Pennsylvania leaders in both parties talk ground game as GOP seeks to undo Dem gains: ‘Massive shift’

Pennsylvania Republican leaders said they are optimistic about their chances to make the Keystone State the one that puts former President Donald Trump over the finish line, while a top Democrat suggested otherwise, laying out how his party is on a path to victory.

State Sen. Cris Dush, a Brookville Republican, who noted he represents seven of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, was asked about the one big blue swath in his district – Centre County, home to Penn State University.

Dush’s district covers all-or-parts-of Jefferson, Elk, Cameron, Centre, Clinton, McKean and Potter counties in Pennsylvania’s lush northwestern forests.

With Republican activist Scott Presler targeting Centre as part of his statewide GOP voter registration push, Dush said the prospect of flipping Centre County is “actually getting very exciting.”

Dush noted neighboring Clinton County, home to Lock Haven, was solidly Democratic until the Trump era. “They just went over 3-to-1 Republican.”

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Pennsylvania State Sen. Cris Dush.

“This is a massive shift that’s coming in rural Pennsylvania… and part of it is that my working class, middle-age and senior constituents are seeing what’s happening to their jobs and with inflation and this craziness,” he said.

“With a man now being able to be called a woman: that kind of stuff too. They’ve just finally had enough.”

At a recent fair in his district, Dush said he was heckled by a young Democrat while speaking to a crowd that included many Gen-Z people. Instead of engaging, he told the crowd the reason the man was upset was that he is one of many who cannot afford to own a home, a car or other “American Dream” mainstays.

“And I’m getting applause from the kids,” he remarked.

In several of Dush’s redder counties, Democrats like Sen. John Fetterman performed better than most last cycle – while GOP nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz still won the areas outright.

In that regard, Dush was asked if that was an aberration or if the areas are truly trending toward the Democrats.

“The fact that they’re putting such restrictions on the development of businesses in the northern tier and western Pennsylvania: There’s not a state in the United States that doesn’t have a Steelers bar in it, and that’s because working-class kids have become our best export. I want them back,” he said.

Farther east, near the New Jersey border, the Lehigh Valley was once home to a booming steel industry immortalized by Billy Joel’s 1981 hit “Allentown.”

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Pennsylvania State Sen. Jarrett Coleman.

Since then, the area has been through several years of transition after the mills and some shopping districts closed. Slowly, it has regained some footing as a warehousing hub, with its vicinity to New York and Philadelphia.

State Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Parkland, represents the western half of the Valley, centered around Lehigh County – where Republicans have come within a razor’s edge several times of flipping the congressional seat currently held by Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa.

For many years, the seat was held by anti-Trump moderate Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., and before that, then-Rep. Pat Toomey, and before him, moderate Democrats.

Coleman said he predicts a good year for Republicans in Lehigh County, noting how neighboring Bucks County – part of which he also represents – flipped to majority-GOP registrants through the work of people like Presler.

The economy is a major issue in the district, he noted, as Fox News Digital discussed its industrial past.

“I think that’s because I believe the GOP has done a better job connecting with folks over those kitchen table issues,” Coleman said.

“The one that’s kind of come up a lot lately has been homeownership,” he said.

He noted Vice President Kamala Harris has proposed assistance for homebuyers, while at the same time floating taxation on unrealized gains.

“So on one hand, she’ll help you buy the house, and of course, that will just be [via] tax dollars to help subsidize the down payment… then the administration will tax you out of [it] as the house grows in value.”

“That’s not a solution. That’s another example of the government creating a problem and then trying to swoop in and say they’ve saved the day.”

In a statement, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella added that the GOP is “on offense in Pennsylvania.”

“The Keystone State is a deep GOP well of flippable seats and ground zero to grow our House majority,” he said, adding several vulnerable Democrats running for re-election do not speak truthfully of their records on the border, inflation and crime.

While he believes Philadelphia and Pittsburgh will “play well” for Harris, Coleman said he has never seen such enthusiasm for the GOP ticket in areas like the Lehigh Valley and key mid-state areas.

“Can the rural vote come back, and can we make up for the votes of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh — and will there be enough folks in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia who are waking up? But I think it’s going to be a question of whether everywhere else can get motivated enough.”

One man who believed otherwise is Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Sharif Street.

Street, a state senator and son of popular former Philadelphia Mayor John Street, suggested Democrats are the ones whose ground game has been unmatched.

Pennsylvania State Sen. Sharif Street.

“We’ve had over 40,000 volunteers signed up since Kamala became our nominee for president. Vice President Harris has inspired people. We’ve had we’ve had people knocking on doors, canvass launches, over 50 offices opened [in PA],” Street said.

“People are just super excited about supporting Vice President Harris. So yeah, we’re seeing lots of energy, lots of engagement, and the vice president has sort of set the world on fire,” he quipped.

When asked about the candidates appearing to focus in recent weeks on key areas of the state, Street said Harris has been all over the Commonwealth.

When asked about both candidates frequenting Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Street noted there is a key congressional race there between Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., and Republican Rob Bresnahan.

“It’s also hometown territory for Senator Casey,” he added.

When asked about Republicans claiming they are making inroads in Centre, Bucks, Luzerne and the Lehigh Valley, Street said he has not seen such evidence.

He noted that in Centre – the Penn State county – Democrats added a second state representative in Paul Takac, and that Northampton County is now as Democratically-controlled as its bluer-counterpart, Lehigh.

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However, Street said that shift may not be because there are more Democrats in those areas, but because the Republicans have departed from their longtime moderation.

He contrasted Trump-type politicians with past Republicans who have performed well statewide, like Sen. Arlen Specter and Gov. Tom Ridge.

Pennsylvanians of both stripes also largely supported moderate Democratic Govs. Ed Rendell and Robert Casey – the incumbent U.S. senator’s father, he said.

“Our Republicans and Democrats statewide have never been that far apart from each other. Democrats are still pretty much where we always were,” Street said.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the Harris campaign for an interview.