Here’s what you should know about the Pennsylvania primary

Voters in the Keystone State will head to the polls Tuesday to vote in several key primaries, including the presidential race, the race for Sen. Bob Casey’s (D-Pa.) seat and several closely watched House races.

While President Biden and former President Trump are not expected to face any major challengers in the primaries, their respective primaries will be closely watched as both are likely to have protest votes.

Some Democrats are voting against Biden over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war, with supporters urging voters to cast “non-committal” write-in votes. Meanwhile, Trump could continue to see protest votes in the form of votes for former rival Nikki Haley.

Pennsylvania will play a critical role in whichever party wins the White House this fall and the Senate majority.

Here’s what you should know about the Pennsylvania primary:

Biden and Trump face possible protest votes

Presidential candidates from both parties will likely face some sort of protest vote on Tuesday, but it’s not very clear which candidate might garner the most support.

Advocates in Pennsylvania are running a write-in campaign on the Democratic side that urges primary voters to write “uncommitted” as a way to protest the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

The coalition organizing the write-in campaign, Uncommited PA, is pressing the White House for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza immediately, as well as ending American aid to Israel and offering more humanitarian aid to Palestinians. The group seeks to obtain more than 40,000 votes for the “uncommitted” write-in vote.

The president has already seen other protest votes held in states such as Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. How those protest votes will translate into November remains to be seen, although in Wisconsin advocates have seen more protest votes cast than the margin by which Biden won the state in 2020.

However, Trump is likely to see some form of protest voting in the Keystone State, where GOP voters choose to support Haley or one of his other former GOP rivals. Similar protest votes took place in states such as Arizona, Michigan and Georgia – crucial for whichever party wins the White House.

It’s also unclear how Trump’s protest votes will translate into November.

The Casey-McCormick battle will become official

The Senate primaries are all but over at this point.

Casey is not facing any Democratic challenger in the primary, giving him a clear path to the Democratic nomination. Meanwhile, former hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick also doesn’t face any challengers from the GOP side, all but guaranteeing the Republican nomination.

The Pennsylvania Democrat is seeking his fourth term in the Upper House and it’s likely to be the closest race he’s faced so far.

Casey won his last Senate re-election bid in 2018 by 13 percentage points to Republican Lou Barletta.

One of Casey’s main challenges this cycle is coming in a presidential election year when Biden has underwater approval ratings.

Still, the nonpartisan election pollster Cook Political Report rated Casey’s seat as “lean Democratic,” giving him the edge for now in the race.

Summer Lee faces test over her criticism of Israel

Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) is seeking re-election in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District, where she faces a primary challenger, Edgewood Councilman Bhavini Patel.

The politics of the Israel-Hamas war cast a shadow over much of the race. Lee and a handful of progressives urged the Biden administration for an immediate ceasefire in the days following the start of the conflict. Lee criticized Israel but also condemned Hamas’ initial Oct. 7 attack.

Patel stated in an interview with The Washington Post that Lee “completely disregards his entire district” and “clearly picked a side” in the conflict.

“I think it’s important that any call for a ceasefire recognizes that there are still hostages,” Patel told the Post.

Unlike last cycle, when Lee faced excessive spending from pro-Israel groups such as a group aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Democratic Majority for Israel, neither group is reportedly involved in his primaries this cycle. . She also has the support of Democratic leadership — including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) and Senators Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) — and groups prominent ones like Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

“Congresswoman Summer Lee comes into Primary Day in an extremely strong position to be re-elected as the Democratic candidate,” Lee’s campaign said said in a state of the race memo on Tuesday.

Even so, Lee still faces some outside spending. Republican mega-donor Jeffrey Yass contributed money to a political group, Moderate PAC, that attacked Lee on air.

There are other notable primaries

In addition to Lee, Pennsylvania Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R) in the state’s 1st District; Susan Wild (D) in the 7th District; and Scott Perry (R) in the 10th District are running for re-election and face a mixedly competitive primary on Tuesday.

Fitzpatrick, a moderate, faces anti-abortion activist Mark Houck in the GOP primary in the district, which is north of Philadelphia and includes Buck and Montgomery counties.

Meanwhile, three Republicans are vying for the chance to face Wild in the eastern Pennsylvania seat: state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R), small business owner and veteran Kevin Dellicker, and Maria Montero, former executive director of the Pennsylvania Latino Commission in Beyond of the Pennsylvania Commission for Women.

A half-dozen Democrats are also seeking to take on Perry in November, including former local news anchor Janelle Stelson, Navy veteran Mike O’Brien, former senior executive at PBS station WITF Blake Lynch, City Council member Harrisburg, Shamaine Daniel, veteran Rick Coplen and businessman John Broadhurst.

There are signs of less voter involvement

Pennsylvania’s primary elections are seeing less voter engagement, according to local media outlets in the state.

The Philadelphia Inquisitor noted in your live blog that Center City and Delaware County in the Philadelphia area had low voter turnout. The Post-Gazeta annotated live blog lack of enthusiasm from voters in the Pittsburgh suburb of Ambridge, while The Morning Call’s live blog reported that few voters voted in South Whitehall Township in western Pennsylvania.

Other states in the country also recorded lower-than-expected participation in primaries in this electoral cycle.