The Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee (PADSC) will hold its annual winter meeting on Saturday, January 29, beginning at 11 a.m. at the Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey Hotel. The big question: will the committee issue an endorsement in the highly competitive U.S. Senate race?
The PADSC is the governing body of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and is charged with steering the direction of the party and organizing Democrats across the ballot. The meeting is when state committee members vote to decide endorsements for Pennsylvania’s Governor, Senate and Lieutenant Governor races.
In 2018, the PADSC endorsed incumbents Tom Wolf and Robert P. Casey Jr., for governor and senator, respectively. The committee did not make an endorsement in the lieutenant governor’s field.
“Based on my experience with endorsements at the state level, I believe we will endorse Josh Shapiro for governor and Austin Davis for lieutenant governor,” said Chad Baker, chair of the Democratic Party of York County. “I do not believe we will endorse for Senate as there are too many candidates. If the lessons of politics over the course of the last 4-5 years have proven anything [though], it is to expect the unexpected.”
Candidates for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Pat Toomey include John Fetterman, Conor Lamb, Malcolm Kenyatta, Val Arkoosh, Kevin Baumlin, John McGuigan, Alexandria Khalil, Larry Johnson, Alan Shank, and Llewellyn Tapera.
According to the Committee’s bylaws, only a candidate who receives a two-thirds majority of the total votes cast may receive an endorsement recommendation.
Highlights of the winter meeting include:
Wednesday, January 26
6:30 – Black Caucus Meeting
6:30 – Rules Committee Standing Committee
7:30 – Rural Caucus Meeting
Thursday, January 27
5:00 – Regional Caucus Meeting
6:00 – Executive Committee Standing Committee
8:00 – PA Young Dems Caucus Meeting
Friday, January 28
4:00 – PDSC Women’s Caucus Candidates’ Forum Special Event
Saturday, January 29
9:30 – Regional Caucus Meetings
11:00 – State Committee Business Meeting
12:00 – State Committee Endorsement Meeting
Regional Caucuses (state committee members apportionment)
Allegheny County (33)
North East (29)
Bradford (1), Carbon (1), Lackawanna (5), Luzerne (7), Monroe (3), Northampton (6), Pike (1), Schuylkill (2), Susquehanna (1), Wayne (1), Wyoming (1)
South East (67)
Berks (7), Bucks (12), Chester (8), Delaware (11), Lancaster (6), Lehigh (7), Montgomery (16)
North Central (18)
Bedford (1), Blair (1), Centre (3), Clinton (1), Columbia (1), Fulton (1), Huntingdon (1), Juniata (1), Lycoming (1), Mifflin (1), Montour (1), Northumberland (1), Snyder (1), Sullivan (1), Tioga (1), Union (1)
North West (23)
Armstrong (1), Butler (3), Cameron (1), Clarion (1), Clearfield (1), Crawford (1), Elk (1), Erie (6), Forest (1), Jefferson (1), McKean (1), Mercer (2), Potter (1), Venango (1), Warren (1)
Philadelphia (49)
South West (25)
Beaver (3), Cambria (3), Fayette (3), Greene (1), Indiana (1), Lawrence (2), Somerset (1), Washington (4), Westmoreland (7)
South Central (21)
Adams (1), Cumberland (4), Dauphin (5), Franklin (2), Lebanon (2), Perry (1), York (6)
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11 Responses
Former Lower Merion Constable Eric Bradway is running for Governor on The Democratic Ticket !
Give it up already. @2:05am FFS
Well, the committee will certainly try for an endorsement vote.
John Fetterman, Conor Lamb, Malcolm Kenyatta, and Val Arkoosh are the only 4 that have a hope of getting double-digit support in the first round of voting, and the others have no change of gaining any traction.
The voting SHOULD be done by RANKED CHOICE to do it in one round.
The KEY question is: which candidate has the best chance of winning the General election?
For the past 20 years, PA has never elected a Senator to the Left of Bob Casey or Arlen Specter. If two decades of voting history are a guide… I think there is only one candidate in the field who has a shot at winning the General.
Advantage: Lamb
Agree. Conor Lamb is the candidate who can win in November. We can’t outliberal ourselves to a Senate seat in a moderate to conservative state like Pa.
Agree! Fetterman would lose state wide.
Will the candidate say if its your body and government cannot forbid you from abortions, then government cannot force you to wear a mask on your body to take a vaccine in your body.
Or will the candidate be a hypocrite?
And how about Biden now choosing s Supreme Court basis solely on the basis of race and gender, just like he did for VP, thereby eliminating Hispanics, Dominicans, Caucasians, etc.
So it is ok to make decisions on race and gender now? Should not be.
Do you feel that there aren’t enough Caucasians on the Supreme Court and they are under-represented?
Biden campaigned and was elected on his promise to add diversity to Supreme Court, and specifically a woman of color.
Is requiring wearing a seatbelt a violation of your body? Is requiring children to sit in a car seat a violation? Is requiring people to wear pants (or skirts) in public a violation?
Adding masks to “No shoes, no shirt, no service” during a pandemic is just commonsense.
Kids have been vaccinated for school for decades. That’s how we wiped out polio, smallpox, and a host of other diseases.
Grow up and get vaccinated.. or refuse to take up a hospital bed if you get covid.
The committee needs to endorse Austin Davis for lt governor. If Brian sims ends up on the ticket for the general, Shapiro can kiss western pa, the T, and the African American vote goodbye.