23BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK- PLACES
deathswerea wake-upcallina place
wheremanypeoplewereskepticalofthe
attentiongiventoa virus from China. But
thatpassedquickly.
Like churches around the U.S.,
pastor Rick Thornhill’s New Hope
CommunityChurchwentonlinewhen
Pennsylvania announced its initial
lockdowninMarch.WhenNewHope
reopenedin mid-June,Thornhill, a
43-year-oldformermailman,abidedby
therecommendationsofpublic-health
officials:Heblockedoffalternatepews
andaskedworshippers to sit 6 feet apart
andwearmasks.
ByearlyAugust,Thornhillhaddis-
pensedwiththeprecautions.Noonein
hiscongregationhadcaughtthevirus,
hesays.Butthere’s moretoit than
that.Thornhillsaysthemajorityofthe
120 peoplewhoshowupregularlyfor
Sundayservicesare,likeheis,Trump
supportersandpolitically inclined to
ignorethevirus.
Thereweremattersoftheologyto
consideraswell.NewHope’sumbrella
church,theCalifornia-basedFoursquare
Church,believesinfaithhealing,which
makesanyprecautionsseemincongru-
ous.“Dowepreachandbelievethat
JesussavesandJesusheals,butyou’ve
gottoweara maskjustincaseJesus
doesn’thealandyou breathe on me?”
Thornhillasks.
Membersofhiscongregationarealso
beingstalkedbyothersilentkillersthat
havebeenarounda lotlongerthanthe
novelcoronavirus,hesays.NewHope
runsa homeforrecoveringaddictsin
whatusedtobea convent.Fiveofits
11 residentswerekickedoutafterfail-
ingdrugtestsinJune.Oneofthemdied
ofanoverdosesoonafter.Twoother
membersoftheNewHopecommunity
OD’edthissummer.Thornhill,whooffi-
ciatedateachoftheirfunerals,believes
thedeathswerecausedbya stewoffac-
torsrangingfromlostjobstotheincreas-
ingisolationbroughtonbypublic-health
measuresusedtofightthespreadofthe
virus.“Theissueisn’tjustCovid,”he
says.“There’sanothersidetothat.”
This summer, Ambridgealso got
caughtupinthenationalreckoningon
race.OneSaturdayinJune,a rumor
circulatedthata busfilledwithBlack
LivesMatterprotesterswouldbepull-
ing in the next day. The mayor and
thechamberofcommercecalledlocal
businessesurgingthemtoprepare.One
ofthem,a gym,tookthatasa reason
tocallintheIronCityCitizenResponse
Unit,a militiathatbillsitselfonitsweb-
siteas“thelastlineofdefenseagainst
a tyrannicalgovernment.”BySunday
morning,a half-dozenmenin cam-
ouflageandequippedwithrifleswere
guarding the gym. The bus never
arrived,andthemilitiawasgonebylate
afternoon.Buttheincident left behind
anuneasyatmosphere.
ForFeliciaMycyk,a Blackwoman
livingina townwhere75%ofthepop-
ulationisWhite,it wasa crystallizing
moment.Astheschoolsystem’slone
female footballcoach,Mycyk, who
grewupinthearea,hadbecomeaccus-
tomedtotheoccasionalraisedeyebrow.
Nevertheless,she’dmanagedtoestab-
lishherselfinrecentyearsasa linchpin
inthecommunitybystartingAmbridge
Connection,a Facebookpagewhere
boosterishpostsaboutlocalbusinesses
coexistedwithwhatoverthesummer
steadilybecamea vitriol-filled commu-
nitydiscussionboard.
Mycykknowshowtonavigatepoliti-
calminefields.HerWhitehusband,she’ll
tellyou,is a Trumpsupporter.Whereher
ownloyaltieslieis a subjectbestkeptto
herself,shesays.ThephantomBLMpro-
testincidentinspiredhertogivevoiceto
a questionthathadbeennaggingat her
fora while:“IsAmbridgeracist?”
Thatwasthesubjectofa two-hourvir-
tualpaneldiscussionthatMycykmoder-
atedinJuly.Theresherecountedhowat
thetown’sannualinternationalfoodfes-
tival,oneboothhadadvertised“African
cuisine.” Rather than an Ethiopian
spreadora showcaseforWestAfrican
delicacies,however,it featuredbarbe-
cuedribs,chicken,andmacaronisalad,
thesamemenuofferedatthe“American
cuisine”stallnearby.“Whatwasthedif-
ferencebetweenthetwo?TheAfrican
cuisineboothwasallBlackpeople.The
AmericancuisineboothwasallWhite
people,” Mycyk told the people watching.ForallthewaysAmbridgespentthe
summernavigatinga veryAmerican
confluenceofcrisesrootedineconom-
ics,history,andpoliticalpolarization,
it’sa placethatalsoresistspolitical
clichés. Despite Trump’s 2016 surge insurroundingBeaverCounty,Clinton
wonallfiveofAmbridge’sprecincts.
MikulichsayshethinksBidenwill
carryAmbridgethisyear.Therearejust
toomanyold-schoolDemocrats,like
himself,stillaround,heargues.Andhe
saysBidenmightmanagetonarrowly
wina BeaverCountythathasn’tvoted
fora Democraticpresidential candidate
sinceAlGore.
Evena narrowingofTrump’smar-
gininthecountywouldhavebroader
consequences. Toovercome Biden’s
lead inthepolls,Trump needssup-
porterstorepeattheirheavy 2016 turn-
outinruralandsemiruralcountieslike
thisone,whichpollstersseeasunlikely.
“DonaldTrumpthreadedtheneedlein
Pennsylvaniain2016.Theeyeofthenee-
dleis narrowernowthanit wasthen,”
saysPatrickMurrayoftheMonmouth
UniversityPollingInstitute,whichin
JulyputBiden’sleadinPennsylvania at
asmuchas 10 percentagepoints.
There’sanothertrendMikulichand
otherlocalDemocratssee,though,that’s
likelytooutlastthiselection.Partyaffil-
iationmatterslessinAmbridgethanit
usedto,inpartbecauseofthesteady
lossofindustrialjobsandtheweakening
holdunionshaveona dwindlingmem-
bershipthatoncevoted overwhelmingly
forDemocrats.
Villella, thesalon owner,unsuc-
cessfullyranforthestatesenateasa
Democratin 2012 andis stillregistered
assuch.If anything,though,thepan-
demichashardenedhersupportfor
Trump,whomshequietlyvotedforin
2016.Butshealsoplansonvotingfor
Lamb,asdoesThornhill, the Trump-
supportingpastor.
“Weareclosertopurplethansome
folksrealize,”saysRobMatzie,a former
Ambridgemayorrunningforreelection
tothestatelegislaturethisyear.
Theswirlingpoliticalcastiswhat
makesMikulichsonervousaboutthis
year’scampaign.BytheendofAugust,as
Republicansstagedtheirconventionand
chaoticprotestsbrokeoutinWisconsin
overthepoliceshootingofJacobBlake,
hewasincreasinglyworriedaboutthe
consequencesforDemocratsinhiscor-
nerofswing-stateAmerica.“Theriotsin
Wisconsindon’thelp,”Mikulichtextedon
Aug. 27 asTrumpprepared to accept his
party’s nomination. <BW>