Here are the first elements to remember from the primary elections:
ABORTION ON THE BALLOT
Abortion rights will be a central issue in the open race for governor of Pennsylvania.
Democrat Josh Shapiro, state attorney general, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary to replace Democratic Governor Tom Wolf and promised to protect abortion rights against a Republican-controlled General Assembly that proposed a series of anti-abortion bills.
“They’re coming for all your rights, and I’ll be there for you every step of the way,” Shapiro said at a Philadelphia abortion rights rally this month.
State Senator Doug Mastriano, who emerged victorious in a close Republican primary on Tuesday, proposed a so-called “heartbeat” law that would ban abortions after six weeks. He recently called abortion genocide.
The state legislature has introduced a bill that would block the state Supreme Court from declaring abortion a right in the wake of a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling that would strike down national protections of its decision Roe v. Wade of 1973. This would refer the question of legalization to the various states.
Joseph Foster, chairman of the Democratic Party in Montgomery County, the largest suburban county in the state, said Democrats will spend a lot of time reminding readers ahead of the November election that the only thing standing strict abortion laws is a Democratic gubernatorial.
“If a Republican wins a gubernatorial seat, we’re in big trouble,” Foster said.
FETTERMAN GOES ALL THE WAY
John Fetterman, the idiosyncratic, hoodie-wearing Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, beat his Democratic US Senate primary rival Conor Lamb convincingly despite a health issue that sidelined him from campaigning last week. -end of the race.
Now the road becomes even more difficult.
Whoever wins the Republican primary for the US Senate, expect a flurry of ads this summer calling Fetterman a “socialist” and a “radical” in the mold of former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
Fetterman backed Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid but has since sought to broaden his appeal, said Mike Mikus, a Pittsburgh Democratic strategist.
Analysts said Fetterman won on Tuesday with a populist persona that appealed to both moderates and progressives, avoiding the kind of ideological tussle that has plagued other Democratic primaries this year.
He made a special effort to reach working-class readers in counties that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won by 35 percentage points or more in the 2020 election.
While vote counting is not yet complete, Fetterman’s biggest lead is in rural counties where, in many cases, he leads Lamb, a moderate congressman, by more than 50 points.
This rural attraction could allow him to divert some votes from his Republican adversary in these counties. But ultimately, Fetterman will have to win the way Democrats usually win in the state, playing suburban readers in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, said Jacob Rubashkin, a Washington election analyst.
First, Fetterman will have to reassure readers about his health after suffering a stroke last week. His campaign said a procedure on Monday to implant a pacemaker was successful and Fetterman was on the way to a “full recovery”.