The Pennsylvania presidential primary didn’t have any contested contests, but Trump managed to lose nearly 17% of the vote to Nikki Haley, who dropped out and never campaigned in the state.
Trump got 83.5% of the vote and Haley got 16.5%.
In the Democratic primary Joe Biden beat Dean Phillips, 93.1% to 6.9%.
With absolutely nothing on the line, Biden got nearly 917,000 votes. Trump got 786,000 votes. Both candidates were running unopposed, but Democrats are more unified in Pennsylvania, and came out to vote for Biden to send a message about November.
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Scranton’s own Joe Biden is going to be difficult for Trump to beat in the Keystone State. The backbone of Trump’s support in the state is in the rural counties, which suffer from declining populations. Trump squeezed every Republican vote out of the rural parts of the state in 2020 and still lost to Joe Biden.
There are signs all over Pennsylvania of problems for Trump. Enthusiasm for Trump is down. It is difficult to find a Trump sign in rural Western Pennsylvania and a red hat is even more rare. Democrats have a voter registration advantage in the state, and if those Democrats in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the surrounding suburbs come out in November, Trump may not be able to win the state.
The Pennsylvania Republican primary showed that the GOP is in disarray, and there is a segment of the party that will never unify around Trump.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
