Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party is back. Or experiencing a “rebirth,” as the new state party chair says. Eugene DePasquale, who took the helm of the state party in September following a string of painful losses and financial woes, said Tuesday’s “blue wave” election results reflect a new beginning for Pennsylvania Democrats who failed in 2024 to turn out enough voters and lost its statewide edge in voter registration. Now, top Democrats are hoping to use their positive momentum and new party leadership to carry them to more wins in the 2026 midterms. “It was a great night. Not just for Democrats, but for Pennsylvania,” DePasquale said in an interview Wednesday morning. “And more importantly, it’s better for what’s hopefully gonna happen as a result of those elections.” » READ MORE: Eugene DePasquale lost his statewide race last year but says he has a plan for helping Democrats win again as party chair Democrats were successful across Pennsylvania and the country Tuesday. Pennsylvania voters chose to retain three state Supreme Court justices for an additional 10-year term, in a successful effort by Democrats to defend their 5-2 liberal majority on the court. In Bucks County, which voted for President Donald Trump in 2024 and has more GOP registered voters than Democrats, Democrats swept two hotly contested row offices. And the Democratic successes even stretched into bellwether Erie County, where a political newcomer beat the incumbent GOP county executive 62-38. DePasquale credited Democrats’ wins across Pennsylvania to a few factors: Pennsylvanians are unhappy with President Donald Trump, they were able to communicate the importance of the state Supreme Court retention race to voters, and they ran good candidates up and down the ballot, he said. » READ MORE: Blue wave? Democrats build momentum with a sweep of high-profile races in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia “This is probably the most disciplined three months of messaging since I’ve been involved in politics,” DePasquale added. “Hopefully we will take a lesson from that morning forward.” Democrats’ eyes are already turning to 2026, where leaders hope to reelect Gov. Josh Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, as they’re expected to face a challenge from Treasurer Stacy Garrity. Republicans hope Garrity, whom the party endorsed this fall, will be a more formidable opponent over their 2022 nominee, State Sen. Doug Mastriano, who lost to Shapiro by nearly 15 percentage points. But Pennsylvania Democrats have loftier goals, too: To flip the state Senate, win back the congressional seats they lost last year, and expand the state House’s Democratic majority, DePasquale said. Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Greg Rothman is also looking ahead to 2026, he said in a statement Wednesday, while still reminiscing on the party’s 2024 wins. “One year ago, our party was celebrating tremendous victories. Last night the Republican Party sustained losses in Pennsylvania and across the nation,” said Rothman, who is a state senator, adding that the party expected a tough election and will need to improve how it communicates with voters. “Today is the first day of the 2026 campaign, and we are getting back to work,” Rothman added. Other top Republicans were worried about how Tuesday’s election leaves them going into next year’s must-win races. Jim Worthington, a Trump megadonor in Bucks County and owner of the Newtown Athletic Club, criticized the state GOP for its failure to get enough voters to vote by mail in Tuesday’s election. Republicans now have an uphill battle to climb if they want to elect Garrity next year, he said. Elections, at the end of the day, are not really about policies, Worthington said. “They’re just turnout. Red team, blue team,” he added. DePasquale was not naive about the challenges facing the state Democratic Party. Voter turnout in Philadelphia remains low — though Tuesday’s 34% turnout in Pennsylvania’s largest city still outperformed expectations, he said. And he wants the state to focus its attention on partisan voter registration, rather than contracting nonpartisan groups to recruit new voters, as Republicans are on track to gain a statewide voter registration advantage over Democrats in the coming months. DePasquale, who ran unsuccessfully in 2024 for Pennsylvania attorney general, said he saw the quality Democratic candidates elected up and down the ballot as a win in Tuesday’s election, and an effort to build a bench for the party’s future leadership. The Pittsburgh native was the party chair choice of Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s top Democrat. Shapiro’s deputy chief of staff Larry Halisham Jr. recently left his administration to serve as Pennsylvania Democrats’ executive director as Shapiro — who also contributed $250,000 to the state party’s coffers — has looked to make a bigger imprint on the party ahead of the 2026 election. The relationship could be symbiotic. A close alliance between the two would ensure the state party’s strategies align with Shapiro’s campaign efforts, while the party could also benefit from the popular governor at the top of its ticket. In the 2025 cycle, Shapiro took to the airwaves in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court retention election, a typically unremarkable race that became a nationally watched, top statewide election on voters’ ballots this year. The governor appeared in an ad endorsing the justices and noting their support for abortion access. He also had a presence in Virginia and New Jersey’s gubernatorial races by making campaign visits in the final days before the election to vouch for the Democratic candidates in both states.
