FOLSOM, Pa. — Pennsylvania Sen Pat Toomey revealed Friday that he has had multiple discussions with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence recently as Republicans look to corral GOP holdouts who have yet to support Donald Trump.
In a brief interview with the Washington Examiner Friday after an event in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Toomey said that he has spoken “several times” with Pence since the Indiana Republican became the party’s vice presidential nominee. However, Toomey said that there is no pressure to endorse at this time as he continues to fight for his political life and re-election to the United States Senate.
“Gov. Pence and I have spoken on a couple of occasions since his selection as nominee,” Toomey told the Examiner. “I’m a big fan of Mike Pence. I think he was a great choice. I think he was a great congressman, he’s a very good governor, and I think he’s a great candidate. He’ll be a great vice president, and we’ve spoken several times.”
When asked if there has been pressure from the Indiana governor or other pro-Trump forces to back the real estate mogul, Toomey said there wasn’t. But he admitted that the two sides are engaging in an “ongoing dialogue.”
“There’s no pressure. There’s no pressure from anyone. We’re good friends, we have been for a long time,” Toomey said. “We don’t put pressure on each other. We just have a really good, constructive, ongoing dialogue.”
Toomey is one of a few Senate Republicans who has not said whether he is supporting Trump, joining Texas’ Ted Cruz, Utah’s Mike Lee, Nebraka’s Ben Sasse and Illinois’ Mark Kirk, who is the only other incumbent senator up for re-election who has declined to back Trump. Pence recently met with Cruz, as well as Lee and House Speaker Paul Ryan during his stop on Capitol Hill last week as he continued to court Republican support.
Soon after Trump became the GOP nominee, Toomey wrote in an op-ed that he “was not pleased” with Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton being the two top nominees, adding that Trump’s campaign is “highly problematic.”
The Pennsylvania Republican was in Delaware County Friday to campaign with Sen. John McCain at a local VFW, where the two focused predominantly on national security and issues concerning veterans. McCain, who is also up for re-election in Arizona, expressed his appreciation for Toomey for his focus on national security issues, especially as the “world is on fire.”
Toomey is currently locked in a dead heat with Katie McGinty, the Democratic nominee for Senate, in his battle for re-election. With just 46 days until election day, Republicans in the state are hopeful about his chances, especially as Trump continues to rise in various battleground states and focus on Pennsylvania. Trump spent all of Thursday in the state, giving a speech before the Marcellus Shale Coalition in Pittsburgh, holding a rally in Delaware County Thursday night, with enough time left over for him to stop by Geno’s Steaks, a South Philadelphia cheesesteak landmark.
“In a time in which a lot of people throughout the country believe that government has lost touch with the things that matter to them, Pat Toomey has been working on the things that matter to them in an effective manner,” said Rep. Pat Meehan, who represents much of Delaware County.
“I think it’s the kind of thing that cuts through in times like this. It doesn’t show up in the polling,” Meehan continued. “He continues to run not only strong, but in most polls, even or slightly ahead, and I think he will maintain — I think it will be a close race, but I think he’s going to maintain that right to the end.”
At the moment, Toomey’s contest with McGinty is neck-and-neck, with McGinty leading by 0.2 points according to the latest RealClearPolitics average.
