Party leaders trying to motivate voters in primary election with few competitive races
With only a few competitive races in Tuesday’s primary, turnout in Southwestern Pennsylvania is likely to be low, especially for a presidential election year.
But local Democratic Party chairs are motivated by a contested race in the region’s congressional district, while Republican leaders say their voters are focused on supporting Donald Trump even though he locked up his party’s nomination weeks ago.
“Still get out the vote,” Washington County Republican Party Chairman Sean Logue said. “The more Republicans that get out, the more interest the Trump campaign is going to have in Pennsylvania. If we show we’re having more turnout and being more competitive than four years ago, Trump will devote more energy in Pennsylvania.”
While a general election rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden in November is all but inevitable, the biggest primary race in the region is between Democratic candidates Christopher Dziados of South Strabane and Kenneth Bach of South Huntington. The winner will then challenge three-term incumbent Congressman Guy Reschenthaler in the 14th District in the fall.
Washington County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Christina Proctor said Reschenthaler has become a polarizing figure in both Congress and his district, which could open the door for Democrats. While their party hasn’t formally endorsed either candidate, she noted that Dziados is from Washington County, which could help him garner support.
“I’ve personally been focusing on the congressional race, and the dislike for Guy Reschenthaler is immense,” Proctor said. “People are pretty excited we have a competitive race. People are excited we have a candidate that is the caliber of Chris (Dziados) in the district. Frankly, we have not had that in the last four years since this new (14th) district was formed.”
The 14th District, which includes all of Fayette, Greene and Washington counties and part of Westmoreland County, has been reliably Republican since its formation in 2021, so local Democrats are wondering if they can give Reschenthaler a stiff challenge in November.
“It’s going to be a difficult race for a Democrat, especially for the way the district is made up,” Fayette County Democratic Party Chairman George Rattay said. “We have two candidates who were willing to step up to the plate, and they’ve been out campaigning.”
He added that Reschenthaler’s lack of a presence in the district has become a problem, although Republicans still hold a hefty registration advantage.
“I call him out every Friday on the radio,” Rattay said. “Guy who?”
Statewide, Democrats have competitive races for treasurer, auditor general and attorney general, while Republicans have a contested campaign for attorney general.
But the only contested race for the legislature in this region is in the Republican primary for 50th state House, which includes all of Greene County and part of Washington County. State Rep. Bud Cook of Daisytown is running for his political life against challenger Stephanie Waggett of Cumberland Township.
Greene County Republican Chairman Clint Blaney personally endorsed Waggett, according to one of her mailers, although the party as a whole did not make a formal endorsement in the race. Blaney could not be reached for comment to discuss his thoughts on the race or what the party is doing to get GOP voters to the polls. Meanwhile, Logue said the Washington County GOP declined to endorse anyone in the 50th state House race.
No Democratic candidate is on the primary ballot for the 50th District after Randy Barli dropped out of the race in February, so Greene County Democratic Party Chairman Bill Pulkownik said they’re trying to encourage voters to write-in Drew Ross Manko’s name. He would need to get at least 300 write-in votes from Democrats in order to appear on the general election ballot against either Cook or Waggett.
“The Committee has been active on Facebook in an attempt to educate voters on our Democratic candidates,” Pulkownik said in an email statement. “We have created posts explaining who our write-in candidate for state House is, outlining his qualifications, while reminding voters to fill in the ‘circle’ beside the write-in name area so your vote for Drew Ross Manko is counted.”
With really no competitive local contests in Fayette, county Republican Party Chairwoman Michelle Mowry said they are watching the delegates’ race with 10 candidates running to represent the local GOP delegation at the Republican National Convention in August.
“Since there aren’t many races with a choice, we are focusing on the delegate positions and stressing the importance of electing delegates that will vote the will of The People,” Mowry said in an email statement. “Voters are telling us they are concerned about the corruption of our current elected officials, election fraud, the funding of foreign wars, the increase in unrest around the world due our country’s diminishing world presence, the daily invasion of illegal criminals flooding into our country, the two-tied justice system, the failing economy, and the moral decline of our society.”
Logue thinks the grassroots efforts by the GOP in Washington County will help to spur turnout regardless of whether races are competitive in the primary.
“From a local level, there has been a ton of activity,” Logue said. “Being local and organizing these local chapters has gotten more people involved in the process and, in turn, created energy for volunteer work and getting out the vote.”
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, and any outstanding mail-in ballots must be returned to the voter’s local elections office no later than 8 p.m.