Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is not in DC trying to stop the war, rectify the budget, or advocate for his constituents. Instead, he is attempting to garner support in Pennsylvania for four Republicans with re-elections next May. Representatives Scott Perry, Brian Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mackenzie, and Rob Bresnahan’s seats are up for grabs, and Democratic challengers intend to take them.
Eugene DePasquale, Chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, joins Jen to discuss the lay of the land — including the many successes of the Democratic party in the state. DePasquale also outlines the Republicans’s vulnerabilities, specifically highlighting their unwillingness to break away from Trump’s corrupt administration.
If you live in Pennsylvania and have not yet registered to vote, you can do so by clicking here.
Eugene DePasquale is the Democratic Party of Pennsylvania Chair. He is the former two-term Auditor General of Pennsylvania. He exposed wasted tax dollars and unanswered child abuse hotline calls, reduced the backlog in untested rape kits, and revealed problems with Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law. Prior to his tenure as Auditor General, Mr. DePasquale was a three-term member of the state General Assembly, representing the 95th state house district.
The following transcript has been edited for formatting purposes.
Jen Rubin
Hi, this is Jen Rubin, Editor-in-Chief of The Contrarian. We are delighted to have back with us Eugene DePasquale, who is the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Pennsylvania. Welcome, Eugene.
Eugene DePasquale
Hey, Jen, thanks for having me again. Really appreciate the opportunity.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. Pennsylvania is going to be ground zero, I think, when it comes to the House races. Democrats just need to really flip less than a handful of seats. Take us through some of the seats in Pennsylvania where you think Democrats have the best chance.
Eugene DePasquale
So, right now, I think, according to these national prognosticators, we have the most sort of swingy, flippable races in the country. We’ve got 4 of them here, which are almost all settled along the eastern part of the state. So you have PA, what are the numbers? 7, 8, 1, and 10 are sort of the numbers. Now, what does that really mean to the people out there that don’t know what those numbers mean? There’s a central Pennsylvania seat where Insurrectionist Scott Perry is up, then you have a Philadelphia suburban seat, a Lehigh Valley seat, and a Northeastern Pennsylvania seat. Those are the four seats. And the critical part to keep in mind here is that we have great candidates in all these. But the toxic, cost-driving, war-of-choice agenda of Donald Trump is… absolutely why we’re gonna flip these seats, in addition to having, obviously, great candidates and incredibly popular governor. That combination is why we are gonna win the vast majority of these seats, and when we do, Democrats will have control of Congress and make Donald Trump a lame duck president.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. Now, you guys still have to go through your Democratic primary, and I know the party officially does not take a position, but let’s talk about some of those Republican incumbents. Someone like Rob Bresnahan, who ran on kind of a no-corruption, honest. guy. He has fallen into some trouble with his techs, his, stock trades, rather. And he doesn’t seem to really be representing, the district very well. What do you see are his biggest vulnerabilities?
Eugene DePasquale
So, first of all, all of them have embraced this sort of higher price agenda. All of them have sort of gone along with Trump’s war of choice. So, put that in one box, where, you know, they’re stripping healthcare away from Pennsylvanians, driving up the cost, that’s one thing that they’ve all done. Bresnahan is a special little beauty on this, though. He actually ran on the platform of banning stock trades from members of Congress. Now, by the way, I think that should happen, too. Here’s the problem. He now is the most glaring actual beneficiary of taking insider information based on information he gets as a member of Congress, who, you know, at least in theory, he’s supposed to be working for all of us, getting that information and turning himself from a multi-millionaire into a multi-millionaire several times over. Literally profiting off his public position.
Jen Rubin
It strikes me that a lot of these seats are held by people who ran as moderates, as an independent voice. Fitzpatrick, for example, is one that comes to mind. Right. But they have lined up behind Donald Trump. What are they doing now? Are they coming back and trying to distance themselves to Trump, or what’s their explanation for why they’ve been such toadies, is, I guess, what I want to know.
Eugene DePasqual
Well, toady would be an example. Mike Johnson is in Pennsylvania this week. He’s actually doing fundraisers for all their vulnerable members. He’s traveling through the state, so if they were trying to separate themselves, you know. you know, that… campaigning with Mike Johnson is not the way to do it, and we all know Mike Johnson is the key toady. He is the one that is going on… I mean, the Speaker of the House doing zero effort other than whatever… I mean, he even gave the President some ridiculous award the other day, which is so beyond crazy, but the fact that the Speaker is doing fundraisers for all these vulnerable members in their district show, they are all in line with this.
Jen Rubin
How do you assess the level of engagement and enthusiasm among Democrats? We’ve seen huge turnouts in places like Texas, in many states that have already gone through their primary system. And in Illinois, for example, what’s… what are you hearing and what are you seeing in terms of engagement, registration, volunteers? How excited are Democrats about these upcoming races?
Eugene DePasquale
First of all, Jen, I became chair last year, and one of the things I said I was going to do was get us focused back on registering more Democrats. So, you combine our effort with that, an incredibly popular governor, meaning Governor Shapiro, who, unlike the president, is actually doing what he said he would do in the campaign, delivering on those promises, as opposed to a president that’s going back on every promise. And what that has led us to is that six straight months that we have out-registered the in Pennsylvania. So, to me, it’s like, that’s your first real poll, right, of how people are registering.
