With area lawyers on both sides, Montgomery County is firmly at the heart of President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, writes Katie Meyer for WHYY.

Madeleine Dean, of Glenside, a congressional Democrat representing Montgomery County, is serving as impeachment manager and will attempt to make the case that Trump directly incited violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Meanwhile, Bruce Castor, the former Republican Montgomery County District Attorney and commissioner, will argue that Trump cannot be convicted on these charges because he has already left office.

Having Dean and Castor play opposite roles is a coincidence but it is also a symbolic representation of the outsized presence that counties such as Montgomery County have in national politics.

“We’re almost like the center of the universe,” said Marcel Groen, the Montgomery County-based former head of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

The two also represent the changing fortunes of their political parties in the county. For decades, Montgomery County was firmly a Republican stronghold in a key swing state.

However, the GOP has been nearly shut out in recent years and has delivered more Democratic votes than almost anywhere else in Pennsylvania for the 2020 presidential election.

Read more about the impeachment trial at WHYY by clicking here.