PHILADELPHIA — When Donald Trump scored a surprise upset in Pennsylvania in 2016, he thrilled Republicans, who saw the state go red in a presidential race for the first time in 28 years.
But they’ve been chasing that same high ever since, with only setbacks to show for it.
Pennsylvania Republicans molded in Trump’s image got routed in 2018′s Senate and gubernatorial races. Trump lost the state — and presidency — in 2020 while other, less Trump-affiliated Republicans won. And last week brought perhaps the most crushing defeat, as the GOP lost every major race in Pennsylvania, despite an unpopular President Joe Biden widely blamed for inflation.