Pennsylvania Democrats are pointing the finger, but don’t expect a leadership change anytime soon

In this issue:

— Julia Terruso, Anna Orso, Gillian McGoldrick, Katie Bernard, Sean Collins Walsh, Una Goodin-Smith, [email protected]

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As the red election dust settles and Pennsylvania Democrats begin to speculate and point fingers at reporters Julia Terruso And Anna Orso take look at the future of the party:

Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat in Pennsylvania left Democrats reeling Wednesday morning as the party struggled with how its message and outreach efforts have failed to reach voters here.

But don’t expect any major shake-ups in the Democratic leadership.

Bob Brady, the longtime Democratic town committee chairman who faced the smallest margin of victory of any Democratic presidential candidate in two decades, laid the blame squarely on Harris. Wednesday campaign And stepped up the criticism in an interview with Fox News on Thursday.

Harris’ staff reacted equally harshly, calling Brady’s turnout operation “futile.”

Those sentiments were echoed by some progressives who have long criticized Brady’s ability to drive Democrats out of town.

A full picture of Thursday’s turnout was still not available as votes continued to be counted, but it appeared the number of voters casting ballots in Philadelphia was about 41,000 fewer than in 2020.

“Brady is a problem. Brady was a problem. I’m not really going to risk saying that because that’s what we’ve been saying,” said Salaah Muhammad, organizing director of the Pennsylvania Working Families Party, which has a history of tension with the Democratic City Committee. “He’s constantly concerned about how he can maintain control rather than ‘how do we meet the needs of voters?’”

But Harris’ performance outside of Philadelphia provides some cover. She lost statewide and in swing states across the country.

Her Philadelphia earnings are seriously behind Biden’s, but it’s unlikely the city could save her statewide. Trump Harris’ lead in the state stood at 114,000 votes as of Thursday..

Brady, 79, has served as chairman since 1988 and said Wednesday he would not be leaving.

“We did the best we could with limited resources, and people just rejected it and voted for him,” Brady said.

Brady won’t be re-elected until after the 2026 primary. The town committee chairman is elected by county leaders who are largely loyal to Brady.

State Sen. Sharif Street, who has led the state Democratic Party since 2022, is also up for re-election in June 2026. At the same time, he could run in the congressional primaries. if U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans decides not to run for another term. (Street has publicly expressed interest in the seat if Evans decides not to run).

Street issued a statement Wednesday thanking the 67 party chairmen and canvassers who he said knocked on 11 million doors and made 31 million phone calls across the state. “You have tackled local issues, built coalitions, and helped us reach voters from all walks of life,” he wrote.

In the immediate aftermath of the elections, there was no evidence of an organized campaign of public pressure aimed at forcing any of the leaders to resign – even from their critics.

“Asking Brady to resign is like banning fax machines,” said state Rep. Chris Rabb, a Democrat and longtime party critic. Rabb’s argument is that the party has not been an effective turnout machine for decades, so changing the person in charge likely won’t change the results.

Ryan Boyer, head of the politically influential construction union, said Thursday that Brady is not to blame for the shift to the right across the country.

“This is the national mood of the country,” he said. “I don’t think Brady or the city party is to blame.”

Last

Throughout the Commonwealth, Republicans won big on Tuesday, from row offices To Congressional races And US Senate seat. They even flipped a state Senate seat in once reliably blue Northeast Philadelphia, which Democrats called the “most embarrassing part” of the election results.

Pennsylvania has a key demographic helped Trump return to the presidency: young representatives of Generation Z, who have completely alienated themselves from the Democrats, a 30 point move towards Trump compared to 2020.

Many Latino voters reject Trump’s position incendiary rhetoric about their communities or their disdain for his personality in order to vote for him in favor of his promises on the economy. “It’s not just Latino voters,” said one Pennsylvania state senator. “I think that’s true across the spectrum.”

Republicans also retained control from Pennsylvania State Senate. But as of Thursday evening, control of the House of Representatives still hung in the balance. depends on one location in Cambria County.

The red wave swept over the eternal blue New Jersey, where Harris won the Garden State by the smallest margin of any Democratic presidential candidate since 1992. And some wondered: Will Jersey become a swing state?

In other countries, election night made history. U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester became Delaware’s first black woman senator.New Jersey State Rep. Andy Kim became first Korean American elected to the US Senateand Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride was elected first openly transgender member of Congress.

