Why 'No' Lost on Election Day  

In 2023, after Republicans’ defeat in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court race, I wrote, “The Left has done a stellar job convincing deep-pocketed national donors and special interests that they should invest in Pennsylvania. That’s because it understands that Pennsylvania is the frontline battleground for the American future. The Right needs to come to this same realization.”

Election Day was a win for Democrats across the country — not surprising as the most prominent elections were in blue New Jersey, blue Virginia, and blue New York City. Even President Trump in his decisive, every-swing-state victory last year didn’t carry any of these places.

But Pennsylvania remains firmly purple, with Republicans and Democrats alike regularly winning statewide offices.

So, why did our efforts to remove three Democrat state Supreme Court Justices fall so far short, with the justices’ winning retention with about 62% of the vote? 

The easy answer is that retention elections — in which voters simply choose “yes” or “no” on giving justices another 10 years in office — are hard to lose. In fact, voters have retained every single justice save one since the state adopted the retention process in 1968. 

This is certainly true.

But more was at play in 2025, which was the first year that any group had ever launched a specific strategy to unseat a sitting justice — let alone three. 

The Left went apoplectic, somehow imagining terms like “democracy” are theirs alone. They pulled out all the stops attempting to shut down our efforts. This showed two things: First, our messaging and strategy were working — our polling showed this, and we suspect theirs did, too. And second, the Left knows what the Right has not yet realized: You must win Pennsylvania. 

Indeed, several Democratic operatives admitted that our strategy likely swung some voters to the “no” side. While majorities in all 67 Pennsylvania counties typically vote in favor of retention, this year, majorities in 41 counties voted against retention. 

Why did an obviously successful messaging strategy fall short? Well, as one observer noted, our side seemed to “pull the plug.” And that’s because more groups on the Right still aren’t convinced of the importance of winning Pennsylvania. 

Two days before the election, one of the Left’s most active pro-retention groups sent out a fundraising email crediting our side with a “devastating surprise” that “changed the calculus of this race.” In response, they wrote, they “sent out a desperate call to the Democratic movement warning that if these calls went unheeded we would lose this court. Our calls [were] answered. The cavalry has arrived.” 

The Left’s cavalry included national groups like the ACLU and the Democratic National Committee. Former President Barack Obama and Eric Holder’s National Democratic Redistricting Committee also got into the fray, as did Planned Parenthood. The usual Democratic cadre of unions and trial lawyers were also involved.

All told, more than 40 Left-aligned groups from around the country poured more than $14 million into the pro-retention effort (but likely closer to $20 million when final campaign reports are completed). 

And on the Right? Silence, as calls for similar support went largely unheeded. Aside from the Pennsylvania GOP and the Republican State Leadership Committee, no group came alongside of us to any significant degree to invest in these races. 

Even groups that had rightly railed against partisan rulings by these justices stayed on the sidelines.

Meantime, Democratic donors and groups from across the country rushed to make sure the Left won Pennsylvania. They know that our state races — for court seats, row offices, and even state legislative seats — have immense national impact. 

We saw this in 2024, when control of the state House was up for grabs. Democrats spent a record-breaking more than $4 million in Johnstown to protect one of their incumbent state representatives and ensure a one-seat Democrat majority in the state House. More than 75% of that $4 million came from a single group that, in turn, gets millions from out-of-state Democrat donors. 

If national groups on the Right had engaged in Pennsylvania this year like groups on the Left did, would the outcome have been different? Possibly yes, possibly no. At the very least, the margins would have been much closer. 

In his victory speech, the Democratic Party’s new standard-bearer, New York City democratic socialist mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, said there is “no concern too small for [government] to care about.” 

This reflects the Democrats’ mantra when it comes to winning Pennsylvania: There is no race too small for Democrats to spend money on. That’s why we’re seeing increased investment by the national Left even in local Pennsylvania races.

As the nation’s largest swing state, Pennsylvania continues to hang in the balance. The Left is already all-in on tilting the scales by winning Pennsylvania. 

It’s time for the Right to recognize what’s at stake — and send in its own cavalry to win Pennsylvania. 

Matthew J. Brouillette is president and CEO of Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs, an independent, nonpartisan 501(c)(6) membership organization dedicated to improving the economic environment and educational opportunities in Pennsylvania.