The Republican Pat Toomey needs Democrat Clinton voters to split their tickets to win reelection
Republican U.S. senator Pat Toomey hasn’t moved from his position on Republican presidential nominee. He’s not yet endorsing Donald Trump.
On Monday, at the Pennsylvania Press Club, Republican U.S. senator insisted there is no evidence his Democratic opponent Katie McGinty would stand up to the Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Toomey is regularly criticized by the Republicans who support Trump, for refusing to support the billionaire developer.
The senator said, “I think it’s a very important to Pennsylvanians that their senator is an independent voice. And sometimes that means disagreeing with your own party. I have consistently demonstrated that I am willing to do that when I think my party of my party’s leadership is wrong.”
Toomey thinks that some good could be achieved under Trump’s leading. But he says Trump is often “outrageous and offensive”.
Hillary Clinton is leading Trump in Pennsylvania currently, though her margin has shriveled considerably in the recent weeks.
If Clinton’s lead holds, the senator will likely have to persuade some Democratic voters to split their tickets & vote for him.
42 days out from the presidential election, Toomey finds himself on difficult footing when it comes to Trump.
He hasn’t yet committed to voting for a GOP nominee. He said after a Friday event, “There’s no question I would never support Hillary Clinton under any circumstances. But, like I a lot of Pennsylvanians, I’m really not happy about the choices we have.”
Pennsylvania is one of the hotly contested states in U.S., with dead heats in both the Senate contest and presidential race, where Toomey have to face Democratic nominee Katie McGinty.
That means split-tickets voters are an important part of his campaign strategy. He’ll need some Clinton voters to cross over to his column if he’s to win.
Montgomery, Delaware, Chester and Bucks are the 4 so-called collar regions that ring the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia. They’re mainly white, prosperous & well-educated with over one-third of the population above 25 years of age holding at least an undergraduate degree.
Trumps struggles to request to the college degree holding voters, making these countries the biggest hurdles for him. However, Toomey could appeal to those voters with a right message.