Posted on 10/06/2020 8:48:13 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Look, Sen. Pat Toomey's (R-PA) an okay senator. Surely, he, like the late Arlen Specter prior to his party betrayal, were Republicans who can win statewide. He was a seat-filler, but he also betrayed us on Second Amendment rights regarding his appalling bill to expand background checks. Did it save him with suburban voters? Maybe. Sen. Pat Toomey's ability to clinch Bucks County, a key collar country around Philadelphia, surely helped in his 2016 re-election effort when every squishy GOP operative worried about the GOP brand. They were wrong. Still, Toomey’s anti-gun push made me feel indifferent regarding the senator’s political ambition. He helps us keep Pennsylvania, so I was never too hard on him. But now that he’s leaving, I personally wish him well—but I’m still infuriated he even entertained that Obama White House initiative. Toomey made it official that he’s not running in 2022 for the U.S. Senate or the governorship (via The Hill):
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who is poised to become chairman of the Senate Banking Committee if Republicans keep the Senate majority, announced Monday that he will retire from Congress at the end of 2022.
Toomey, who is in his second Senate term, also said he has decided not to run for governor in 2022 and instead will return to the private sector, although he doesn’t have any “specific plans” for what he’ll do after 18 years of public service in Washington — three House terms and two Senate terms.
Toomey, 58, said his decision was driven by “personal” reasons and not “political reasons,” adding that President Trump’s recent COVID-19 diagnosis and partisan gridlock in Washington were not factors.
“I will not be running for reelection in 2022 and I will not be running for governor. I will serve out the remainder of my term for a little over two years that are left to the current term and after that my plan is to go back to the private sector,” Toomey said at a press conference in Bethlehem, Pa.
[…]
Toomey said he is looking forward to spending more time with his family in Pennsylvania and has “no specific plans” and is “not going to spend time or energy thinking about what I’ll do later” because “I have a lot of work still ahead of me.”
Well, there is no doubt that Toomey would have had a rougher re-election fight in 2022, especially if Trump loses the upcoming race, which—knock-on-wood—won't happen. If term-limited Tom Wolf decided to run for Senate, just spit balling here, things could get…tight. Despite Gov. Wolf’s COVID lockdown frenzy, which has impacted his ratings, he’s still somewhat popular. Let’s put it this way, he has quite a bit of time to rehab those figures. Overall, here's the brutal reality: the Democratic side of the aisle has an overall better candidate pool to pick from in Pennsylvania. Without Toomey, Democrats, whoever they pick in 2011, is heavily favored to win. So, Chuck Schumer can look forward a couple of years from now retaking that seat.
Donald Trump Jr.
We’ve got 2 years to address this—if we can keep them from stealing next month’s elections.
Has Trump put out any names yet? I didn’t hear anything, but maybe I missed it. Trump has a good track record of people who he endorses winning!
Let’s get through this cycle before we start worrying about 2022....
Worry about it in January.
I am more concerned about the Barrett vote. We just lost all leverage with him.
Pearl clutchers gotta clutch...
What a moronic article.
Wasn’t he a tea party candidate who said he would limit the number of terms in the house and just two terms in the senate.
Ron Johnson in WI is another one, based on my memory, who said he would serve just two terms.
Unfortunately that pearl clutcher has some history on his side. The GOP in this state has historically done an absolutely TERRIBLE job with candidate selection.
Please. Toomey wasn’t a be all end all Conservative.. but it does leave an open seat in an off year election.
But hardly is it a guarantee of D pick up.
Frankly the GOP as a whole IMHO has missed some solid opportunities to pick up Senate Seats in the Rust belt in the last cycle..
But oh noing something two years out is a bit premature
Not necessarily. We just need to put up a Conservative candidate, and turn out as many Republican voters as possible.
Toomey is, and always has been, a tool.
RE: Wasn’t he a tea party candidate who said he would limit the number of terms in the house and just two terms in the senate.
Well, it looks like he’s keeping his promise for himself. He was elected to the senate and assumed office in 2011.
This is squishy Pennsylvania. To win statewide, one can’t be a “severe conservative.”
I’ve become a fan of Doug Mastriano. But I think he has his sights set on the Governor’s mansion.
I agree that Don Jr. would be a formidable candidate—but let’s just take care of getting his father reelected first!!
It’s a shame that a good man like Lou Barletta lost to Casey’s dirty tricks in 2018 and is now relegated to the sidelines.
Moreover, I personally cannot think of any other worthy PA names at this point.
We have a 2020 election in less than a month, and when we win bigly we will turn our attention to a PA senate race, next year.
I personally have used up all of my pattoomeygiveashits, but the little punk better vote for ACB or else.
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