CROYDON, Pa. – Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro traveled to Lower Bucks County with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey on Monday to make the case for why the state’s senior senator should be re-elected to a fourth term.
Two state Democratic Party officials spoke to several hundred supporters Neshaminy Creek Brewery in Croydon, about a mile from the Delaware River.
Under the sizzling August sun, standing in front of one of his notable maps Commonwealth, Casey in his speech at the rally outlined a list of recent legislative accomplishments, including: millions of dollars in federal funding for Bucks County schools, national limit of $35 per month for insulinthis ABLE Programfederal disability savings account and PACT Actwhich provides health care to veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxins.
Casey contrasted his position with that of his Republican opponent Dave McCormick, pledging support John Lewis Voting Rights Actthis Women’s Health Protection Actwhich would ensure and protect access to abortion care and PRO Actwhich would protect the right of employees to join trade unions.
“I’m on one side of all these issues, my opponent is on the other,” Casey said. “He will never vote to support any of these bills that protect voting rights, women’s rights, and workers’ rights.”
Croydon have been particularly kind to Casey, supporting him through 21 percentage points (59% to 38%) during his last contest in 2018However, just two years later, Joe Biden, who won the presidential election in Pennsylvania, lost in the city by a margin of 48 percent to 50 percent to then-President Donald Trump.
In 2016, Trump also won in Croydon, very lean margin (47.98% to 47.80%), which is a far cry from President Barack Obama’s result Victory by 25 percent (61% to 36%) in 2012. Furthermore, anecdotally speaking, the state road running through Croydon is currently dotted with Trump campaign signs.
Casey said that for Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the Democratic presidential candidate, the key to winning in places like Croydon is to visit every area of Pennsylvania. “I think the Harris campaign will do what I tried to do as a candidate, and I know Gov. Shapiro did, which is make sure you visit every region of our state,” Casey told the Capital-Star. “You make a case for what’s at stake for the country, and I think when they do that, they’ll have success as well.”
Just two years ago, Shapiro won in Croydon by a landslide more than 15 percentage points (56% to 41%), which is strikingly similar to his advantage in the whole state. Add to that his 52% approval rating — which by Franklin & Marshallis higher than any of his four predecessors at this point in their first terms — Shapiro makes a natural choice as his campaign deputy.
“I think Bob Casey is so effective because he still shows up in places like Croydon,” Shapiro said. “He still gets in his car and shows up in communities large and petite. In places where the streets are high and in places where the main streets are one-story. In urban communities, rural communities, suburban communities. Bob Casey shows up, he’s authentically Pennsylvania.
“When he shows up, he does something most elected officials don’t: He listens,” Shapiro continued. “He hears your concerns, he understands what you’re dealing with in your communities and he gets things done for all of us.”
Casey and Shapiro urged the crowd to support Democratic candidate Ashley Ehasz, who is running against U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the election. PA’s First Congressional DistrictIn 2022 – on the same ticket as Shapiro – Ehasz lost to Fitzpatrick in Croydon 57% to 43%.
“Bucks County is not only the most undecided county of all the undecided counties in the most undecided state — and I mean just in the political sense — but it is also the county that will determine who is in the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate,” Shapiro said.
“I ask all of you, Bucks County, to not just think of yourselves as agents of Bob Casey, but to think of yourselves as agents of democracy and freedom,” the governor said. “To understand the critical role that you play in our country, the critical role that you play here in this Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the birthplace of freedom and democracy.”
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