News & Brews November 7, 2024
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U.S. Senate, congressional races in Pa. still not called
Our U.S. Senate race along with a trio of congressional races have not yet been officially “called” in Pa., but in half of these, the Democrats have conceded. On the Senate front, Republican Dave McCormick continues to hold a narrow lead over incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. As of now, per Pa.’s election returns website, that lead is around 28,000 votes. This is less than half a percentage point, which means the race could head for an automatic recount if the margin remains within that range. On the congressional front, Democrat Rep. Susan Wild conceded to Republican challenger state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, and Democrat Rep. Matt Cartwright conceded to Republican Rob Bresnahan. In the 10th District in south-central Pa., GOP Rep. Scott Perry continues to lead Democrat Janelle Stelson, but PennLive reports that even though “Perry’s re-election seems assured,” he has not declared victory, and Stelson has not conceded.
‘Pa. House majority hangs on Cambria County’
The progressive Pennsylvania Capital Star reports that the majority in the Pa. House “appear[s] to hang on the results of a single race in Cambria County, where a voting system malfunction caused election day chaos and caused the vote count to drag into Wednesday afternoon.” As of yesterday morning, several House races were too close to call. Since then, Democrats won one race in Bucks County, and the Democrat is leading in a second race in Philly. This would give each party 101 seats, with the partisan majority now resting on a single House race in Cambria County between incumbent Democrat state Rep. Frank Burns and GOP challenger Amy Bradley (whom we supported). The Tribune-Democrat reports, “No timeline was given as to when the result will be known.”
Pa. Dems are ‘soul-searching’ after losses
The Inquirer reports, “As elected leaders and strategists saw former President Donald Trump surpass Vice President Kamala Harris in the state and Democrats lose down ballot, they tried to make sense of an election many thought they could eke out — or that would at least look closer.” One Democrat strategist said, “Clearly, America wasn’t buying what we were selling. So I think it’s a question of did we not sell it hard enough? Should we be selling something else? Should we burn the store down?” Well, given the aid of the mainstream media, you definitely sold it hard enough. But the reality is voters rejected Democrat policies. Ergo, we think option 2 is the probable winner, with option 3 a close second (caveat that we are not advocating any destruction of property, since folks are uber sensitive to metaphors these days). Naturally, the Inquirer can’t help but report that Harris’ loss was partly due to the fact that she’s “a woman of color in a state that has elected few women to higher office statewide.” The Inky must have missed that the top vote-getter in Pa. this election cycle—earning more votes even than Trump per unofficial results—was Treasurer Stacy Garrity, who (…wait for it…) is a woman.
Trump gains among Latino voters
For as much as the media told Hispanic and Latino voters they were supposed to hate Trump, a lot of them simply didn’t listen. 6ABC in Philadelphia reports, “President-elect Trump’s support among that group grew significantly, especially among Latino men.” And NBC News reports that “Trump’s Hispanic vote percentage [nationwide] beat the previous record, set by George W. Bush’s in 2004.”
Left-wing group poses as ‘newsroom’ in Pa. and beyond
A few weeks ago, I shared the Broad + Liberty story on how Democrats are creating supposed “news” sites that are little more than left-wing propaganda machines and using them to boost Democrats on social media. Well, the Columbia Journalism Review just took a deep dive into the issue nationally, highlighting the Pa. site The Keystone, which is part of Courier Newsroom. Just before the election, Courier’s homepage had a story that “warned that ‘last-minute anonymous groups have come out of the woodwork to persuade voters online.’ What it does not mention is that one of the biggest political advertisers on Meta’s platforms is Courier Newsroom itself.” Courier’s sites “spent more than $6 million in October 2024. Combined, they are the third highest spender on political ads on Meta.”