By April Ryan
“This is a referendum on the chaos Washington [DC] Republicans have brought to our state,” says Pennsylvania State Senator Vince Hughes after a Democratic win in the Pennsylvania Primary election in the Trump stronghold of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Democrat and East Petersburg Mayor James Malone won the Senate District 36 seat in Lancaster County, defeating Republican Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons.
Democrats have not represented that Republican-leaning farming county seat in over a century. The seat flipped blue by 16 points in March 2025 primary. For the record, Trump won that county in the 2024 presidential election. Deputy White House Press Secretary Harrison Fields says, “This is not a story. The president has full confidence in Americans’ support of his policies.” Fields, who also said this is a reach for Democrats trying to change their narrative, believes “This is not an indication of anything,” Democratic Pollster and Strategist Cornell Belcher: “I think we always have to be careful about reading too much into these off elections, but that said, that was a very bad sign for GOP in an area that broke strongly for Trump.”
Is this a foreshadowing of things to come, especially for the midterms slated for November 3, 2026? “Voters are fed up, and they showed up tonight in Lancaster,” said SDCC Chair Vince Hughes.
Waikinya Clanton, the Mississippi State Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, tells Black Press USA, “What this moment signifies, now more than ever, is that people are awakening to the true power of their vote—and understanding the vital importance of exercising that power at every level of government.” Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, are upset over the recent drastic federal government shifts. Belcher believes, “There are signs that voters, even Trump 2024 supporters, are not happy with what they are seeing from Republicans. It should be a warning sign to them that all is not well.”
The Economist President Trump approval tracker has a 51% disapproval rating among Americans polled for the 45/47 president of the United States.
Stacy M. Brown is an NNPA Newswire Correspondent
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