will still be alive.