Republicans Tuesday, I rode on a Donald Trump– a red wave gathered across Pennsylvania.

After months of pundits reporting that the presidential race could be the closest in years, former and future president the victory was decisive — on pace to become the largest Republican margin of victory in Pennsylvania since Ronald Reagan, and the widest among any presidential candidate here in three election cycles.

In Pennsylvania, with about 4% of the vote remaining to be counted, Trump received more Republican votes in the state than any other candidate. He took more votes out of Philadelphia and the state than he had in 2020, and he flipped two bellwether counties, Northampton and Monroe, to the Republicans.

In every state that has counted most of its votes, Trump improved his performance of 2020 and dropped out a return to the White House early Wednesday morning.

The former president strategy to motivate even more voters here and in states other than him, four years clearly helped elevate him above the vice-presidential post Kamala Harris — and there are signs that it pushed Republicans to vote.

The State high-profile Senate race seemed poised to go Republican, with Dave McCormick up about 80,000 votes over the third-term incumbent Democratic senator. Bob Caseywho led the race in most polls throughout the campaign.

Several U.S. House races in Pennsylvania also remained too close to call early Wednesday, but they showed leads for Republicans in battleground seats in the Lehigh Valley, northeastern Pennsylvania and south-central part of the state.

In the Lehigh Valley, Republican state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie led the incumbent for three terms Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wild by about 6,000 votes, with 98% of the votes reported.

Republican Rob Bresnahan led U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Democrat running for his sixth term, by about 7,500 votes in the district covering parts of Lackawanna and Luzerne counties.

And the outgoing Republican Rep. Scott Perryclose ally of Trump and former leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus, clinging to his seat despite a well-funded challenger, as did outgoing Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, which represents Bucks County.

Republicans also swept struggling offices. Incumbent State Treasurer Stacy Garrity and Auditor General Tim DeFoor were re-elected. GOP candidate Dave Sunday was elected state attorney general.

Control of the State House, where Democrats hold a narrow majority, remained in flux Wednesday morning. Republicans were expected to retain control of the state Senate.

And the GOP appeared poised to flip a state Senate seat in Northeast Philadelphia which was held by Democratic Senator Jimmy Dillon. While all but one precinct has released results, Republican challenger Joe Picozzi, a 29-year-old who was not supported by the Republican Party in the city — led by more than 1,000 votes.

There were signs that Republicans were winning in the state, both in rural areas that had long gone red and in longtime Democratic strongholds like Philadelphia.

Over the past four years, Republicans cut Democrats’ voter registration advantage in half (685,000 residents) in the state. Purple Bucks County went from a Democratic advantage to a Republican advantage. Some Democratic Party leaders dismissed these registration gains as a lagging indicator of Trump’s already strong support in the state, but the Republican Party saw it as a sign that Trump was on track to increase his support in Pennsylvania.

Statewide, Democrats still have a registration advantage, with nearly 4 million registered voters compared to 3.7 million for Republicans.

And despite polls showing the race between Trump and Harris was a stalemate in the final days of the campaign, surveys showed broad dissatisfaction with the status quo among the electorate, and the president Joe Biden had a low job approval rating.

Interviews with voters across the state suggest Pennsylvanians were frustrated with the economy, inflation, immigration — and with the Democratic Party in general.

“I just have a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to Democrats across the board,” said Alan Geist, 68, an engineer who voted for Trump in Schwenksville. Montgomery County.

In Northeast Philadelphia, Bill and Barbara Yarnall said voting for Trump was an easy choice, citing their grocery bill.

“We used to spend $75 a week,” Bill Yarnall said. “Now we spend between $109 and $120 a week.”

And in Levittown, Bucks County, Walt Nicely, 61, said he voted for Trump because of his concerns about the economy and the border.

Walt Nicely, 61, of Levittown, said he had just voted for Trump at Harry S. Truman High School. “I loved everything he did before,” said Nicely, retired from the tool and die making industry.

“These Democrats have been there for how long? he said: “And they just don’t do it. »

Inquirer writers Kristen Graham and Maddie Hanna contributed to this article.