Assessing Cong. Barletta and Sen. Casey’s chances in U.S. Senate Race
SUNBURY – The 2018 Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race has gotten more interesting after current Republican U.S. Congressman Lou Barletta (R-11th, Hazelton) announced his candidacy earlier this week. Congressman Barletta is looking to take the seat of current Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Casey.
Dr. G. Terry Madonna is a Professor at Franklin and Marshall College and a noted political scientist. He joined Friday’s On The Mark program and said President Trump will have a heavy influence on this race, “In modern times, mid-term elections have become literally at referendum on the President. So I would presume that Trump will be in the 11th congressional district by the way. He’s going to be all over it for Barletta.”
Dr. Madonna says, on one hand, he thinks Senator Casey will be tough to beat, but President Trump could sway voters in favor of Barletta. He notes Casey has won five straight statewide elections for various government positions. Dr. Madonna also notes that the president’s approval rates are somewhat low, “If Trump’s job performance, and notice I used the subjunctive ‘if,’ stays mired in the mid to high 30’s, it’s going to be a pretty good year for Democrats throughout the country and that will benefit guys like Bob Casey running for re-election.”
You can hear more analysis from Dr. Madonna on WKOK’s On The Mark program from Friday, that interview is posted at WKOK.com. (Matt Catrillo)
