Photo by Brian Conley
Pizza Fiesta, who has resided at the corner of Smithfield Street and Third Avenue, has catered to businesses for sometime in downtown Pittsburgh. Now also caters to the Hillary Clinton Campaign, who currently resides on floors above the restaurant.

 

Late-night business has picked up at Pizza Fiesta, Downtown, since a new neighbor moved in this spring.

With Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's local headquarters upstairs, campaign employees come down often for slices and drinks, assistant store manager Amy Sinclair said.
"They come down almost every night," she said

In states like New Hampshire, which boasts of having the first primary in the nation, presidential years have long been an economic boom: The elections bring in media, on-lookers and other locals to certain areas, typically restaurants and hotels. With Pennsylvania hosting its first meaningful primary in decades, experts said the Keystone State should be able to cash in this year.

"Hotels and restaurants are by far the greatest beneficiaries of primary season," said Mike Skelton, director of Economic Development and Advocacy for Greater Manchester, New Hampshire. "They serve the massive influx of media, campaign workers and spectators that flood the state the week prior to the primary."

Because of the increase in spending, the size of the media, and the size of the campaigns, there is a noticeable impact every four years for the presidential primary, Skelton said.
"Hotels and food establishments at or near the locations which had the most candidate visits benefitted most economically from the primary in New Hampshire," said Dr. Ross Gittell, the James R. Carter management professor at the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore School of Business and Economics.

The final impact on New Hampshire's economy this year was about $350 million, or just over half-a-percent of the state's overall economy, Gittell said.

Although Pennsylvania hasn't had meaningful primaries of the past, the state is drawing in an array of people which is benefitting local economies, said Melanie Blumberg, professor in the Department of History and Political Science at California University of Pennsylvania. 
"With Clinton and Obama being in downtown Pittsburgh, there's an influx of people going out to eat or shopping," she said. "The economic impact is significant because of this influx of people: the media and visitors."

In primaries and caucuses of the past, the focus has been typically on the first states, so places like New Hampshire and Iowa see the most candidates and gain the most impact. But as the Democratic primary has dragged on this year, more places have benefited.

"[The candidates] are probably spending more than expected in Pennsylvania," said Jerry Shuster, political communications professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Gittell is fairly certain that Pennsylvania will not be comparable to New Hampshire, regardless of the importance of the state.

"Proportionately, it won't be as much of an impact," Blumberg said.  New Hampshire and Iowa "are smaller and candidates spent more time in those states, so the influx of people is greater."