The second thing that’s important to note is that last year was what, you know, in Pennsylvania, the odd years are local government elections. We had the most successful local government election year in Pennsylvania history. Our statewide judges, again, they were great candidates, but it’s a big deal to win Pennsylvania by 4 or 5 points. That is a big deal. They won by 12 and 13 points, respectively, which is almost unheard of in Pennsylvania, and we flipped a rural Lancaster County State Senate District that had not been Democratic since just after the Civil War. So, we have, you know, put that together, and again, the governor is in a very strong position to be re-elected.
In fact, his opponent even doubled down and started cheerleading the war today. I mean, not even having the political sense to know that it’s incredibly unpopular. She’s that in lockstep with Donald Trump that she decided to today to go out there and say, oh, no, I think the president’s doing a great job when it comes to a war of choice. Unbelievable.
Jen Rubin
Obviously, the war is very unpopular, but the president, even though the war is supposed to be now in a ceasefire and running down, he has proposed a budget with $1.5 trillion for defense. We have not had such a big increase in the defense budget since World War II, and we’re supposedly in peacetime. What do the Democrats who are running now say about priorities, which is a big thing, that many people are distressed about? Trump seems very interested in tax cuts for the wealthy. money for the Pentagon, but says we don’t have enough money for childcare and Medicaid and Medicare. What do your folks saying?
Eugene DePasquale
I think most Americans, most Pennsylvania Democrats want a strong national defense. We have that. The idea that we’re going to cut Medicare, Medicaid. you know, helping people put their kids in daycare, all to bloat the budget even more, when even the Pentagon isn’t asking for this stuff. It literally shows you just how out of touch he is. I mean, the things he campaigned on, and the things he’s actually doing. Said he would bring down prices on day one. Well, my own neighborhood gas station, my gas is now a dollar more a gallon. from what it was 5 weeks ago. That’s just in my own neighborhood gas station.
You know, obviously, when you see, you know, he promised not to touch Medicare, not to touch Medicaid, well, he’s clearly… not only has… has done that, but is proposing to go even further. And then, with the way he operated this war of choice. Iran is now in a stronger position. Let’s be clear now, they basically now have the Strait of Hormuz as their own toll road now, which wasn’t even the case five weeks ago. So, Americans are gonna be paying… are not only paying higher prices now, they’re going to continue to pay higher prices, while at the same time, he’s looking to cut valuable programs that not only apply to his base, but all Americans. He is significantly weakening our position as a world leader.
Jen Rubin
Interesting. Governor Shapiro is very popular, he’s one of the most popular governors in the country. What has he done that you think works in one of the most purple of purple states, which is not overly democratic by any stretch of the imagination?
Eugene DePasquale
It’s important to start off with, not only did the governor win a big election last time, but he’s on path to do it again. Now, we still have a lot of work to do. But Pennsylvania defines being a swing state, which is, it is a big deal. I go, Barack Obama in 2012, when he won a clear win, he only won Pennsylvania by about 4 points, so winning Pennsylvania by a large margin is not easy.
But what has he done? He’s doing what he said he was gonna do. You know, he said he would invest more in education. He’s done that. You know, he said he wasn’t gonna, you know, be out there, you know, raising taxes. He didn’t. He said he would make sure that we had a good, vibrant public transit system. He’s done that. He said he would invest in healthcare. And one of the things I don’t think he’s gotten enough credit for, and that is. Every kid in Pennsylvania now has access to free, healthy breakfast before school, which I think, you know, all the research shows is an important step to making sure kids have a way to learn as well. He has kept every single one of his promises that he’s been able to do, and the ones that he still wants to fight for, like raising the minimum wage, we’ve got to flip a couple state Senate seats to make sure that happens. But the reason why he’s popular is he’s doing exactly what he said he would do.
Unlike the president, who said he would not get us into Middle East wars. What did he do? He launched a war of choice. He said he would bring down the price of gas. it’s actually… you know, significantly higher. He said he wouldn’t touch Medicare and Medicaid. What has he done? He’s stripping healthcare away from millions of Americans, and in Pennsylvania, it’s over 300,000 people on the verge of losing health insurance because of him, and the ones that do keep it, that are on the state-based exchange, they’re gonna be paying dramatically more because of Donald Trump.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. I was just reading today that Donald Trump is going to be spending millions of dollars on a triumphal arch. He’s already put his name on the Kennedy Center, on dollar bills, he’s raking in the money from crypto, and from people who have been asking for pardons from him. The corruption really seems to be off the charts. Do Democrats have an outlook about how to put an end to this, how to exercise some oversight, and perhaps even claw back some of this money, which Donald Trump is using for totally inappropriate purposes?
Eugene DePasquale
Right, number one, I mean, it is very clear that he is the most… running the most corrupt administration in American history, and the corruption is all about benefiting him and his family. I mean, that’s the key here. It’s like… the way to understand Donald Trump, in my opinion, is you gotta come to grips with one fact. He only cares about himself. He is not in this for the betterment of the country, he’s in this to benefit himself and his family. So when you understand that, all these other things then make sense.
