It’s no secret that the election held on Nov. 2, 2021, was a disaster for the Democratic Party.
The supposedly safe gubernatorial race in New Jersey was won by a razor thin margin and the toss up gubernatorial race in Virginia, wasn’t close.
While the race for Pennsylvania Governor was not on the ballot in 2021, we need only look at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court election to see what a Governor’s race might have looked like.
Although Democrats were able to maintain their 5-2 majority on the high court, many Democrats were hoping the spot being vacated by retiring Republican Chief Justice Thomas Saylor could be filled by a Democrat.
The Republican candidate for Supreme Court Kevin Brobson was able to defeat the Democratic candidate Maria McLaughlin with fifty-two percent of the vote according to Ballotpedia.
While it may be true that the state’s Supreme Court race suffered from low voter turnout, the results in New Jersey and Virginia are a warning sign that Democrats at the state level are in deep trouble in 2022, if they cannot turn things around.
The stakes in the 2022 elections could not be higher, especially as Pennsylvania House Republicans such as Representative Aaron Bernstein are pushing forth their agenda in the legislature.
In May 2021, Bernstein introduced HB0659 that would have ended the requirement to obtain a conceal carry permit for handguns and would have lowered the age for conceal carry from 21 to 18.
Republicans claim this would expand the rights of citizens to bear arms consistent with other states that do not have concealed carry permit laws.
Democrats argue that the lack of accountability created by ending mandatory conceal carry registration will lead to more criminals with unregistered handguns in Pennsylvania. Currently, background checks are not required for the purchase of guns through private sale or gun shows. HB0659 passed through committee on a party line vote before being tabled twice, first in May and then again in Sept.
While PA State Representative Bernstein’s bill has not yet passed in the PA House, it is an example of the greater question Democrats are facing heading into 2022.
Is this the type of legislative future Pennsylvanians want to see coming out of the 2022 elections?
Often, people forget the sheer number of Republican bills like HB0659 that Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed since becoming governor in 2015.
The echo of laws restricting voting and abortion rights that recently passed in Texas, Florida and other states with total Republican control of state government are a model for PA Republican lawmakers.
Do Pennsylvanians really want the State Legislature and Executive Branch to be completely controlled by Republicans to supplant the will of the people by selecting electors to the Electoral College if the 2024 election doesn’t go their way?
Wolf placed a moratorium on state executions in February of 2015 that has lasted up until today. He put an end to lobbying in the Executive Branch and enacted expanded nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ employees at the state level. While the state’s minimum wage languishes at $7.25 per hour, Wolf raised the minimum wage for state employees to $12 per hour.
Wolf’s track record has been far from perfect and his spotty response to COVID-19 and issues of transparency have tarnished his legacy. However, all the Democratic policies enacted in this state over the last eight years could be undone with a Republican Governor taking office in 2023.
Simply put, the 2021 election should serve as a wakeup call to Democrats in PA to get out and volunteer, campaign and vote in 2022.
