Things are about to get expensive in Pennsylvania:
The liberal boogeymen known as Charles and David Koch will be getting involved in Pennsylvania’s Senate contest.
According to Tim Alberta and Eliana Johnson of the National Review, the Koch brothers plan to spend money on TV ads in the Toomey/McGinty race.
Their network is focusing on just four states at the moment: Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
While Alberta and Johnson mention Florida as a possible fifth race, there is hesitancy about that state’s late primary. Apparently, they are put off by a spike in ad rates in September. As a result, any TV spots in PA will likely air over the summer.
But the DSCC is making Pennsylvania a top priority:
The campaign arm for the Senate Democrats is launching its second round of general election ad buys, committing $12 million to three of the most contested Senate races on Monday evening, a source familiar with the buy told POLITICO.
The bulk of the money, $8.2 million, will be spent in Pennsylvania. Democrats are looking to knock off GOP Sen. Pat Toomey after Katie McGinty won a bruising Democratic primary against former Rep. Joe Sestak, propelled in part by an endorsement and rare ad campaign on behalf of McGinty by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Democrats are also committing $2 million each to Wisconsin and Illinois, where Sens. Ron Johnson and Mark Kirk are considered the most vulnerable Republican incumbents.
Pennsylvania is an important race for a couple of reasons besides leading the path for Democrats to take back the Senate. McGinty’s candidacy and win has the potential to make history:
In a state where women have had trouble moving to the national level of politics, Pennsylvania Democrat Katie McGinty is looking to beat Republican incumbent Pat Toomey and break a gender barrier Nov. 8 by becoming the state’s first female U.S. senator.
If successful, she also may open more doors for more women in Pennsylvania politics.
“The political parties were made by men for men to elect men,” said Dr. Dana Brown, executive director of the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics at Chatham University, Pittsburgh.
“Pennsylvania has a high rate of incumbency so it is a challenge for any newcomer.”
Brown noted Pennsylvania’s history with women on the national political stage. Only seven women from the commonwealth have served in the U.S. House since 1941.
According to the Center for American Women and Politics, based at Rutgers University in New Jersey, Pennsylvania ranks 40th in the number of female representation in state and national politics.
The center states that only 18.2 percent of the members of Pennsylvania’s 2016 General Assembly are women.
As for Toomey, he already had a tough time doing a balancing act:
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey already had the political balancing act of winning over middle-of-the-road voters in his quest for a second term in moderate Pennsylvania.
Now Toomey has another: distancing himself from Donald Trump.
In recent days, Toomey hedged on his long-stated intent to support the eventual GOP presidential nominee. In interviews and an editorial published in major newspapers, Toomey laid out a long list of concerns he has with the bombastic billionaire and warned: "I hope we don't get to a point where I decide I just can't support him."
In doing so, he may risk alienating the Republican voters who delivered a surprising 37 percentage-point victory for Trump in Pennsylvania's April 26 primary.
"I saw what Toomey said and did I like it? No, I didn't like it," said Arnold McClure, chairman of the Huntingdon County GOP.
McClure said he'll vote for Toomey again. But "he angers me with his attitude. ... Does that mean I'm some dummy who doesn't know any better? That infuriates me."
But this latest call made it sound like Toomey is really channeling his inner Donald Trump:
Whether you call them illegal aliens, undocumented immigrants, illegals, or refugees, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey says some of those unlawfully in this country can pose a danger especially when arrested and released by local law enforcement.
“This is about public safety,” says the Republican senator. “This is about not knowingly and willfully releasing into the public dangerous, violent criminals. This is not principally about immigration.”
Toomey has co-sponsored a bill to prohibit sanctuary cities — jurisdictions that won’t let local police cooperate with federal immigration and homeland security officials in holding and deporting undocumented residents.
“This is very, very bad policy, very dangerous. It is driven by politicians that are overruling the judgment of the law enforcement community, and we have already seen very tragic consequences,” adds Toomey.
We cannot allow the Kochs to dupe the voters and help Toomey win. Click here to donate and get involved with McGinty’s campaign.