Philly Republican leaders worry Donald Trump could be a ‘bloodbath’ for their party in the region

As Nikki Haley drew fire from opponents on a debate stage in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Wednesday night, she thanked the “fellas” for all the attention and Bill Heeney smiled.

“She’s a pretty sharp woman,” he said at Cannstatter Volksfest Verein’s bar in Northeast Philadelphia. “You know she’s doing good when they attack her.”

Heeney, a Philadelphia ward leader, was one of several Haley fans among the nearly two dozen people who watched the Republican debate at the German-American club Wednesday night. Heeney likes her primarily, he said, because he wants a Republican to win the presidency, and thinks she can.

The group gathered in a not-very-crowded bar to view the fourth in a series of debates that have — much like the entire Republican primary contest — felt like a forgotten sideshow.

“It’s odd. It’s different,” Philadelphia GOP chair Vince Fenerty said at the bar. “Hopefully, as the field gets down to less, people pay more attention.”

Fenerty, speaking for himself as the city party that has yet to endorse, is also a Haley fan. “I think she’s the most qualified and I think it’ll take a woman to clean up the mess Donald Trump and Joe Biden have made.”

There’s good reason for Fenerty and a bar full of GOP party leaders in heavily Democratic Philadelphia to like alternatives to Trump, who is the frontrunner to become the party’s presidential nominee and has declined to debate his opponents. They worry about the other races in Pennsylvania next year, wary of the negative impact they think Trump had in the last two elections.

“I pray,” Fenerty said of Haley’s prospects. “If Donald Trump is the candidate, for Republicans in the Southeast, it’ll be a bloodbath. I think the majority of the Republican Party in Philadelphia realizes in order for it to be possible for us to take the House of Representatives back in Harrisburg, the best candidate is someone other than Donald Trump.”

But that view is unpopular among fellow Republicans, including some who were at Wednesday’s debate watch party. Trump leads Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by about 25 points in polls in New Hampshire and Iowa. In Pennsylvania, which doesn’t hold its primary until mid-April, Trump leads DeSantis by 42 points and Haley by 49 points.

The watch party was organized by Americans for Prosperity, a conservative network whose affiliated super PAC, AFP Action, recently endorsed Haley. The crowd was from Philadelphia and the region, many with ties to the local party. Allegiances were mostly split between Haley and Trump, with nearly everyone agreeing that it’s difficult at this point to see an outcome other than Trump as the nominee, though the unprecedented legal challenges he’s facing add unknown variables to the contest.

“It’s hard to take it seriously when you know who’s gonna win,” said Billy Walker, a political science major at Temple University who leads the school’s college Republicans group. “It’s more like reality TV — what’s [Gov. Chris] Christie gonna say? What’s Vivek [Ramaswamy] gonna throw at Haley this time?”

Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, took the most fire in the fourth debate and was arguably the biggest winner of the previous three. She’s coming closer to the No. 2 spot, but still trails Trump by large margins in polls.

Mary Beth Cirucci, a senior adviser with Americans for Prosperity Action, said at the watch party that the group will try to turn out people who haven’t previously voted in primaries. She pointed to polling showing that 60% of Americans don’t want Trump or Biden.

“Most people are open to a new candidate, even soft Trump supporters. America needs to turn the page on the past,” she said.

Among those who know who Haley is, polls show she has the highest favorability rating of any candidate. A lot of voters still don’t know her, though. Cirucci said that’s an opportunity — but one with a short runway. Iowa will hold its caucuses next month, followed other early voting states.

Haley’s recent momentum was reflected among some of the debate watchers.

As Haley said the U.S. must provide aid to Ukraine to avoid giving Vladimir Putin exactly what he wants, Eugene Luciw lightly slapped the bar, “Yep,” he said, nodding.

Luciw, who is Ukrainian and organizes cultural festivals in the area, said foreign policy is his first priority, to ensure “that dictators and other spreaders of evil are deterred, contained, and aren’t permitted to win.”

“Frankly, I have a difficult time seeing anybody, Democrat or Republican, other than Nikki Haley that can guide us through these foreign policy challenges,” he said.

The debate, like the earlier ones, didn’t center much on Trump but instead became a platform for smaller policy differences and squabbles between the four candidates. Christie, the lone candidate who went after Trump early and now often, criticized his opponents for not doing the same.

“It’s often difficult to be the only person telling the truth,” Christie said.

“Right!” said Shaneen Allen, a 37-year-old from University City watching at the club. She said she likes Haley and Christie because she thinks they’re more forward looking. “People are going through a lot right now. Let’s see how it’s gonna be fixed. We don’t wanna hear what happened over and over.”

Matt Wolfe, a ward leader, said if he could make someone president, it would be Christie. But he’s most looking for an alternative to Trump, who he thinks would lose against Biden.

But the obstacle that anti-Trump Republicans face was present in the bar, where Trump supporters, such as Bridesburg ward leader Charles O’Connor, were confident.

“DeSantis just doesn’t seem like he gets it,” O’Connor said. “And a lot of people think Nikki Haley is bringing back the Bushes. My neighborhood, we’re working-class Republicans. We don’t go for all that Ivy League crap.”

Walker, the Temple student, went into Wednesday’s debate liking Trump and left mind-unchanged. “I care about which one of youse are gonna beat Joe Biden,” Walker said. “And the only one campaigning against Joe Biden right now is Donald Trump.

Melvin Prince Johnakin, the 61st Ward leader, shrugged when asked about the candidates on stage. He was there to see friends and watch the show but said he’s already focused on the general election and recruiting more Black men to support his candidate.

“I’m unwavering pro Trump.”