News & Brews August 1, 2022
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Why are ‘thousands’ of Pa. Dems leaving for Republican party?
The Post-Gazette says “No one seems sure why” thousands of Democrats in Pa. are switching their party registration to Republican. (I have my opinions.) The story notes there’s a “statewide trend that’s seen upwards of 38,000 Democrats switch parties this year, while only about 12,000 former Republicans are now Democrats.” Democrats still hold an overall voter registration edge, “and some party members insist that the new GOP registrants are less a symbol of a Republican crossover appeal and more an indicator that many Democrats who had already been voting for Republicans for years are just now making the switch official. They say that there’s no reason to panic because the results won’t look any different in November.” Of course, not everyone agrees. Read more at the Post-Gazette.
Will Fetterman’s trolling of Oz motivate voters?
Democrat John Fetterman’s social media strategy targeting Republican Mehmet Oz is ‘top notch,’ according to Republicans, but will it work to reach and motivate voters enough to help Fetterman win election to the U.S. Senate in November? The AP looks at this question.
‘Don’t underestimate Rep. Carrie DelRosso’
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that GOP Lt. Gov. nominee Carrie DelRosso is playing a balancing act with running-mate Doug Mastriano, as she’s pairing her strong base of labor support with Mastriano’s base of “core supporters in the evangelical and patriot movements.” As the chair of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County observes,“Don’t count her out, and don’t underestimate her…. She’s a formidable woman.”
Shutdowns, masks, and vaccine mandates make some parents single-issue voters
The NY Times writes (with open disdain, I might add) of the large number of parents–both Democrats and Republicans—who have become single-issue voters due to opposition to Covid policies that closed schools, masked kids, and forced Covid vaccinations as a condition of learning. Tangentially, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board highlights a study from the American Enterprise Institute showing that schools that had more remote vs. in-person learning lost more students during the 2020-21 academic year.