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“Pennsylvania's hotly contested U.S. Senate Republican primary between TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund executive David McCormick was still undecided on Wednesday… Oz, whose candidacy was propelled by a late endorsement from former President Donald Trump, led McCormick by just over 500 ballots cast on Tuesday out of nearly 1.3 million counted… On the Democratic side, [John] Fetterman defeated moderate U.S. Representative Conor Lamb.” Reuters
“Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano held off a challenge by a crowded field of candidates to secure the GOP nomination [for governor] on Tuesday… Mastriano first gained a following by leading anti-shutdown rallies during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, then became among Trump's most dedicated supporters during the 2020 campaign. He worked with Trump to overturn the presidential election and organized bus trips to the nation's capital for Trump's Jan. 6 ‘Stop the Steal’ rally.” WFMZ
The right argues that the results show Republicans still support Trump’s America First policies.
“Did Trump choose candidates who were already well on their way to winning? Or did his endorsement catapult most of these winners to the top? Likely a mix of both, depending on the state. Oz, for instance, already had mega name recognition and familiarity thanks to his popular, long-running television show, and millions of dollars to finance his campaign. Other candidates, such as J.D. Vance in Ohio, received an undeniable boost because of Trump…
“Regardless, what other political leader in the last fifty years has garnered this kind of influence? Trump is a reference point for every forecast and factors into every politically oriented conversation. Every candidate I can think of was vying for Trump’s endorsement and tried to endear themselves to him. What we’ve learned is that ‘MAGA king’ Trump is not infallible. And that’s a good thing. But he is still very, very clearly the big, popular elephant in the room, and the movement he played a huge role in growing is alive and well…
“Meanwhile, it’s obvious the left is still obsessed with (and afraid of) the former president. CNN was so giddy about Trump’s potential fall from grace, they wrote the day before the elections that he ‘could be facing an endorsement Waterloo this week.’ The mainstream media appears to have taken these races more seriously than anyone on the right did, using these primaries as a test of Trump’s popularity, both now and two years from now. After last night, they should be disappointed.”
Teresa Mull, Spectator World
“Here’s one thing we know for certain: every Republican candidate who prevails in the next round of primaries will do so because he or she supports Trump America First policies. As each primary comes and goes, one undeniable fact will emerge. Voters are longing for the Trump years of promises made and promises kept. They want a booming economy, low gas prices, a secure border, safe streets, and a peace through strength foreign policy. So, while tracking endorsements, wins and losses is good for ratings and clicks, it’s important not to lose sight of where the hearts and minds of the American people are.”
David N. Bossie, Fox News
“A second takeaway from Tuesday’s results is that Republicans have a real enthusiasm edge. In the Pennsylvania primaries, with potentially tens of thousands of ballots to be counted, at least 1.33 million Republicans voted, compared with 1.2 million Democrats. In the last midterm primaries, four years ago, at least 737,312 Republicans and 775,660 Democrats voted in the Keystone State…
“As of this writing North Carolina Republican turnout totaled 759,554 while Democratic turnout was 613,170. Four years ago, 294,295 Republicans and 431,875 Democrats turned out in the Tarheel State primaries for Congress. The GOP turnout increases of 80% in Pennsylvania and 158% in North Carolina should worry Democrats.”
Karl Rove, Wall Street Journal
The left argues that the results show the importance of candidates’ styles and criticizes Mastriano.
The left argues that the results show the importance of candidates’ styles and criticizes Mastriano.
“Some people consider it distasteful to focus on a candidate’s aesthetics over their message, but in Fetterman’s case, aesthetics is part of the message, and the message has resonated with Keystone State voters. His success comes in part because many voters are attracted to candidates more by ‘vibes’ than by detailed policy platforms. Looking and sounding like a Yinzer roughneck is handy when many of the voters you need to win do too…
“He has a chance to reach voters who wouldn’t typically vote for a Democrat. He is testing the idea that leftist candidates can win non-leftist voters with the right aesthetics and a platform of ‘workers, wages, weed.’ Marijuana legalization, though not popular with elected Republicans, is popular with Republican voters. And in a recent focus group of Donald Trump voters, some even said they’d consider voting for Fetterman… The Republican race is still too close to call, but a matchup with either Mehmet Oz, the physician turned television quack, or David McCormick, a former hedge-fund CEO, would seem to play to Fetterman’s strengths—or perhaps to his vibes.”
David A. Graham, The Atlantic
“[Win or lose] Trump’s candidates are winning about a third of the vote. That’s not nothing, but it does mean that two-thirds of Republican primary voters are either ignoring or opposing his wishes… Party actors — the Club for Growth, big individual funders such as the Silicon Valley billionaire and Vance backer Peter Thiel, politicians with local clout such as Republican Senator Thom Tillis in North Carolina, a big player in Cawthorn’s defeat, and most of all Republican-aligned media such as Fox News and talk radio hosts — are probably a much bigger story in terms of actually moving votes than Trump is…
“Moreover, while it’s convenient to slap the Trumpism label on the radicalism of the dominant coalition within the party, it’s far from clear that Trump has much say in what Trumpism actually means. Sure, he’s successfully pushed candidates to talk about fictional fraud in the 2020 election, but Republicans were obsessed with fictional voter fraud long before Trump began his 2016 campaign, and resentment has been a winning theme in Republican politics far longer than that.”
Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg
"Mr. Mastriano pushed aggressively to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in Pennsylvania, embracing the theory that the state legislature could void the results and appoint its own slate of electors for Donald Trump, for whom he is a sycophant. Mr. Mastriano pressed the Justice Department to get involved in the bogus fraud claims he sought to advance. Neither state GOP leaders nor the Justice Department followed along, which is why his push did not result in a major constitutional crisis. If he is governor in 2024, there is little doubt he would use his authority to reject free-and-fair election results, should the voters favor a Democratic candidate in the crucial swing state.”
Editorial Board, Washington Post
