Pennsylvania midterms may be more a referendum on Trump than Biden – By Julian Roth (Pittsburgh Post Gazette) / Oct 3 2021
The midterm elections — usually a referendum on the sitting president and the party in power — may actually be a litmus test of Pennsylvania’s attitude toward the former president, analysts, insiders and experts said this past week.
That’s the reality of politics now in the state that Donald Trump won in 2016 but lost four years later to Joe Biden, and where the presence of the former office holder — a cattle prod to voters of both political leanings — looms large in a high-profile race for the U.S. Senate, a pivotal contest for governor and a much-scrutinized venture in Harrisburg to relitigate the last presidential election.
There’s still a lot of admiration for Mr. Trump’s “America-first” philosophies and many would like to see him run again in 2024 — showing that he still remains “a powerful force in the party,” said Dave Ball, chair of the Washington County GOP.
“I think that when you look at elections the way those of us who are responsible for winning elections do, it certainly doesn’t hurt to invoke the [former] president’s name,” Mr. Ball said of the candidates. “He’s still very popular.”
