A thunder of drums, a sweep of guitar strings and the haunting cry of a violin filled the black interior of a concert hall in rural northern Lancaster County on a hot Saturday afternoon in August.
A few dozen people stood around, some danced, on the floor of Mickey's Black Box at Rock Lititz during a concert showcasing indie, folk and country artists from across the country.
Many in the audience may not have realized the event was organized by a group tied to the Democratic Party, but those who arrived before the music started probably figured it out.
Panels of activists and Democratic elected officials from around Pennsylvania had gathered outside the venue to describe their 25-year vision for rural communities. The stage where they spoke was flanked by food trucks and organizing tables from local politicians and activist groups.
Organizer Matt Hildreth, executive director of civic engagement group Rural Progress, said the goal was to have the Lancaster County event, called 2050 Fest, serve as a test for how to better engage people who live in small towns and rural communities.
Hildreth pointed to a 2017 Tufts University study that found 60% of rural youth in the U.S. live in a civic desert, described as lacking opportunities for civic and political engagement, and missing institutions like youth programs, arts organizations and religious groups.
Creating a place to engage with people in rural areas, who Hildreth said are especially fed up with "how crazy politics has gotten," is a challenge. He said he's aiming to find common ground between those of different political stripes.
"And we know that it involves arts and culture. We know that it involves community, but we're still trying to figure out the rest," Hildreth said.
Rural Progress is affiliated with left-leaning outreach group Rural Organizing, for which Hildreth also serves as executive director. Hildreth was hired last year by Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign to serve as its rural engagement director during her unsuccessful presidential bid against President Donald Trump.
Hildreth said Rural Progress is planning a multistate tour of rural engagement concerts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, visiting Washington, Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and potentially Pennsylvania again.
"We do want to have a place for people to have a conversation with a town hall or panel or something like that, but then also having a place for music and a place really to celebrate rural life and rural living," Hundredth said. "Because I think maybe too often we focus on what's wrong with rural America, and we want to start with what's right in rural America."
The four panels at 2050 Fest highlighted diversity in rural areas, how to combat fascism in local communities, action planning, and practicing faith in progressive spaces.
"Every single vote"
Democrats have a long way to go to appeal to Pennsylvania's rural voters.
The Center for Rural Pennsylvania classifies 48 of the commonwealth's 67 counties as rural, based on population density.
Of those 48 rural counties, not one is even partially represented by a Democratic House member.
And despite the Harris campaign's attempt to reach rural voters, Trump swept every rural county, except Centre County (home to Penn State University), in last year's presidential race.
But a focused approach by Democrats to flip vulnerable GOP congressional districts could help the Democratic Party win a majority in the U.S. House next year. With four vacant seats, Republicans hold a 219-212 advantage.
In Pennsylvania, 17 seats are up for grabs. Three of those had races last year that fell on razor-thin margins — each won by a GOP candidate. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie of Lehigh County, Robert Bresnahan of Luzerne County, and Scott Perry of York County are all targets for Democrats next year.
While groups are testing new ways of reaching voters in those areas, some in the Democratic Party are continuing more traditional methods of voter outreach.
Gillian Kratzner, of Blair County, leads the state Democratic Party's Rural Caucus. She said knocking on people's doors is still the best way to engage with potential voters.
"Having a one-on-one face-to-face conversation with a voter is hands down the best way to connect with voters, and also to make sure that they understand that you're part of their community," Kratzner said.
Though Kratzner said Democrats are building a foundation among voters to do well next year, she noted that this year's priority is to defend the Democratic judges on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court who are up for a retention vote on this fall's ballot.
Possibly the most well-known Republican advocating for the ouster of the justices in Pennsylvania is conservative activist Scott Presler, who founded the canvassing organization Early Vote Action.
Presler has been registering voters at farmers markets, gun shows and fairgrounds around Pennsylvania and urging them to vote against Supreme Court Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht. He's also targeting lower appellate court judges like Alice Dubow on the Superior Court and Michael Wojcik of the Commonwealth Court.
"We are pushing that hardcore at every single event that we do across the Commonwealth," Presler said in an interview, noting he has hired 25 full-time staff members to help. Presler worked in 2024 to support Trump's reelection to the White House.
He said his group is also starting to inform voters about next year's midterms, especially in vulnerable locations for Republicans. Perry's District 10, covering Dauphin County, northern York County and a portion of Cumberland County, is top of his list.
Farmers, of course, are among Presler's target audience of rural voters. But he said his group is also reaching out to gun owners, hunters and truckers.
Presler said he is advocating for rural voters to use mail-in ballots, which he refers to as "emergency backup ballots," in case they are too busy on Election Day to vote at a poll.
"We're locking in every single vote," Presler said.
The Republican Party, after years of opposing the use of mail-in ballots, embraced them ahead of last year's presidential election, despite skepticism from some party members.
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania GOP was not available to speak in time for publication.
Policy and energy
Presler said the rural voters he's spoken with do not mention being upset with the Trump administration's handling of tariff policies and the crackdown on immigration, or the GOP's tightening of qualifications for Medicaid enrollment.
Yet those are the exact policies Hildreth said rural voters he's met are mad about.
Several of the panelists in Lancaster highlighted the importance of immigration in their rural communities. Immigrants account for 4% of the rural adult population and 4% of the rural workforce in Pennsylvania, according to a 2023 study from policy research group KFF.
And Hildreth told the two dozen attendees of his panel the GOP's cuts to Medicaid are the top issue that Democrats should campaign on against Republicans next year.
"There was a time when Democrats won the majority of Medicaid recipients, and that's no longer true. Republicans are winning the majority of Medicaid recipients," Hildreth said.
"And so I think that's why you're seeing so many people that are just absolutely outraged with what's happening in this billionaire bill," Hildreth said, referencing the GOP's tax cuts and spending bill.
Democratic Party success in rural Pennsylvania
Since President Donald Trump entered his second term this year, some Democrats nationwide have found success in special elections through the party's voter base being energized to oppose GOP policy.
One of those Democrats is Lancaster County state Sen. James Malone, who flipped a longtime Republican district in a March special election.
Malone, raised in rural Powell, Wyoming, said finding success in rural areas as a Democrat is less about talking policies and more about connecting with people over common need.
"That's going to be different depending on where you are because rural America is not all the same," Malone said. "Put your boots on and go talk to a farmer about soil erosion or avian influenza."
He suggests candidates find and propose ways the government can help people in their daily lives, like how the General Assembly lifted the state's ban on Sunday hunting this year.
Malone said on rural outreach, "It helps if you grew up in it like I did, but everyone can gain a better understanding if they are willing to show up and put in the work."