Philadelphians who supported Harris grapple with what her loss means for the country as a whole and for them personally, and forge their way forward – and, some said, “Black women feel the loss acutely.”.

Emotionally charged reaction to Trump’s victory throughout the region: some held prayer services to cope with the situation, others enjoyed Bible study, students left the classroom people cried and some smoked celebratory cigars. And in the bars of Philadelphia on Wednesday people were “drinking like it was Saturday night.”

Now we pass the microphone to Anna on See how Trump improved his bottom line in deep blue Philadelphia.:

One hundred years ago, back in early October, we told you the story of working class voters in Philadelphia, and how the Democrats were losing ground with them. Some of you Democrats didn’t want to hear it.

Tuesday’s election results show that this trend is not only real, but is accelerating. Yeah, Trump lost Philadelphia by a ton with only 20% of the votes. But it was one of the best showings for a GOP presidential candidate in years, and it denied Harris an opportunity to score points and offset Democratic losses in rural areas.

All over the city Trump’s support grew most in precincts where incomes were lowest. This was true for all racial groups.

Trump’s largest base of support in the city is made up of white, working-class voters. As of Wednesday, he had won outright victories in five of the city’s 66 political districts, two more than four years ago. They are all majority white, and Trump received about 30% of the vote citywide in white-majority precincts.

But the biggest actual shift occurred among Latino voters, as in other jurisdictions across the country. Trump received 22% of the vote in the city’s Latino-dominated precincts. an increase of 16 percentage points compared to 2016..

For example, Trump won nearly 23% of the vote in North Philadelphia’s 7th District, his vote total up about 1,000 votes from 2016, while Democrats lost nearly 2,000 votes over the same period.

In the Latino-dominated 43rd District, Trump increased his share of the vote from 8% to 14%.

“My community performed as well as it could,” said state Rep. Danilo Burgos, the Democratic leader. “There’s obviously room for improvement.”

Republicans everywhere: Republicans across Pennsylvania were still celebrating their electoral victories and electoral victories as of Thursday. after Trump’s decisive victory in a key battleground state. Trump helped deliver Republican victories in Pennsylvania, including all three rows of statewide offices, two additional U.S. House seats, the GOP-controlled state Senate and a U.S. Senate seat. He even got 20% of Philly’s citywide vote and is on track to create the smallest margin for a Democratic presidential candidate in more than two decades. Republicans in the Grand Old Party were encouraged by Trump’s continued dominance in the state after national polls showed Trump and Harris in dead heat before election day. And in addition to their many electoral victories, they could also drink to their party closed Democratic voter registration advantage for first time since 2020.

Democrats in Philadelphia and Bucks Counties: To win, Harris needed to increase her margins in Philadelphia’s districts and achieve strong Democratic turnout in the city itself. She achieved neither one nor the other. In Bucks County, the last purple county in the region, Trump had a narrow lead Thursday — before the county began counting thousands of provisional and overseas ballots. Where Harris needed votes most, she lost them.

Bob Casey: On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. was unseated by his GOP challenger, Dave McCormick. according to the Associated Press. By the time of the announcement, McCormick had already declared victory in an incredibly tight race. But Casey, the three-term Democratic incumbent, did not concede — and a recount is still possible given the close margin of victory. Still, for Casey, whose father was governor and who won six state elections, often by significant margins, it could be the end of a sustainable brand in Pennsylvania politics.

Scenes from the election campaign

Voting FYI

Even though most of the races have already been named Pennsylvania is still counting ballots, according to the Associated Press. The Pennsylvania Department of State on Thursday estimated that at least 100,000 ballots, including provisional, military, overseas and Election Day votes, had yet to be counted across the commonwealth.

And although there is a race in the US Senate between Casey and McCormick remains within the limits of conversion, Whether this will happen will become clear until next week. The Secretary of State must call a recount by Thursday. if the race stays within half a percent. And Casey has until noon Wednesday to ask for no recount.

What are we watching next?

Trump’s transition to the White House. His team says he the new administration will not be much like his first.

2028 election cycle – yes, really – where Gov. Josh Shapiro is the likely favorite.

This may be the end of the election, but it won’t be the last you’ll hear from us. We’ll be back in your inbox next Friday with the latest update. Thanks for reading, see you then.