CAMP HILL, Pa. — Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich made brief detours from Wisconsin Friday, with both making stops in Pennsylvania just weeks before the state’s primary.
The two candidates both attended the PA Leadership Conference in Camp Hill Friday afternoon, a pro-Cruz venue, which marked the Texan’s first stop in the Keystone State. Kasich was making his third after an event in Philadelphia on Thursday evening and one earlier Friday in Hershey.
During his speech, Cruz drilled through his laundry list of conservative stances, receiving a raucous welcome from a packed Radisson Hotel ballroom as he spoke words of “hope and encouragement.” Specifically, The Texas senator talked up his stance on energy, as Pennsylvania is a state rich in natural gas.
“Pennsylvania has become an energy state. I’m a Texan, we know something about it,” Cruz said. “If Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders or some other socialist is elected president, you’re going to see tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians losing their jobs in the coal industry. thousands of Pennsylvanians losing their jobs in the oil and gas industry. You’re going to see tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians out on the street because the federal government isn’t looking after you.”
“If I’m elected president, we’re going to get the federal government out of the way, and you’re going to see tens of thousands of more Pennsylvanians getting new jobs in coal and oil and gas industries,” Cruz boomed.
Meanwhile, Kasich, a native of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, arrived after polls showed him in a near-tie with Donald Trump. According to the latest Franklin & Marshall poll, Trump leads the Keystone State with 33 percent to Kasich’s 30 percent.
Speaking to reporters after his event in Hershey, Kasich took more pointed shots at Cruz, arguing that his GOP rival has a short and unremarkable record in the U.S. Senate, spearheaded by his push to shut down the government over Obamacare in 2013
“The problem with Sen. Cruz is he has no record. His record is shutting down the government and making everybody he works with upset,” Kasich said. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., took the point a step further during his introduction of Kasich, telling supporters that one of Cruz’s top accomplishments was getting “98 of 100 senators to dislike him.”
Speaking after the event, Dent talked up Kasich’s path to take Pennsylvania in the late April primary. The Lehigh Valley-based congressman told the Washington Examiner that Kasich has the right “tone” and “temperament” to succeed in Pennsylvania.
“Gov. Kasich is well is well-positioned to win Pennsylvania. His tone, his temperament, his style and his views on policy, candidly, I think will play very well, specifically in the collar counties of Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley, and I would argue much of South Central Pennsylvania,” Dent told the Washington Examiner, pointing to the greater Harrisburg area.
“I feel very good about where he is … particularly, now that Donald Trump has stepped in it again for the umpteenth time,” Dent said, referring to his recent comments and subsequent reversal on abortion. “I think that’s given more folks pause and concern about his fitness to serve in the highest office in the land.”
Later on, Kasich took to the stage in nearby Camp Hil, where he received frosty reception at times during his speech. During the Q&A portion, the Ohio governor was questioned over his stance on education and his conservative bonafides, telling attendees at one point “there’s a murmur in the crowd and I enjoy it.”
Pennsylvania is set to become a focal point for the remaining candidates after the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, with the state being one of only six states set to hand out delegates for the rest of the month. Overall, the state has 71 delegates up for grabs, with only 17 going to the winner on April 26th.
“I think he’ll be camping out here [post-Wisconsin],” Dent predicted. “He’ll be out here all the time.”
