Can The PA GOP Stop Its Losing Streak?
Since 2016, Pennsylvania Republicans are 0-5 in state and federal races, while also losing the PA House majority
April 7, 2023
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Since 2016, Pennsylvania Republicans are 0-5 in state and federal races, while also losing the PA House majority
As the spectacle of Donald Trump’s Manhattan indictment dominates the cable airwaves, one wonders if the former president’s 2024 candidacy is strengthening under the bright lights, or diminishing?
But Republicans’ challenges run much deeper than allegiances to the previous occupant of the White House. And that includes the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Since 2016, when former Sen. Pat Toomey retained his U.S. Senate seat and the state delivered 20 electoral votes to Trump, the GOP is 0-5 in individual races in the Keystone State while also losing its majority in the State House last fall for the first time in 10 years.
Pennsylvania Republicans swept races in 2016 (Trump, Toomey) and 2010 (Toomey, Tom Corbett), but was 0-4 in state and federal races in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014.
A 4-13 record gets college football coaches fired on a regular basis.
What’s going on?
It’s not just Pennsylvania.
Nationally, Democrats had a net gain of 40 seats to regain the U.S. House majority in 2018. Two years later, Trump lost the presidency and the GOP fell in two runoff elections in Georgia to also lose control of the U.S. Senate.
A pyrrhic victory followed, winning the legal fight over abortion behind Trump-appointed judges, but losing a series of political battles over it afterward – a reflection of polls indicating that most Americans support abortion rights. GOP-led state legislatures have shown no signs of slowing their push to enact stricter abortion bans, suggesting continuing political backlash.
With an expected “Red Wave” coming in 2022, Republicans put high-profile election deniers on the ballot in key state (see Mastriano) and federal races, as well as untested candidates (see Herschel Walker, Oz). You know how those ended up. And the wave never materialized, leaving GOP Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy with a much-slimmer majority than anticipated, creating more headaches.
And on Tuesday, Wisconsin voters chose Democrat-backed Janet Protasiewicz as their choice to sit on the state’s Supreme Court, after leaning into her support for abortion rights.
In Pennsylvania, are the winds shifting as well?
The GOP is making noise about backing mail-in voting – not because they like it – rather, because the Democrats have been successful utilizing it.
Casey is preparing to defend his U.S. Senate seat in 2024, so Republicans must figure out who they are and who they want.
Mastriano has been signaling that he may make a run and early polling shows he is one of three that Keystone State residents want to see as a candidate, along with Oz and Dave McCormick.
National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Steve Daines encouraged McCormick to run at February’s NRSC retreat and later publicly slammed Mastriano as unelectable: “We need somebody who can win a primary and a general election. His last race demonstrated he can’t win a general,” Daines told HuffPost.
What can be done to “right the ship,” if you will, in Pennsylvania?
It may start with rejecting the former president.
“A Trump endorsement proved to be very damaging all across the country, ” said former U.S. representative Charlie Dent. “Keri Lake, Tudor Dixon, Doug Mastriano – those candidates all did terribly in states they should have won.
“All Trump endorsed candidates underperformed. You want to stay a million miles away from the Trump endorsement. Sure it might help you with your base. It might help shore up a few voted in your primary, but that endorsement will turn off a lot of college-educated suburban voters, especially women – a constituency Republicans desperately need to win.
“Ask Doug Mastriano how the endorsement worked out for him.”
The question for Pennsylvania Republicans as well as GOP voters nationwide seems to be: How likely is it that Trump will do better with persuadable voters than his 2020 loss when you toss January 6, a 34-count Manhattan indictment and possible federal indictments into the mix?
As the spectacle of Donald Trump’s Manhattan indictment dominates the cable airwaves, one wonders if the former president’s 2024 candidacy is strengthening under the bright lights, or diminishing?
But Republicans’ challenges run much deeper than allegiances to the previous occupant of the White House. And that includes the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Since 2016, when former Sen. Pat Toomey retained his U.S. Senate seat and the state delivered 20 electoral votes to Trump, the GOP is 0-5 in individual races in the Keystone State while also losing its majority in the State House last fall for the first time in 10 years.
Pennsylvania Republicans swept races in 2016 (Trump, Toomey) and 2010 (Toomey, Tom Corbett), but was 0-4 in state and federal races in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014.
A 4-13 record gets college football coaches fired on a regular basis.
What’s going on?
It’s not just Pennsylvania.
Nationally, Democrats had a net gain of 40 seats to regain the U.S. House majority in 2018. Two years later, Trump lost the presidency and the GOP fell in two runoff elections in Georgia to also lose control of the U.S. Senate.
