Story highlights Republicans are outnumbered in Pennsylvania by registered Democrats by almost a million votes

However Trump's "America First" message is resonating with longtime Democrats

Scranton, Pennsylvania (CNN) With the presidential election just days away, Republican nominee Donald Trump's best hope for winning a term in the White House could rest in the hands of voters from Pennsylvania, a state that hasn't chosen a candidate from his party in nearly 30 years.

With 20 Electoral College votes at stake here, Trump could win nearly every other "toss-up" state -- including important battlegrounds like Florida, Ohio and North Carolina -- and still lose the election if he doesn't carry Pennsylvania.

And because Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton appears to have the state's densely populated urban areas like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia locked in her favor, Trump needs Pennsylvania's rural areas and smaller, working-class cities like Scranton to come out on top.

The problem? Republicans are outnumbered by registered Democrats by almost a million votes.

Bob Bolus

"The joke around here is that if you vote Republican on Tuesday, you've got to go to confession on Saturday," said Vince Galko, a veteran Republican strategist in Pennsylvania who has worked on former President George W. Bush's re-election effort here. "Voters in this part of the state have been trained over the years to pull that straight Democratic lever, so it's a challenge for Republicans to get people to split their ticket."

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