Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, both Democrats, spoke to a few hundred supporters in Croydon, Pa., on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (Nick Field for Capital-Star)
CROYDON, Pa. – Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro traveled alongside U.S. Sen. Bob Casey to Lower Bucks County Monday to make the case why the state’s senior senator should be reelected to a fourth term.
The two Democratic statewide officials spoke to a couple hundred supporters at Neshaminy Creek Brewing in Croydon, just about a mile from the Delaware River.
Under the hot August sun, standing in front of one of his famous maps of the Commonwealth, Casey ran through a list of recent legislative accomplishments in his stump speech, including: $72 million in American Rescue Plan funding for Bucks County schools, the national $35 per month cap on insulin , the ABLE Program , a federal savings account for people with disabilities, and the PACT Act , which provides health care to veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxins.
Casey contrasted his positions with his Republican opponent Dave McCormick, pledging to support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act , the Women’s Health Protection Act , which would provide and protect access to abortion care, and the PRO Act , which would protect workers rights to unionize.
“On all those issues, I’m on one side, my opponent’s on the other,” Casey declared. “He will never vote to support any of those bills to protect voting rights, women’s rights and workers’ rights.”
Croydon’s been particularly good to Casey, supporting him by 21 percentage points (59% to 38%) during his last contest in 2018 . Just two years later, though, Joe Biden, who won Pennsylvania in the presidential race, lost the town 48% to 50% to then President Donald Trump.
Trump also carried Croydon in 2016 by a razor-thin margin (47.98% to 47.80%), a far cry from President Barack Obama’s 25-percentage point victory (61% to 36%) in 2012. Moreover, anecdotally, State Road running through Croydon is currently peppered with Trump campaign signs.
Casey said for Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the Democratic nominee for president, to win places like Croydon the key is visiting every area of Pennsylvania. “I think what the Harris campaign will do is what I’ve tried to do as a candidate, and I know Governor Shapiro’s done, is to make sure you go to every region of our state,’’ Casey told the Capital-Star. “You make the case about what’s at stake for the country, and I think when they do that, they’re gonna be successful too.”
Just two years ago, Shapiro won Croydon by over 15 percentage points (56% to 41%), strikingly similar to his statewide margin . Add to that his 52% approval rating — which according to Franklin & Marshall , is higher than any of his four previous predecessors at this point in their first term — then Shapiro makes a natural choice as a campaign surrogate.
“The reason why I think Bob Casey is so effective is because he still shows up in places like Croydon,” Shapiro said. “He still gets in his car and he shows up in communities big and small. Places where you’ve got tall buildings lining the streets and places where you’ve got one-story buildings lining our main streets. Urban, rural, suburban communities. Bob Casey shows up, he is authentically Pennsylvania.
“When he shows up, he does something that most elected officials don’t do: He listens,” Shapiro continued. “He hears your concerns, he understands what you’re dealing with in your communities and he gets stuff done for all of us.”
Casey and Shapiro both urged the crowd to support Democratic candidate Ashley Ehasz, who is running against U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in PA’s 1st Congressional District . In 2022 – on the same ticket as Shapiro – Ehasz lost to Fitzpatrick in Croydon 57% to 43%.
“Bucks County is not only the swingiest of all the swing counties, in the swingiest of all the swing states – and I mean that only in the political sense – but it’s also the county that is going to determine who is in the leadership of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate,” Shapiro said.
“I ask all of you, Bucks County, not just to think of yourselves as agents for Bob Casey, but to think of yourselves as agents of democracy and freedom” the governor said. “To understand the critical role that you play in our nation, the critical role that you play here in this Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the birthplace of freedom and democracy.”
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