Despite efforts from Republicans to flip Rep. Matt Cartwright’s seat in 2018, the Lackawanna County Democrat won by close to double digits in the Trump friendly district.
According to a new Roll Call article, he’s doing something most Democrats in President Donald Trump won districts aren’t leading into 2020. Not moving to the middle.
Since beginning his fourth term in Congress, Cartwright has voted with his party on 99.3% of votes so far in 2019. Cartwright represents one of the eight districts in 2020 that are held by Democrats that Trump bested Sec. Hillary Clinton by more than 9 points. He’s the only Pennsylvania Democrat to represent a district that voted for Trump by more than 5 points.
The next closest Democrat of the eight “most vulnerable” in the country is Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) who has voted with the party 90.7% of the time this session.
In Cartwright’s two most recent reelection bids, he won by 9 points in 2018 over John Chrin and scored a 7 point victory from Matt Connolly in 2016, while Trump was on the ballot.
While his GOP challenger next year remains unknown at this time, although former Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Luzerne) has yet to rule it out, the opposing party is already targeting the district. Cartwright’s seat is one of three in the state that the NRCC is hoping to flip in 2020, along with Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Allegheny) and Susan Wild (D-Lehigh), who all won by approximately double digits in 2018. Two pro Trump super PACs aiming to increase voter registration for the President prior to next year’s election also detailed their focus of trying to flip the 8th district as well.
2 Responses
Cartwright is the first actual NEPA resident and native to represent NEPA in almost 10 years. Unlike his predecessor who oversaw a GOP gerrymandered district that spread from the Delaware River all the way to Perry County, Cartwright represents a district he knows well and understands. He isn’t afraid to attend public functions and hold townhalls in places where he knows that he will meet and talk with people who disagree with him, and residents respect him for that. Since this district didn’t exist in 2016 as it is now, it’s a stretch to call it a “Trump” district. If the GOP insists on importing another candidate who only knows the district by what local GOPers think it is, they will have another train wreck.
Same old same old. The Republican brain trust in Washington with millions of donor dollars dreams up fantasies of beating this or that congressman in a “Trump district.” The real winners are Republican political consultants and media outlets who earn some income from the campaigns. The reality is that while the statistics are interesting to political junkies and tell a tale most voters don’t care. I think it’s obvious Trump will take the air out of the political room meaning that anyone running as a Republican will be affected by his presence on the ticket and, in Pa, it will not be a positive connection. If a Republican has donor dollars to spend and wants to take a chance, go for it but it’s going to be all uphill for Republican Congressional Candidates running in the Northeastern US in 2020.