State GOP looks inward
Party examining reasons ‘red wave’ didn’t happen
Votes were barely counted in the Nov. 8 election before the “autopsy” stories started rolling in on the Pennsylvania Republican Party.
After Democrats took back the state House after 12 years and won contested congressional races, the governor’s race, and U.S. Senate seat in an expected “red wave” year for Republicans, there was plenty to dissect.
With such a big blue blowout, the spotlight turned on state Republican Party Chair Lawrence Tabas and his future.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported jockeying has already begun to potentially replace Tabas — who did not respond to a request for comment — before his term ends in
“As long as we have these closed primary elections, there is a likelihood of continuing to nominate candidates who are really very far to the right and are virtually unelectable in a general election in Pennsylvania on a statewide level.” — Craig Snyder, ex-chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter
February 2025.
The main question, though, remains as November fades into December: How does the party respond after significant statewide losses by Senate candidate Mehmet Oz and governor candidate Doug Mastriano?
“The big problem was Mastriano,” said Lou Capozzi, chair of the Cumberland County Republican Committee, who said the far-right state senator dragged down the rest of the GOP ticket and turned away independents and conservative Democrats.
Capozzi said Mastriano’s anti-abortion stance with no exceptions even turned off Republican women.
“We can’t have extreme candidates on the right,” Capozzi said.
“Those candidates are out of step with the Pennsylvania population,” said former U.S. Rep. Jim Greenwood of Bucks County, who chaired the Republicans4Shapiro group that worked for Democrat Josh Shapiro.
Ultimately, Republicans interviewed pointed to the decision in January not to have the state committee endorse in the primary, leaving the race wide open.
Rob Gleason, who chaired the state Republican Party for nearly 11 years before leaving in 2017, said party members knew that not endorsing was “a huge mistake.”
Worried about Mastriano’s surge among voters, some moderate Republicans tried a last-minute move to coalesce behind former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta in the governor’s primary, but the effort came too late as Mastriano won 44% of the vote.
In a bruising Senate primary fight, Oz slipped by former hedge fund executive David McCormick by just 950 votes.
Oz also took effective shots from his fellow Republicans about his New Jersey roots and TV celebrity doctor background, shots that Democrat John Fetterman repeated in the general election that he eventually won.
“The organization itself is going to have to be a little less laissez faire,” said Greenwood, insisting that the state party must be more active in finding and promoting centrist candidates that can appeal to voters in a general election.
“Party leaders need to stand up,” Gleason said.
Capozzi, who said he supports Tabas as chair, said GOP officials should share their opinions and the state committee should do endorsements.
“What’s the purpose of being leaders of the Republican Party if you’re not willing to tell people what you think?” he said.
But, Craig Snyder, who organized Republicans4Shapiro, said party endorsements could backfire with GOP voters who increasingly question any leadership.
“I just think those days are past,” said Snyder, the former chief of staff to the late U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. “The voters just don’t want to be told by some invisible politburo who their nominees are going to be.”
Talk about GOP leaders putting their stamp on certain candidates and winnowing the primary field is “outdated,” Snyder said.
“They’re reaching into a tool kit that I don’t think has very many tools in it,” said Snyder, explaining that the party’s power to convince ambitious candidates to bide their time has waned.
“Neither the carrots nor the sticks are anywhere near as strong as they used to be,” he said.
Gleason said the Pennsylvania GOP also needs to address “a very big structural problem” with how state elections are now held, specifically mail-in voting.
Democrats have embraced mail-in voting, while Republican voters have shied away, mainly because of unfounded accusations of fraud spread by the likes of Mastriano and former President Donald Trump.
Snyder said the state’s closed primary system, in which only Republicans and Democrats can vote in their primaries, is an obstacle to finding moderate GOP candidates.
“As long as we have these closed primary elections,” Snyder said, “there is a likelihood of continuing to nominate candidates who are really very far to the right and are virtually unelectable in a general election in Pennsylvania on a statewide level.”
Hardcore voters typically show up in primaries, and their candidates are reaping the benefits, particularly in crowded elections like the governor primary where less than 50% easily won.
Snyder described the current circumstances as “a fever of populism” ignited by Trump.
“It has to burn out before you’re going to get different kinds of candidates nominated,” he said.
Gleason, however, said the party simply needs to recruit better candidates.
“Great candidates make the difference,” he said. “You’ve got to have strong candidates.”
Gleason said the party can bounce back in 2024 when there will be more state legislative races and another U.S. Senate race on the calendar.
“In two years,” he said, “this can all turn around.”