PENNSYLVANIA — As more Republicans enter Pennsylvania’s Gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races, Pennsylvania Republicans remain solely focused on Trump litmus tests: embracing the Big Lie and leaning into fringe culture war issues instead of the concerns of everyday Pennsylvanians. Attacks over MAGA purity tests have already started to define the Republican senate primary. Over the weekend, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that many Republican operatives fear Trump’s influence over the GOP could cost them elections both in Pennsylvania and across the country.
From The Philadelphia Inquirer: What Sean Parnell, Liz Cheney, and Rudy Giuliani show about Trump’s hold on Pa. Republicans
On Tuesday, Republican Sean Parnell launched his campaign for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, highlighting a tweet from Donald Trump Jr. calling him “100% rock-solid America First.”
On Wednesday, several of the state’s congressional Republicans praised the move to purge Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) from House leadership for the sin of calling out former President Donald Trump’s election lies.
And on Saturday, one of those lies’ main superspreaders, Rudy Giuliani, is visiting Pennsylvania for a fund-raiser alongside state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a potential candidate for governor.
As Pennsylvania Republicans maneuver for nationally watched gubernatorial and Senate races next year, this week shows Trump’s influence remains as powerful as ever — to the delight of many Republicans who still see him as their leader, and the consternation of others who fear his imprint could cost them winnable elections with sweeping national implications.
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Like Snover, Rep. Scott Perry (R., Pa.) also presented the former president as a picture of GOP success in explaining his vote against Cheney. It was “not good” to have a party leader criticizing the person who in 2020 got more votes than any Republican presidential candidate ever, Perry told Fox Business.
It was an accurate but incomplete data point: Trump also helped drive historic turnout for Democrats. President Joe Biden got the most votes of any presidential candidate ever.
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Consider that 83% of Pennsylvania Republicans saw Trump favorably, according to a February survey by Harrisburg-based Susquehanna Polling and Research. Even after Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, his standing in some conservative areas was higher than before he lost. But 85% of Democrats and 61% of Independents said they’d be less likely to vote for a candidate affiliated with Trump.
“That is a brick wall with a couple layers of thickness to it,” said Susquehanna president Jim Lee, whose clients include GOP candidates. “What’s an advantage in the primary becomes a liability in the fall.”
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“I don’t see any diminution of Trump’s popularity within the party,” York County Republican chair Jeff Piccola said last month. “What I don’t see is that popularity necessarily transferrable to other people.”
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Hours before Parnell’s campaign launch, 12 GOP county chairs and state lawmakers, including several from deeply conservative areas, signed a letter urging him to instead run again for U.S. House, and saying the party should unite for Senate behind Jeff Bartos, a real estate developer who lives on the Main Line.
Bartos, who has longstanding ties to the traditional GOP establishment, ran digital ads this week saying Parnell “sided with liberals,” and linking to a 2016 tweet in which Parnell said Trump should release his tax returns — tacitly acknowledging the importance of the president’s base.
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