April 25th: The Downward Pull

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What We’re Hearing. “There’s no question that there’s work that the former president has to do with suburban voters, particularly suburban women, particularly in the Philadelphia collar-county area.” – Christian Nascimento, chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Committee.

Happy Birthday. Cake and candles for former Rep. Keith Rothfus.

Daily Bruce. “We made a promise we swore we’d always remember,
No retreat (baby) no surrender” – No Surrender

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Top Story

1. In High-Stakes Pennsylvania Senate Race, Can Casey and McCormick Outrun Biden and Trump?

“Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump campaigned in Pennsylvania in the days leading to Tuesday’s primary elections — a reflection of the prominent role the state is expected to play in November and a move that traditionally has helped boost down-ballot candidates in key battleground states.

But analysts say the key to winning Pennsylvania’s high-stakes Senate contest may be in the candidates’ ability to outrun the downward pull of a presidential race led by two deeply unpopular figures.

“It’s a pretty heavy gravity that’s pulling you down,” said Chris Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion in Allentown.” (USA Today)

Related

Summer Lee Proves That “Opposing Genocide Is Good Politics and Good Policy” “Last week, the Pennsylvania representative voted against unconditional military aid for Israel. This week, she won what was supposed to be a tough primary by an overwhelming margin.” (The Nation)

AIPAC Stayed Out Of Pennsylvania So They Wouldn’t Lose To Summer Lee Again. “Rep. Summer Lee easily won her primary in Pennsylvania’s 12th district. Israel lobby groups stayed out of the race as support for Palestine surges among Democratic voters.” (Mondoweiss)

Biden’s Pennsylvania Campaign Making Pitch To Haley Voters: Come On Over. “President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is wasting no time trying to court some of the more than 150,000 Republicans who voted for former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in Tuesday’s primary.” (Penn Capital-Star)

Donald Trump Has a Republicans Problem in Pennsylvania. “Bob McMahon voted for Donald Trump in 2016. He voted for him again in 2020. But in a primary already decided for the former president, McMahon couldn’t vote for Trump again.” (NOTUS)

Pining for Pennsylvania: Trump’s Philadelphia Suburban Problem Lingers. “Former President Donald Trump’s struggles with suburban voters have plagued him throughout the 2024 primary cycle, continuing even when he is the only GOP candidate still in the race.” (Washington Examiner)

State

2. One of Four Pennsylvanians Turn Out For Primary Election

“Just one in four registered Republicans and Democrats in Pennsylvania cast a vote in the state’s 2024 presidential primary, according to unofficial data compiled by PoliticsPA.

Only 12 of the Commonwealth’s 67 counties saw turnout that exceeded 30 percent, headlined by Wyoming County that saw 34.63 percent of its 5,350 registered voters go to the poll or mail in a ballot.” (PoliticsPA)

• “Disappointing” Philly Primary Turnout Could Be Omen For Repeat In November. (Billy Penn)
• Pittsburgh Region Sees Lowest Presidential Primary Turnout Since 2012. (Tribune Review)

Related

Tuned Out Or Turned Off? What The Pennsylvania Primary Results Mean For Biden and Trump. “With the top-ticket races already decided, Pennsylvanians voted sparsely, perhaps begrudgingly, in the primary this week.” (USA Today)

Erie Political Expert Unpacks PA Presidential Primary Results. “A political history professor is calling the percentage of people who voted for Nikki Haley Tuesday the most interesting outcome of the primaries.” (YourErie.com)

Shapiro: ‘Unacceptable’ Some Universities Can’t Guarantee Student Safety Amid Protests. “Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday denounced universities for failing to guarantee the safety of students as some protests over the Israel-Hamas war have turned confrontational and led to antisemitic incidents.” (POLITICO)

• Shapiro Jabs At University Leaders Over Safety Concerns During Pro-Palestinian Protests. (PennLive)

Around The Commonwealth

3. Montco State Rep Proposes Requiring Greater Clarity On County Election Website Addresses To Negate Scams

“A Democrat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is sponsoring a bill that would require all county election offices in the commonwealth to obtain a website URL ending in .gov in order to provide the public with more immediate clarity about which election websites are official government sites and which are not.

The legislative memo for the bill from Rep. Joe Webster was introduced in February, weeks before Broad + Liberty reported on Vote.pa, a Democratic-aligned, left-wing funded website that registers people to vote, but also harvests their data like phone numbers and email addresses in order to create a contacts database for campaigning.” (Broad + Liberty)

Related

Pennsylvania Redesigned Its Mail-In Ballot Envelopes Amid Litigation. Some Voters Still Tripped Up. “A form Pennsylvania voters must complete on the outside of mail-in ballot return envelopes has been redesigned, but that did not prevent some voters from failing to complete it accurately for this week’s primary, and some votes will not count as a result, election officials said.” (AP)

Will This Former TV Anchor Give Longtime Rep. Scott Perry A Run For His Political Life? “On the night she won the first political race of her life in dominating fashion, Janelle Stelson indicated she is ready to double down on a public prosecution of U.S. Rep Scott Perry for his actions in support of former President Donald J. Trump after the 2020 election.” (PennLive)

Sterling Township Voting Error Caught; Olsommer Wins Special Election, Republican Primary. “A mistake at the polling place in Sterling Township on Tuesday, April 23, resulted in 24 voters casting votes twice in the special election to fill former state Rep. Joe Adams’ unexpired term in the 139th District.” (Tri-County Independent)

Three-Way Democratic Primary For A West Philly State House Seat Remains Too Close To Call. “The Democratic primary between State Rep. Amen Brown and progressive challenger Cass Green remained too close to call Wednesday, prolonging the drama in one of the most competitive Pennsylvania House races in Tuesday’s primary election.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

‘Angry Words’ Or A Federal Crime? Lawyers Clash In Closing Arguments As John Dougherty Extortion Trial Heads To Jury. “With their final pitches to jurors Wednesday, attorneys in John Dougherty’s federal extortion trial sought to cement two vastly different portraits of the former labor leader with the panel charged with rendering a verdict in the case.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Editorial

4. What’s On Your Mind

• On Presidential Immunity (Trump Included) (Wall Street Journal)
• Thank You, PA Politicians, For The Fun You Provide. (John Baer)
• Conservatives And Progressives Make The Same Big Mistake. (Ruth Ann Dailey)
• Leadership Goes In Many Directions. (Gerald Zahorchak)
• We Have A Radical Democracy. Will Trump Voters Destroy It? (Robert Kagan)

1 Thing

5. 8-Year-Old Takes Election Worker Job Seriously

“Lawrence County possibly has the youngest election worker in the state of Pennsylvania.

At 8 years old, Ronnie Germani was tasked Tuesday night with carrying voting books from the door where they were delivered at the courthouse to the people recording and filing them in the county elections office.

She was one of about 35 election workers sworn in for the post-election work at the courthouse.” (New Castle News)

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