A pyrrhic victory followed, winning the legal fight over abortion behind Trump-appointed judges, but losing a series of political battles over it afterward – a reflection of polls indicating that most Americans support abortion rights. GOP-led state legislatures have shown no signs of slowing their push to enact stricter abortion bans, suggesting continuing political backlash.
With an expected “Red Wave” coming in 2022, Republicans put high-profile election deniers on the ballot in key state (see Mastriano) and federal races, as well as untested candidates (see Herschel Walker, Oz). You know how those ended up. And the wave never materialized, leaving GOP Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy with a much-slimmer majority than anticipated, creating more headaches.
And on Tuesday, Wisconsin voters chose Democrat-backed Janet Protasiewicz as their choice to sit on the state’s Supreme Court, after leaning into her support for abortion rights.
In Pennsylvania, are the winds shifting as well?
The GOP is making noise about backing mail-in voting – not because they like it – rather, because the Democrats have been successful utilizing it.
Casey is preparing to defend his U.S. Senate seat in 2024, so Republicans must figure out who they are and who they want.
Mastriano has been signaling that he may make a run and early polling shows he is one of three that Keystone State residents want to see as a candidate, along with Oz and Dave McCormick.
National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Steve Daines encouraged McCormick to run at February’s NRSC retreat and later publicly slammed Mastriano as unelectable: “We need somebody who can win a primary and a general election. His last race demonstrated he can’t win a general,” Daines told HuffPost.
What can be done to “right the ship,” if you will, in Pennsylvania?
It may start with rejecting the former president.
“A Trump endorsement proved to be very damaging all across the country, ” said former U.S. representative Charlie Dent. “Keri Lake, Tudor Dixon, Doug Mastriano – those candidates all did terribly in states they should have won.
“All Trump endorsed candidates underperformed. You want to stay a million miles away from the Trump endorsement. Sure it might help you with your base. It might help shore up a few voted in your primary, but that endorsement will turn off a lot of college-educated suburban voters, especially women – a constituency Republicans desperately need to win.
“Ask Doug Mastriano how the endorsement worked out for him.”
The question for Pennsylvania Republicans as well as GOP voters nationwide seems to be: How likely is it that Trump will do better with persuadable voters than his 2020 loss when you toss January 6, a 34-count Manhattan indictment and possible federal indictments into the mix?
As the spectacle of Donald Trump’s Manhattan indictment dominates the cable airwaves, one wonders if the former president’s 2024 candidacy is strengthening under the bright lights, or diminishing?
But Republicans’ challenges run much deeper than allegiances to the previous occupant of the White House. And that includes the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Since 2016, when former Sen. Pat Toomey retained his U.S. Senate seat and the state delivered 20 electoral votes to Trump, the GOP is 0-5 in individual races in the Keystone State while also losing its majority in the State House last fall for the first time in 10 years.
Pennsylvania Republicans swept races in 2016 (Trump, Toomey) and 2010 (Toomey, Tom Corbett), but was 0-4 in state and federal races in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014.
A 4-13 record gets college football coaches fired on a regular basis.
What’s going on?
It’s not just Pennsylvania.
Nationally, Democrats had a net gain of 40 seats to regain the U.S. House majority in 2018. Two years later, Trump lost the presidency and the GOP fell in two runoff elections in Georgia to also lose control of the U.S. Senate.
A pyrrhic victory followed, winning the legal fight over abortion behind Trump-appointed judges, but losing a series of political battles over it afterward – a reflection of polls indicating that most Americans support abortion rights. GOP-led state legislatures have shown no signs of slowing their push to enact stricter abortion bans, suggesting continuing political backlash.
With an expected “Red Wave” coming in 2022, Republicans put high-profile election deniers on the ballot in key state (see Mastriano) and federal races, as well as untested candidates (see Herschel Walker, Oz). You know how those ended up. And the wave never materialized, leaving GOP Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy with a much-slimmer majority than anticipated, creating more headaches.
And on Tuesday, Wisconsin voters chose Democrat-backed Janet Protasiewicz as their choice to sit on the state’s Supreme Court, after leaning into her support for abortion rights.
In Pennsylvania, are the winds shifting as well?
The GOP is making noise about backing mail-in voting – not because they like it – rather, because the Democrats have been successful utilizing it.
Casey is preparing to defend his U.S. Senate seat in 2024, so Republicans must figure out who they are and who they want.
