(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania Republicans suffered losses up and down the ballot on Tuesday.
Now, the blame game begins over why Democrats had a successful midterm election.
“Despite Senate Republicans having top-tier candidates, the national headwinds – including higher gas prices and the war with Iran – were insurmountable obstacles that could not be overcome in this election cycle,” said Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, a Republican representing the 39th District.
In addition to having the White House, Republicans held a majority in both chambers of Congress in Washington D.C heading into the midterm elections. And in Pennsylvania, Republicans held a majority in the state Senate.
While Trump will remain in the Oval Office, those Republican majorities will be gone in the new year. Democrats secured historic wins for U.S. Senate flipping several seats blue for the first time in decades, while also holding a commanding advantage in the U.S. House. Four seats, targeted by Democrats, flipped from red to blue in Pennsylvania alone with the victories of Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, Scranton Mayor Pagie Cognetti, firefighters union leader Bob Brooks, and former television anchor Janelle Stelson.
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro coasted to reelection, defeating Republican State Treasurer Stacy Garrity by 22 points, just two years after President Donald Trump won the Keystone State’s 19 electoral votes.
For the first time in three decades, Democrats will have a trifecta in Pennsylvania’s General Assembly after flipping four state Senate seats. The party also added to its majority in the state House, giving Shapiro the ability to enact significant parts of his agenda.
During his campaign, Shapiro made winning a trifecta a key part of his bid for a second term. He said that if he secured a second term and secured that trifecta, he would raise the state’s minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, sign bills to constitutionalize abortion rights, give victims of sexual abuse the opportunity to confront their abusers in court, invest in mass transit across the state, and build more housing.
Ward argues the results from Tuesday will have a negative impact on Pennsylvanians.
“There’s no question the results of this election will have significant consequences for our commonwealth in the form of higher taxes, increased electric rates, power grid challenges, stagnating our energy potential with net-zero policies and government interfering in our personal lives,” Ward said. “Senate Republicans respect the will of the people and will continue to fight for Pennsylvanians.”
Following those significant losses, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, a Republican representing the 41st District, said “the electorate has spoken and the election results are profound for our nation and our commonwealth.”
“While the outcome is not what we had hoped, I am proud of the incredible hard work of each of our members,” Pittman continued. “Our Senate Republican Caucus has been steadfast in stopping massive spending increases proposed by Democrats and upholding our Constitutional rights and freedoms. This is a new time of transition, but our fight for Pennsylvanians will not cease.”
State Rep. Russ Diamond, a Republican representing Lebanon County, offered a lengthy statement on social media following the midterm elections. Noting that he’s a “6-time Trump voter,” Diamond made the case that the president’s second term “started out well” and pointed to border security, DOGE, and policies aimed at improving the domestic economy.
“But he flinched on the Epstein files. And then he launched military action against Iran that certainly appeared to run counter to his stated stance against messy foreign conflicts and impacted everyday Americans where it always hurts the most – energy prices,” Diamond said. “Add those factors to the underlying decade-long hatred of Trump by the left and others who just don’t like his personality, along with a completely feckless US Congress that accomplished next to nothing for two years, and you have a recipe for exactly what happened on November 3rd all across the country.”
Despite the president’s name not being on the ballot, Diamond said that Trump’s record was on the ballot on Tuesday.
“For the Republican party, the post-Trump era begins today,” Diamond said. “We can still be hopeful that the second half of his second term as President is successful, but we also need to look further down the road to determine our party’s direction for the future. We don’t have to compromise our values to do that. We don’t have to resign ourselves to accept being in the minority as permanent. And we certainly can’t afford to be afraid of our own shadows.”
“But we do need to engage with the people, be good listeners, and stay true to our word,” he continued. “I have always tried to do these things, and will continue to do so to the best of my ability.”
Vice President J.D. Vance also issued a lengthy explanation for why he believed Republicans had lost the trust of voters who had supported them two years earlier. In his post, Vance pinpointed the war in Iran, the cost of living, putting America First, and changing the U.S. relationship with Israel.
Former U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, who was successful in his two bids for statewide office in Pennsylvania, took issue with Vance’s assessment, saying he is “mistaken.”
“The reason we Republicans lost yesterday is not just the war in Iran,” Toomey said. “Yes, the resulting higher fuel prices contributed to the inflation that infuriated Americans who were promised lower prices by this administration.”
“But the war is not the only cause,” he continued. “Arbitrary and capricious tariffs directly raised costs for all American consumers. Lower income Americans can least afford them. Many voted for Democrats yesterday.”
Toomey, a noted fiscal conservative who served as the President of Club for Growth from 2005-2009, made the case that tariffs should be “a central part, but only part, of the “honest conversation” VP Vance wants Republicans to have about the future of our party.”
“For instance, we all seem to oppose government-owned grocery stores,” Toomey argued. “But are we ok with government ownership of semiconductors companies and rare earth miners? We oppose rent controls. But do we support price controls on medicines and credit cards?”
“The bigger question is does the Republican party now agree with the left that we need a large, powerful central government to run the economy, allocate capital and control prices? Or, do we believe that free men and women should be able to engage in commerce as they see fit and that a free enterprise system will create a higher standard of living and the greatest opportunities for the most people as it always has?” Toomey continued. “Let’s have an “honest conversation.””
Toomey, who decided not to seek reelection in 2022, found himself at odds with Trump at times over a few policy matters. In 2021, Toomey was one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump at an impeachment trial, the Associated Press noted, believing that Trump betrayed his office by trying to “hold on to power despite having legitimately lost” the election to Joe Biden.
In an interview with CNN in August, Toomey pleaded with Republicans in competitive races to “localize the election” as he noted that Trump was “very unpopular” in those battleground regions.
