Some Pennsylvania Republicans anxious after Trump’s campaign announcement

Less than a week from some crushing midterm defeats for the Republican Party, former president Donald Trump announced his 2024 bid for the White House to mixed reactions from local Republicans and political experts.

Sam DeMarco, chair of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County, supports the former president, but wishes that Trump would have held off on any announcement. He wanted to allow more time for Republicans across the country to regroup.

DeMarco said there isn’t the same level of excitement among local Republicans for Trump’s presidential campaign as there was in the past.

“As the Republican party reflects, the former president still has a solid base of support who backs his agenda — cutting taxes, deregulation, energy independence, foreign policy, etc. — but at the same time they are looking to move past the chaos,” said DeMarco.

Republicans in Pennsylvania suffered defeats up and down the ballot on Election Day. Democrat Josh Shapiro won the governorship — marking the first time in modern state history that Democrats will hold the governor’s mansion for three consecutive terms.

John Fetterman, a Democrat from Braddock, flipped a Republican-controlled U.S. Senate seat. And Democrats have a chance to flip the state House, which they haven’t held since 2010.

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Given these losses, DeMarco said midterm voters overall are rejecting some of Trump’s rhetoric, particularly his claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

He said he believes that even Republican voters are more focused on the problems they face today, than reliving the 2020 election.

“I think that the voters clearly indicated last Tuesday that they were ready to move on and were no longer interested in hearing about and relitigating something from over two years ago,” he said. “Nothing has happened in the last two years which has borne out any proof of any widespread fraud that would have affected the election.

“My advice for the Republican party moving forward is to focus on solving the problems of the American people today. I believe that’s where the voters’ focus is, on their problems and not someone else’s.”

Carrie Lewis DelRosso, of Oakmont, was the Republican nominee for Pennsylvania lieutenant governor with Trump-endorsed governor candidate Doug Mastriano. They were defeated by the Democratic ticket of Josh Shapiro and Austin Davis. Mastriano conceded the election Sunday.

DelRosso said she’s not sure if a third Trump candidacy would help or hurt Republicans.

“I think it’s time that you move forward,” she said.

Asked if Trump should have waited until after the new Congress is seated to make his announcement, DelRosso said, “I think Trump is going to do what Trump wants to do.”

Kristen Coopie, an assistant teaching professor of political science at Duquesne University, said it’s likely that Republicans may be second guessing granting immediate allegiance to Trump, considering the GOP’s poor showing in the midterms.

“I can’t imagine the Republican party as a whole will be very welcoming of this announcement right now,” said Coopie.

She said Trump’s announcement is likely about raising campaign donations, as much of Trump-related dollars are locked up into Super PACs and the former president is facing investigations that could deplete his campaign resources.

“The whole point of announcing now is to get the campaign up and running, and to drive the fundraising,” she said. “Earning money is going to be a huge issue.”

Coopie said Trump’s announcement will also make things more chaotic for any potential down-ballot Republicans seeking to flip the senate or maintain what is likely to be a narrow House majority. That could be adding to Republicans’ anxieties.

In Pennsylvania in 2024, Republicans will face off against Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat from Scranton, a formidable and well-known incumbent.

She said Republican candidates in Pennsylvania would likely prefer to run independent of Trump, instead of trying to react to what happens in his campaign. However, she noted that it will be difficult with a candidate like Trump who places a high value on personal loyalty.

“I think after the results of this midterm, everyone is reflecting,” said Coopie. “Voters and leaders are probably thinking about candidate quality, not just who is the most extreme and electrifying.”

But it might not be so easy to dissociate with Trump. Rob Gleason, who served as chairman of Pennsylvania’s Republican Party from 2006 to 2016, told the Tribune-Review last week that despite midterm losses, its likely that Trump is still the most popular and prominent figure among Pennsylvania Republicans, and that is unlikely to change quickly.

In Allegheny County, that might makes things harder for Republicans in future General Elections, considering that 2020 midterm voters broke sharply away from Trump and toward Democrats like Shapiro.

According to University of Pittsburgh history professor Lara Putnam, Shapiro flipped the vast majority of Allegheny County precincts that narrowly voted for Trump in 2020, aka where Trump won by 51%-60% of the vote.

In these swing precincts that narrowly supported Trump, the former president won them on average with 56% of the vote. But in 2022, Shapiro won those same precincts with 59% of the vote.

DeMarco said he was a staunch supporter of Trump while he was in office, but he would have rather seen Trump forgo a run at this point, believing he can have a different role in the Republican Party.

“It’s time to move to new generations of leaders, and for former President Trump to move into more of a kingmaker role than a candidate himself,” he said.

Going forward, DelRosso said, Republicans should support mail-in voting.

“You’ve got to remember that people work second and third shift,” she said. “If they think they can’t make it to the poll, it’s a secure way of getting your vote in.”