A caustic election cycle ends with Pa. voters opting to preserve abortion rights and defend democracy | Editorial

In the end, Pennsylvania voters picked common sense over scare tactics.

Most of those who went to the polls in the commonwealth saw through the creepy commercials, heated rhetoric, and disinformation. They opted instead to take a stand for abortion rights and democracy.

Voters understood the stakes. They decided they didn’t want a governor who marched with insurrectionists, trafficked in QAnon conspiracies, and promoted racist and antisemitic tropes. And they didn’t want an out-of-touch, celebrity doctor from New Jersey who votes in Turkey and thinks abortion is murder to be a U.S. senator in Pennsylvania.

Voters picked fitness over fringe in electing Josh Shapiro for governor and John Fetterman for Senate.

While the economy remains on voters’ minds, most understood the election was about more than gas and food prices that elected officials have little control over.

Basic rights regarding a woman’s ability to make choices about her own body and the future of free and fair elections were on the line. That trumped the Republican fearmongering regarding crime, inflation, and unfounded election fraud claims.

Voters were motivated by the U.S. Supreme Court’s wrongheaded decision to overturn a nearly 50-year-old precedent in Roe v. Wade. They don’t want elected officials, including local ones, banning all abortion with no exceptions. And they don’t want elected officials who undermine elections.

Gov.-elect Shapiro’s campaign was a triumph for decency and democracy. He appealed to a broad base of voters and stood up for women’s rights. Shapiro has a record of working across the aisle. He wants to lift all boats and not pit one group against another — goals that are at once refreshing and a model of how government should work.

By comparison, Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano ran a smug and loathsome campaign built on phony election fraud, bizarre conspiracies, racism, sexism, and antisemitism. Mastriano was essentially against everything and everyone except white male dominance.

Mastriano’s drag on the GOP was so great the Democrats are poised to take control of the House in Harrisburg for the first time in more than a decade.

Shapiro won handily, but it is beyond disturbing that 42% of voters backed such a vile and unfit candidate in Mastriano.

Likewise, Sen.-elect Fetterman’s campaign appealed to average citizens fighting for a living wage, decent health care, equality, and second chances. Along the way, he set an example of bravery by campaigning while recovering from a stroke.

Republican nominee Mehmet Oz mocked Fetterman’s speech and auditory issues. But Fetterman was an inspiration for others facing health care hurdles. In the long run, he could help change attitudes regarding disabilities in the workplace.

Meanwhile, most voters saw through Oz’s vanity campaign. He is a lightweight, television doctor with no political experience who promoted magic diet pills and dubious COVID-19 cures. He was for abortion rights and gun safety before he was against them, which further highlighted his deeply flawed candidacy. Oz’s opulent mansions in New Jersey, Palm Beach, Fla., and elsewhere underscored his total disconnect with everyday Pennsylvanians.

Mastriano and Oz were largely creatures of Donald Trump, whose endorsement helped them win their respective primaries. Their Election Day losses are Trump’s losses.

Several other Trump-backed candidates nationwide also struggled. That could dent Trump’s grip on the GOP as the twice impeached former president who incited a deadly insurrection appears ready to launch a third campaign for the White House.

Sadly, a number of Republican election deniers won races in Pennsylvania and across the country. But as a crucial swing state, the commonwealth continues to serve as a keystone for our democracy at a perilous time. For that, the country can largely thank voters in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs.

Several Senate races remain undecided, but Fetterman’s victory could help Democrats keep control of the upper chamber.

Meanwhile, the red wave that Republicans expected to sweep the country fizzled. It is a fitting setback for a GOP that was hijacked by Trump and remains focused on culture wars, conspiracies, autocracy, and bogus election fraud.

Traditionally, whatever party controls the White House suffers big losses during midterm elections. Although President Joe Biden’s approval rating remains around 40%, Democrats have a chance to maintain control of the House. Even if Republicans ultimately win more House seats, it will be a slim majority.

When historians look back at the 2022 election, Pennsylvania will have played a starring role. Voters faced a crossroads and chose a bright future over a bleak past.