Bucks County had been reliably Democratic until 1896 when Republican William McKinley beat populist William Jennings Bryan. Between that election and Bill Clinton’s win over George HW Bush in 1992, the county was all blue with 3 exceptions: Woodrow Wilson’s win over Taft (and Teddy Roosevelt, who won statewide) in 1912, FDR’s 1936 reelection, and LBJ’s defeat of Goldwater in 1964. The 20 other presidential election saw Bucks County go red. But that Clinton win was the beginning of. Anew trend— all blue. Bucks County backed Clinton’s reelection, backed Al Gore against against Bush, John Kerry against Bush and both Obama runs. In 2016, despite Trump winning statewide, Hillary narrowly beat Trump in Bucks County— 48.5% to 47.7%. Four years later Biden won statewide and Biden beat Trump in Bucks County 204,712 (51.7%) to 187,367 (47.3%).
Statewide, 2022 was a blowout for Democrats and even more so in Bucks County. Crackpot MAGAt Doug Mastriano orly managed 41.7% statewide and almost 3 points worse in Bucks County. John Fetterman beat the Trumpist candidate Dr Oz in Bucks County 52-45%. Bucks County send 4 state senators and 10 state Reps to Harrisburg. 2 Dem and 2 Republican state senators and 5 from each party to the House. One of the state House seats flipped in 2023— MAGA-Republican incumbent Todd Polinchock was narrowly defeated by moderate Democrat Brian Munroe (in the 144th district whose registration leans slightly red— 43.6% Republican, 41.4% Democrat). Polinchock was one of only 4 Republican incumbents defeated statewide, helping Dems pick up 12 red seats and a one-seat majority in the House.
At the same time, Republican Brian Fitzpatrick, who has a brand ofhis own, independent of the GOP, beat Democrat Ashley Ehasz 201,571 (54.9%) to 165,809 (45.1%).
Bucks, is considered one of America’s most prototypical swing counties. And yesterday, Politico suggested that a race for county commissioner going on now, will be an indication of what to expect for Pennsylvania in the 2024 presidential election. In 2019 Democrats capture a majority on the 3 seat county board of commissioners— for the first time since 1983. “Now,” wrote Zach Montellaro, “Republicans are looking to recapture control of the county board this year. A loss for either party would be a significant warning sign ahead of 2024. For Democrats, the inability to hold on to recently-flipped offices in a county they’ve reliably but narrowly carried on the presidential level could be a sign of waning enthusiasm. And for Republicans, a failure to recapture a county commission that they dominated for decades could mean a key battleground county is continuing to slip through their grasp… [With Dems] overperforming in the suburbs, particularly in Pennsylvania, whoever emerges victorious in the county commissioner race could be a sign of which way the suburbs are leaning.”
Bucks has been embroiled in culture war fights, like many other suburbs across the country. Republicans won Central Bucks School District board races in 2021 in a fight, in part, over mask mandates. But the new majority has also embraced book bans on titles with so-called “sexualized content” and prohibited teachers from displaying Pride flags.
Democrats have decried the involvement of the hyper-conservative group Moms for Liberty in Central Bucks, the county’s largest school district and one of the biggest in the state, and they argue the school board’s new policies spark backlash and sharp protests.
“There are definitely Republicans who are motivated by it, but we’re seeing in this county, the backlash is huge,” incumbent Democratic Commissioner Bob Harvie said. “We’re seeing a lot of very, very motivated and angry people on our side who just don’t think schools should be made into political battles.”
Harvie and Diane Marseglia, the other Democrat on the county board of commissioners, are seeking reelection, as is Republican Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo. Running alongside DiGirolamo is Pamela Van Blunk…
An unusual statutory setup in Pennsylvania guarantees the minority party will hold one seat in Bucks. Each party puts up two nominees and voters can vote for up to two candidates in November, with the top three vote-getters earning a spot. County officials in both parties say that this, effectively, means it is a race between Harvie and Van Blunk, with the other incumbents having much longer tenures to carry them to victory.
Harvie and Marseglia said in an interview at a diner in Levittown, Pa., that the blowback to the controversial school board was palpable and that voters would respond to it in November in their races. If they do, it could be an early marker for a more aggressive approach by national Democrats eager to punch back in similar fights across the country.
Bucks United— the overarching campaign to get the two elected— has tried to tie Van Blunk into the fight in the school district. A recent ad from the group said she is “no moderate,” saying a “MAGA extremist helping elect book-banning school boards” across the commonwealth is one of her biggest supporters, calling her too extreme for the county.
…Democrats are also sharply critical of Patricia Poprik, the county GOP chair, who was one of the “fake electors” in Pennsylvania in 2020, saying that the county party should not be allowed near the mechanics of an election in a critical swing county.
Meanwhile in the 2024 cycle’s congressional race, Fitzpatrick is being challenged in the primary by MAGAt and dangerous anti-Choice fanatic Mark Houck, who’s being encouraged by Freedom Caucus chair Scott Perry (R-PA). Whomever wins the primary will face Ehasz, who is making her second run for the seat.
Nowhere, IMO, does the stupidity of voters show up more glaringly than on school boards, especially in purple areas that can and does elect at least some nazis.
If you think that nazis are hate-filled ideological zealots in congress and in state leges, just look at those on school boards.
It would be nice if voters would elect people dedicated to educating and forming human beings from kids. But that's not what has been happening ever since the nazi party first determined, decades ago, that one good way to breed more nazis AND MORONS is to maleducate and indoctrinate those kids with hate early on.
The democraps as a party doesn't seem to put any weight on school boards either.…