WEST HOMESTEAD, Pa.—As Democratic leaders continue to grapple with how to respond to Republican President Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda, Democratic voters in Pennsylvania interviewed by The Epoch Times say they know what they want to see from the national party: a unified front and a fresh approach.
In November 2024, Trump led his party to a trifecta, winning the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives—in part thanks to Pennsylvanians’ decision to switch to his column after backing Joe Biden in 2020.
Republicans’ sweeping victory in the most recent contest has prompted soul-searching and uncertainty about Democrats’ identity moving forward. Progressive Democrats, particularly in the House, want to push the party leftward, while moderate Democrats suggest that the party in recent times has already shifted too far left and should moderate its positions, especially on social issues.
These divisions came to a head during a recent fight over government funding.
Meanwhile, polls paint a harsh picture for Democrats.
Two surveys conducted by CNN and NBC show the Democratic Party with 29 percent and 27 percent favorability, respectively. Speculation abounds about who will emerge to right the ship as national party leaders are under increasing pressure to wrap up rebranding efforts.
Located in Allegheny County outside Pittsburgh, the district is made up of several boroughs, including Clairton, Duquesne, Homestead, Munhall, parts of West Mifflin, and others.
As is often the case among working-class Rust Belt voters, the ideological divide between Republicans and Democrats in the region is narrower than elsewhere: Residents seem to be motivated by tangible, on-the-ground issues—especially the economy and crime—rather than scoring political points against “the other side.”
‘Take a Step Back’
Laura Leone, a resident of McKeesport, just outside of Pittsburgh, had traveled to a polling station in neighboring West Homestead to hand out flyers for Democrat Dan Goughnour ahead of the March 25 special election.Goughnour later picked up a comfortable 63 percent majority win over GOP challenger Chuck Davis and Libertarian Adam Kitta in a contest to replace former state Rep. Matthew Gergely, a Democrat representing District 35 in the state Legislature when he died in January.
The race was high-stakes for Pennsylvania, as the state assembly was evenly divided 101–101 between the GOP and the Democrats; Goughnour’s win let the Democrats secure the narrowest edge.
Leone was confident that Goughnour would be an able leader on the state level but said that on the national level, she’s somewhat overwhelmed by the current state of politics and the “extremists on both sides.”
“I don’t even know what to think,” she told The Epoch Times. “Hopefully, as time passes, we can move on and we can come together and see eye to eye on certain issues that are really important.”
Leone said she previously thought of Democrats as the party of inclusion and tolerance, but she now feels that neither side reflects those values. She said both parties should “take a step back” and reexamine their approach so that the United States can regain a sense of unity.
New Leadership
Others said they wanted new leadership to take over in the wake of Schumer’s decision to help pass the Republicans’ funding bill.Schumer has faced intense criticism over his vote—and even calls to step aside—from members of his party. The Senate minority leader was no fan of the GOP funding bill but said he wanted to avert a government shutdown, arguing that such an outcome would empower the administration to make further cuts to funding and personnel.
Subsequently, Jeffries raised eyebrows when he initially refused to answer a question about whether or not Schumer should retain his leadership role. Since then, Jeffries has indicated support for Schumer, but he’s not the only one with doubts.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a leading voice in the House Progressive Caucus, said during a March 24 appearance on CNN: “The American people are fed up with the old guard, there needs to be a renewal.
“I think there’s going to be a new generation in this country.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) also decried Schumer’s vote, saying many Democrats felt “a deep sense of outrage and betrayal” at the decision.
Dane, a 53-year-old counselor who voted in West Homestead and declined to give his last name, also says new leadership might bring better results.
Dane said he resists the Trump administration. “It needs to be stopped as much as it can be,” he said.
But Dane is also dissatisfied with the current state of the Democratic Party.
“I think we need some new blood ... more in the lines of an AOC kind of person, I think maybe a bit more moderated than she is,” he told The Epoch Times, referring to Ocasio-Cortez.
Dane said that he liked some of Ocasio-Cortez’s ideas but was unsure about whether her progressive left policy platform could have a broad enough appeal.
‘Common Sense’ Approach
For many voters, Democrats’ best way forward would be a return to classic kitchen table issues, with less focus on controversial social positions.George Harchar, a retired veteran and welder, told The Epoch Times that he tends to vote for Democrats at the local level, citing their social safety net approach and the slate of services that they offer to senior citizens.
Along with many Republicans, he backed Democrat Josh Shapiro for governor in 2022. Shapiro won the contest by about 15 percentage points partly because of his appeal to the state’s working-class voters.
But at the national level, Harchar said, he often votes Republican and worries that national Democrats have lost their way.
“They’re all messed up right now. ... They support things that I just can’t support. I have daughters, I have granddaughters—I can’t support men playing in women’s sports,” he said.
Harchar said he’s broadly happy so far with what the Trump administration has been doing but has reservations about its methods.
“I like what they’re trying to do, but I don’t always agree with exactly the way they’re doing it,” he said.
Harchar said he hasn’t completely written off the Democrats—he voted for Goughnour in the special election—but he would like to see its more “radical” wing toned down. He said that if the Democrats took a “commonsense” approach, they would find that most Americans would incline toward the party.
Others said they simply want solutions to the problems that they see in their lives and communities.
Scott Stevens, a retired Army vet and law enforcement officer, gestured at a street of somewhat rundown buildings that ran parallel to the fire station that doubled as a polling place in the special election. He noted that when he was a child, the street was thriving and lined with successful businesses.
As Stevens spoke to The Epoch Times, the conversation was repeatedly interrupted by the crashing sound of old drywall being tossed into a dumpster from a third-floor window of a building across the street.
“Now, you see big businesses taking over, Walmart stuff. ... There’s no American dream left,” he said.
