The run-up to the May 19 Democratic primary election got pretty heated in Bucks County. It revealed some fissures in the party, and at times, at least in my opinion, it got a little ugly (on social media- surprise).
There were two contested races that exposed the divisions. The first was for Congress where Bucks County Democratic Commissioner Bob Harvie faced off against and ultimately defeated grassroots progressive challenger Lucia Simonelli.
Some Democrats (Simonelli supporters) were unhappy, first, that the head of the Bucks County Democratic Party endorsed Bob the day he announced, before we knew anyone else was running, and almost a full year before candidate petitions were due. They also didn’t like that the Bucks County Democratic Committee endorsed Bob, or any candidates, before the primary, and that the DCCC stepped in to back Bob as well. Another issue was that the party didn’t list Lucia’s name on sample ballots, instead just referring to her as “unendorsed candidate.” These are all valid criticisms. Not unique to Bucks by any means, but things that can, and probably should change moving forward.
READ: Bucks County Primary Election Results
In fact, MS Now published a good piece, “‘Stay out’: DCCC taking sides pre-primary in Pennsylvania troubles some of its own”, about why Democrats across the state (and country) were pissed off the party’s campaign arm was tipping the scales for its preferred candidates. Then there’s this story about progressives in New Jersey taking back power from county party bosses in Democratic primaries. These issues are everywhere.
READ: What PA-01 Voters Told Us Tuesday Night
The second race was between Bradley Merkl-Gump and Mark Pinsley for state senate in a district that included part of Bucks and Lehigh counties where Pinsley is from and a majority of district voters live. Even before it became a two-man race, the Bucks County Democratic committee flexed its muscle to ensure an uncontested primary via a straw poll ( Richlandtown Mayor Wayne Codner initially intended to run before dropping out, andJuan Vargas was another potential candidate).
Then it was also interesting to see how two people I deeply respect and who have done a lot of great work for the Pennridge School District community expressed completely different takes on Merkl-Gump, who lost to Pinsley.
Darren Laustsen wrote, “A Public School Teacher or a Pennsylvania Billionaire’s State Senator? The Choice Is Simple”, while Laura Foster wrote “After Helping Bradley Merkl-Gump Get Elected to Pennridge School Board, I Refuse to Support His Run for State Senate.”
Merkl-Gump will continue to represent the Pennridge school district community as a school board member as part of a team that almost miraculously flipped the school board with an 8-1 majority — taking power back from a reactionary Moms for Liberty regime in a traditionally more conservative part of the county.
One thing I’m left wondering as we look toward November is whether some voters will abstain from voting for Harvey because he doesn’t pass their progressive purity test. If these voters were in Hungary would they have not voted for Viktor Orbán’s opponent Péter Magyar because he was actually center-right (but believed in democracy)? Not flipping this Congress will have very real and very painful consequences for LGBTQ+, immigrant, and other vulnerable members of our community. Bob can’t afford to lose any votes, especially not from the left, if he is going to defeat Fitzpatrick who has traditionally gotten some Democrats and independents to support him each election cycle. That said, Bob definitely needs to reach out to this significant voting block to his left and convince and make it easy for them to vote for him. He can not take their votes for granted. In the end it’s ultimately each voter’s call as to what they do and what their conscience dictates. The Democratic Party always needs to be pushed by the progressive left and social movements and that’s never going to change. But a politician like Harvie will definitely be receptive to progressive policies unlike his opponent Fitzpatrick.
Kutztown Professor Kevin Mahoney and I talked about all of this and a range of related issues on The Signal this week. You can listen to the whole episode here: Apple, Spotify, Podbean and iheart.
