Pennsylvania, here we come
Pennsylvania has once again emerged as one of the most competitive states in the 2022 midterms, with Senate control running right through the state – for retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s seat, but an equally important gubernatorial race where Trump fanatic Doug Mastriano won the GOP nomination and is running against current PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
When Mastriano, who openly taunted that he’d do all in his power to swing the next presidential election to Republicans, won the nomination, Cook Political Report immediately changed the state of the race to Lean Democrat – a reflection of the fact that voters generally despise extremism from either the left or the right. Shapiro is a solid candidate with a proven track record – and Democrats are getting solidly behind him.
Not only has he gotten the support of high profile Democrats, but a number of GOP leaders in Pennsylvania have also recently given Shapiro their endorsement. Ten leaders of the Pennsylvania Republican Party have decided that Mastriano’s insane rhetoric could probably cost them in legislative races down the ballot – nearly all of them former House representatives, assembly speakers or state supreme court justices.
Although there are a number of Trumpers in Pennsylvania that helped carry the former guy to victory in 2016, many statewide Republican leaders in the state owe their election victories to moderate Republicans – the same ones who voted for Gov. Tom Wolf in 2018, and these endorsements from moderates with nothing to lose could make a difference in a race we need to win. Let’s do all we can to help Josh Shapiro become governor on November 8.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making