Sometimes, it seems like Republicans don’t want to win. Republicans won a sweeping victory across the Commonwealth in 2024. Not every race was a blowout, but they were successful in each statewide race and held their majority in the state senate. Even in state house races, Republicans overall polled nearly […]
Kyle Sammin: The Eagles are flying high. Will the city join them?
It’s a crazy thing about the current generation of Philly-area kids: they think our teams are supposed to be good. And more often than not, they’re right. It’s a marked change from the mindset of past generations of Philly sports fans. People my age were born into a city that […]
Kyle Sammin: Philadelphia benefits when both parties pay attention to it
For the first time in 24 years, Philadelphia will be represented by a Republican in the state senate (along with six Democrats) following the election of Joe Picozzi in the 5th Senatorial District. Combined with a single Northeast Philly state house district also being occupied by a Republican, Martina White, […]
Kyle Sammin: Survey reveals the worrying trends of self-censorship among UPenn and Penn State faculty
We know, by now, that most university campuses skew hard to the political left. And we have heard enough tales — over the decades, but with increasing frequency of late — of college students who feel like they cannot fully engage in the exchange of ideas because the risk of […]
Where did Republicans gain ground in the suburbs, Part I
We’ve already examined Donald Trump’s 2024 gains across the city of Philadelphia, but did those trends carry over to the suburbs? They did. In this article, we will examine the maps from Montgomery and Delaware Counties, two Democratic strongholds that were a little less Democratic for Kamala Harris last month. […]
Kyle Sammin: Democracy dies in daylight as Democrats break the law to help Casey
The Washington Post has been telling us for eight years now that Democracy Dies in Darkness. Anyone who watched the proceedings in Bucks County this week knows that’s not true. It dies in broad daylight. As we all know by now, Republican Dave McCormick came out on top in the […]
Where Trump did and didn’t gain votes in Philadelphia
Pennsylvania is a swing state but Philadelphia is very much not a swing county. While the commonwealth has flipped back and forth for the past four election cycles, its largest city has not voted for a Republican President since 1932. But even so, changes in Philadelphia affect the rest of […]
Kyle Sammin: Dave McCormick won. Bob Casey should not drag the state through a pointless recount.
The race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania was tight. The race between Dave McCormick and Bob Casey was even tighter. But at the end of the day, both Republicans were leading by an amount unlikely to be overturned. By this afternoon, that “unlikely” is becoming “impossible.” Casey’s […]
Bellwethers — What to watch for on election night
We in Pennsylvania have been in the political bullseye since the 2024 presidential campaign began. Tonight, Pennsylvanians will join the rest of the nation in parsing early returns to try to see who will come out on top. Patrick Ruffini at The Intersection has a list of lists highlighting counties […]
Kyle Sammin: Anti-Trump conservatives should consider the past and the future
Joseph Wheeler graduated from West Point in 1859, joined the Confederate Army in 1861, and soon found himself a major general of cavalry. When the war ended, he returned to civilian life (including twenty years in Congress) but when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, Wheeler asked to rejoin […]