No state is more coveted by Donald Trump and Kamala Harris than Pennsylvania, since their best strategies for an Electoral College victory depend on winning it. With polls showing a close race there, we spoke to 12 Pennsylvanians for our new Times Opinion focus group: voters who backed either Joe Biden or Mr. Trump in 2020 and aren’t hardcore partisans.

Although the group leaned toward Ms. Harris, her support was fairly weak. Few participants could make a strong case for voting for her on her merits. They are eager to see a candidate rally behind her, given their concerns about the country, particularly the economy, but they have not heard enough detail from her about how she would reduce costs.

“It feels like, ‘break my arm or break my leg,’” George, a 63-year-old 2020 Biden voter, said of his choices. He was open to considering Mr. Trump, but added: “I just can’t imagine voting for a criminal who says on Day 1 he’s going to be a dictator and has a list of 5,000 people to replace in government. At the same time, I see how liberal she was and how she’s changed course. You want to talk about fracking in Pennsylvania? We all come from fracking.”

Those who liked Mr. Trump saw him as a businessman, while those who opposed him saw him as a child. That suggests that the Harris team may be on the right track in making him seem small rather than a major threat. Ms. Harris is seen as relatively unknown and untested. “I don’t feel like I’ve seen Harris during the Biden presidency. So she’s just OK,” said Lania, a 34-year-old Biden voter in 2020. Kay, a 61-year-old Biden voter, said Ms. Harris “was almost nonexistent for the last four years.”

The risk for Ms. Harris is that voters like Lania and Kay will no longer be committed voters on Election Day, while the risk for Mr. Trump is that his history, as George pointed out, puts him outside the pale. The economy and, to some extent, abortion seem to be the driving issues in Pennsylvania, and Mr. Trump had the upper hand in our group on economic issues, while Ms. Harris was far ahead on reproductive rights.