Western Pa. GOP focuses ire on Pat Toomey, as Republicans battle for control of the party

The border separating Allegheny County from the surrounding metro area is beginning to look more like the fault lines shaking a Republican Party trying to come to terms with the aftermath of a second impeachment trial of former President Trump.

County GOP chairs in Westmoreland, Washington, Fayette, Lawrence, York and a number of other counties that supported Trump last year doubled down on their support for the former president with censure votes against U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey after the Lehigh Valley Republican voted to convict Trump.

Allegheny County GOP Chair Sam DeMarco, however, would like to put the whole episode behind them.

Toomey was among seven Senate Republicans who crossed party lines last weekend in an attempt to convict Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Ultimately, the 57-43 vote for conviction fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed.

Toomey announced in October he will not seek reelection in 2022.

Nonetheless, state and local GOP Republican committees are lashing out against Toomey and those other six senators, much as they previously blasted 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. Like Toomey, other Republican senators to feel the sting of censure for their conviction votes are Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Richard Burr of North Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.

In Pennsylvania, eight of nine Republican congressmen voted to discard the state’s electoral votes for Joe Biden. All nine then voted against impeachment — leaving Toomey as the sole Keystone State Republican to stand against the former president.

The Republican State Committee is weighing whether to issue a statewide censure of Toomey.

That could make it even tougher for state party leaders to realize their hopes to put 2020 in the rear-view mirror and steer the Pennsylvania GOP — once known for producing moderates on the national stage — back on a track to become the party of Ronald Reagan.

Political scientist G. Terry Madonna, a longtime Pennsylvania political observer, said increasing rightward moves within the party suggest the state organization will follow through with a vote.

“I don’t think they go through all this effort and not censure him,” he said.

A censure is a formal statement of disapproval by a party — often of one of its own members — that is seen as a condemnation or denouncement. It does not include expulsion from office or party.

Toomey, a fiscal conservative who occasionally broke with Trump on trade policy, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But he has consistently framed his votes as a matter of conscience dictated by the evidence.

I was one of the 74 million Americans who voted for President Trump, in part because of the many accomplishments of his administration. Unfortunately, his behavior after the election betrayed the confidence millions of us placed in him.

— Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) February 13, 2021

In a statement issued following Saturday’s vote, he harshly criticized Trump for fomenting false claims of a stolen election. He said Trump gathered the mob and urged them to march on the Capitol in a last-ditch attempt to hold onto the office.

“As a result of President Trump’s actions, for the first time in American history, the transfer of presidential power was not peaceful,” Toomey wrote. “A lawless attempt to retain power by a president was one of the founders’ greatest fears motivating the inclusion of the impeachment authorities in the U.S. Constitution.”

That riled Republicans in the red rural counties of Southwestern Pennsylvania that ring Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.

“That’s his opinion,” said Washington County GOP Chair David Ball. Toomey’s vote to move forward with a trial was enough to draw the wrath of Republicans. The Washington County group voted to censure Toomey even before the senator voted to convict Trump.

Ball said he suspects that, given a chance, nearly every Washington County voter who cast a ballot for Trump would do so again.

“We strongly disapprove of (Toomey’s) actions, both to hear the case and the subsequent vote to convict. When he voted to hear the case, that was surprising. When he voted to convict, it was shocking,” said Westmoreland County Republican Chair Bill Bretz. “While there are always instances in which we disagree even with elected officials from our own party, Sen. Toomey’s impeachment vote was simply not acceptable.”

A spokesman for the Fayette County Republican Committee announced its decision to censure Toomey on Facebook.

“We hope that all counties will do the same. It is time for him to resign,” the Fayette Republican Committee declared.

A different take in Allegheny County

Back in Allegheny County, hesitant to follow suit was DeMarco — who is working in a different demographic than his surrounding counterparts. While they are trending Republican, Allegheny County — like most urban areas — is firmly Democratic and worried about losing its edge among suburban voters to Democrats.

While DeMarco supported Trump, he’s not sure the former president should be the current focus of the party.

He may eventually call the committee to meet on censure. But he said he would not support anything short of a full committee vote — and even then worried that it could be both divisive and distracting to a party that just lost the presidency and the Senate, and is facing openings in the governor’s office and the U.S. Senate in 2022.

“I’m trying to be thoughtful rather than reflective,” DeMarco said. “I don’t agree with (Toomey’s) vote, and it wasn’t helpful to the party. But I wasn’t down there.

“You don’t have to agree with us 100% of the time to be a Republican, and that’s what seems to be lost in some of this anger over an inconsequential vote. At the end of the day, a censure doesn’t mean anything. It’s not going to remove anyone from office.

“My focus is on 2021 and trying to grow the party. We have a crucial election year coming up. And instead of focusing on winning a Supreme Court seat, we have folks focusing on Pat Toomey.”