Mastriano has been signaling that he may make a run and early polling shows he is one of three that Keystone State residents want to see as a candidate, along with Oz and Dave McCormick.
National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Steve Daines encouraged McCormick to run at February’s NRSC retreat and later publicly slammed Mastriano as unelectable: “We need somebody who can win a primary and a general election. His last race demonstrated he can’t win a general,” Daines told HuffPost.
What can be done to “right the ship,” if you will, in Pennsylvania?
It may start with rejecting the former president.
“A Trump endorsement proved to be very damaging all across the country, ” said former U.S. representative Charlie Dent. “Keri Lake, Tudor Dixon, Doug Mastriano – those candidates all did terribly in states they should have won.
“All Trump endorsed candidates underperformed. You want to stay a million miles away from the Trump endorsement. Sure it might help you with your base. It might help shore up a few voted in your primary, but that endorsement will turn off a lot of college-educated suburban voters, especially women – a constituency Republicans desperately need to win.
“Ask Doug Mastriano how the endorsement worked out for him.”
The question for Pennsylvania Republicans as well as GOP voters nationwide seems to be: How likely is it that Trump will do better with persuadable voters than his 2020 loss when you toss January 6, a 34-count Manhattan indictment and possible federal indictments into the mix?
As the spectacle of Donald Trump’s Manhattan indictment dominates the cable airwaves, one wonders if the former president’s 2024 candidacy is strengthening under the bright lights, or diminishing?
But Republicans’ challenges run much deeper than allegiances to the previous occupant of the White House. And that includes the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Since 2016, when former Sen. Pat Toomey retained his U.S. Senate seat and the state delivered 20 electoral votes to Trump, the GOP is 0-5 in individual races in the Keystone State while also losing its majority in the State House last fall for the first time in 10 years.
Pennsylvania Republicans swept races in 2016 (Trump, Toomey) and 2010 (Toomey, Tom Corbett), but was 0-4 in state and federal races in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014.
A 4-13 record gets college football coaches fired on a regular basis.
What’s going on?
It’s not just Pennsylvania.
Nationally, Democrats had a net gain of 40 seats to regain the U.S. House majority in 2018. Two years later, Trump lost the presidency and the GOP fell in two runoff elections in Georgia to also lose control of the U.S. Senate.
A pyrrhic victory followed, winning the legal fight over abortion behind Trump-appointed judges, but losing a series of political battles over it afterward – a reflection of polls indicating that most Americans support abortion rights. GOP-led state legislatures have shown no signs of slowing their push to enact stricter abortion bans, suggesting continuing political backlash.
With an expected “Red Wave” coming in 2022, Republicans put high-profile election deniers on the ballot in key state (see Mastriano) and federal races, as well as untested candidates (see Herschel Walker, Oz). You know how those ended up. And the wave never materialized, leaving GOP Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy with a much-slimmer majority than anticipated, creating more headaches.
And on Tuesday, Wisconsin voters chose Democrat-backed Janet Protasiewicz as their choice to sit on the state’s Supreme Court, after leaning into her support for abortion rights.
In Pennsylvania, are the winds shifting as well?
The GOP is making noise about backing mail-in voting – not because they like it – rather, because the Democrats have been successful utilizing it.
Casey is preparing to defend his U.S. Senate seat in 2024, so Republicans must figure out who they are and who they want.
Mastriano has been signaling that he may make a run and early polling shows he is one of three that Keystone State residents want to see as a candidate, along with Oz and Dave McCormick.
National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Steve Daines encouraged McCormick to run at February’s NRSC retreat and later publicly slammed Mastriano as unelectable: “We need somebody who can win a primary and a general election. His last race demonstrated he can’t win a general,” Daines told HuffPost.
What can be done to “right the ship,” if you will, in Pennsylvania?
It may start with rejecting the former president.
“A Trump endorsement proved to be very damaging all across the country, ” said former U.S. representative Charlie Dent. “Keri Lake, Tudor Dixon, Doug Mastriano – those candidates all did terribly in states they should have won.
“All Trump endorsed candidates underperformed. You want to stay a million miles away from the Trump endorsement. Sure it might help you with your base. It might help shore up a few voted in your primary, but that endorsement will turn off a lot of college-educated suburban voters, especially women – a constituency Republicans desperately need to win.
“Ask Doug Mastriano how the endorsement worked out for him.”
The question for Pennsylvania Republicans as well as GOP voters nationwide seems to be: How likely is it that Trump will do better with persuadable voters than his 2020 loss when you toss January 6, a 34-count Manhattan indictment and possible federal indictments into the mix?
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