So that’s why we have to win control of Congress. So we’ve got to make sure that we’re not only calling some of this money back, but we’re using the power of the purse, which is running the budget, to put a stop to as many of these things as possible. Look, he’ll still be the president, he’ll still have executive power. But at least he won’t be able to spend taxpayer money to benefit himself.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. One of the other things that greatly disturbs people, you see it in the merger, for example, of Paramount and Warner Brothers, is we don’t seem to have an antitrust policy that protects consumers anymore. So, we get bigger and bigger corporations, fewer and fewer companies. As a Democrat, what do you think is the best way to go about doing this? You don’t control the Justice Department, but clearly there is a problem, in creating free and fair marketplaces for Americans.
Eugene DePasquale
I think this is one where, like, the state attorneys general, now most of them are Democrats, unfortunately, our Attorney General didn’t weigh in on this, the governor did, but making sure that the attorneys general, basically, because we don’t really have civil protections now in the current Justice Department. It basically doesn’t exist. So, the state attorneys general have to take the lead on this, and so they are fighting this in court. it is a huge loss for consumers if this merger goes through.
And it’s basically all corruption, because this is because they have donated to Trump’s library, and all… and I think the ballroom, and all this other nonsense. So basically, the consumers of the United States get screwed, because these corporations are donating to the president’s ballroom. The state attorneys general, again, some of them are Republican, most of them are Democratic. They are fighting this in court. Tragically, the Pennsylvania one decided to take a pass on this, probably because he’s afraid of getting yelled at on social media by the president. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to win this one in court.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. Last question for you. Data centers have become a really big issue. For a while, everyone was in favor of them. Jobs, and who doesn’t like tech? Turns out there are a lot of issues. environmental, power, water. What are Democrats saying about the data centers around the state, and about the necessary level of regulation or fairness that has to be applied?
Eugene DePasquale
The governor’s come out with a recent plan on this, supported by a lot of legislators, I think even some Republicans on this, because people realize that this is a runaway train that has to be slowed down. I think the number one is making sure that they pay for their own power, whether that’s solar panels on the roof or what have, but they have to have a plan to pay for their own power. The second thing is where they are sighted, and making sure that there are the appropriate water protections. And noise protections as well, because these things are noisy, and if you put them in certain neighborhoods, you’re basically gonna be causing people to lose their ability to sleep at night, which is unacceptable. So the governor’s talking about where they go and the power they use, two key components of this.
Jen Rubin
And you’re gonna have primaries coming up. When, can people still register? When does early voting begin? Tell our viewers a little bit of basic nuts and bolts about voting.
Eugene DePasquale: So it is Tuesday, May 19th. I hope I have the date right, but it’s Tuesday, May 19th. You can register up to 15 days before the primary, and then you probably can tell I’ve got to be a little circumspect on who we’re supporting, because as a state party chair, we just want to have good, strong Democratic candidates in the fall.
We do not endorse in these primaries, but we know we… in some of these races, they are competitive primaries. Some of them, we pretty much know who it’s gonna be, but we’re ready to get that primary over, let the voters pick, then we’re gonna go out and make Donald Trump a lame duck president.
Jen Rubin
And unlike the president who seems to be paranoid about, absentee mail-in voters, you allow that in the state of Pennsylvania, correct?
Eugene DePasqualeYeah, so before the pandemic, Pennsylvania passed a reform to our statewide voting laws, which allowed no… what’s technically no excuse, absentee balloting, which is otherwise known as mail voting. So, when Donald Trump says he wants to get rid of that, let’s be very clear about that. About a quarter of the electorate, Republicans and Democrats, use that means working people who sometimes work in other states or have to, you know, they travel for work. or sometimes seniors that struggle to get out of their home and get to the actual precinct. About a quarter of our electorate votes by mail, and so when Donald Trump says he wants to get rid of that, he’s looking to disenfranchise about 25% of Pennsylvanians. That’s millions of people.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely, and I don’t think his Republican Party operatives like it when he talks about getting rid of mail-in ballots, because last time I checked, Republicans wanted to get their folks to vote by mail as well.
Eugene DePasquale
Look, look, I’m the chair of the Democratic Party. I want people to vote, though. I mean, this is the part where, like, I want… as my small D Democrat, I want people to vote, but it is very clear to me that if you are trying to push people away from voting, it’s because you’re afraid of what the results are going to be when they do vote. And Trump knows if these people vote, he’s on the verge of becoming a lame duck president, the Democrats are gonna control Congress.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. We have been fortunate to have a number of your Democratic candidates on. After the 19th, you’ll come back, you’ll tell us about the winners, we’ll talk to them again, and we’ll have those races matched up. I think there’ll be, some pretty impressive matchups, whoever wins in the primaries.
Eugene DePasquale
You’ll get some names from me after the 19th, I promise.
Jen Rubin
Very good. Thanks so much, Eugene. Thank you for all you’re doing for Pennsylvania and for Small D Democracy. We’ll look forward to speaking to you soon.
Eugene DePasquale: You got it, Jen. Thanks so much.
