“People are going to learn a lot more about these candidates between now and the primary in May”
PENNSYLVANIA — A new article from The Dispatch takes a look at Trump’s lingering influence on the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary. The piece not only highlights the infighting that has come to define the “crowded” field and Sean Parnell’s legal battles, but includes input from GOP political experts who are forecasting a long and messy race to the right for the rest of this primary.
Pennsylvania Republican strategist Dan Hayward told the publication that “a path forward for a non-Trumpy candidate is narrower than [former anti-Trump candidate] Snyder posits, ‘I’m hard-pressed to find that.’” This spells trouble for a party that desperately hopes to win back suburban voters, among whom Trump has become a poison pill.
The article makes mention of how many of the candidates are well-funded enough to make waves in this primary. On the Bartos-supporting Super PAC, Hayward told The Dispatch that “a super PAC with that level of funding could make a difference in the race depending on how the money is used: ‘That’s an X factor.’”
Hayward also pointed to “Sands’ pledge to spend so much of her own money as a possible reason: ‘If anyone does I would say Carla Sands. $3 million is a lot of reasons you’re able to break through.’”
Hayward isn’t the only GOP expert who forecasts a long primary in this race:
“Longtime GOP political consultant in Pennsylvania, Christopher Nicholas, told The Dispatch Trump’s endorsement matters, but there’s still a long way to go until the day of the primary: ‘People are going to learn a lot more about these candidates between now and the primary in May. While the Trump endorsement will be very important, especially for fundraising, it remains to be seen how much it impacts an election six months away.’”
Hayward and Nichols are far from the only GOP insiders in the commonwealth to be worried about this primary. As it continues to only get nastier, it’s clear that this field of flawed and well-funded candidates will drag this primary out to the bitter end.
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