Why You Gotta Win Pennsylvania

What does Johnstown, Pennsylvania have to do with San Francisco, California?

Not much, unless you understand what the Left understands – that if you can control Pennsylvania, you can control America. 

Sure, we all know Pennsylvania is a swing state, and an important one at that. And politicians running for national office – along with their deep-pocketed donors –invest enormous focus and resources on the Keystone State. 

But that’s not what I’m talking about here. 

I’m talking about something deeper: If you control Pennsylvania – meaning the state-level offices and institutions that make, interpret, and implement election laws – you control the country. 

National millionaires and billionaires on the progressive Left know this. 

That’s why money from wealthy Left-wing entrepreneurs and business leaders from California, New York, and states across the country finds its way to local races in Johnstown, Warminster, and dozens of other places across the commonwealth. 

National donors and groups on the Right need to know this, too. 

That’s the case I make in You GOTTA win Pennsylvania! A call to entrepreneurs to save America, a new book available on Amazon on April 6. 

And Pennsylvania is their current prime target.  

They understand that elections – and agendas – aren’t really won or lost at the presidential level. Sure, that’s the all-important cherry on top. But the real “meat” of elections, to mix metaphors, is won and lost in courtrooms that gerrymander districts and rewrite election laws to benefit one party. It’s won or lost in legislatures that craft policies that shape issues ranging from energy to education. It’s won or lost not in Washington, D.C., but in state Capitols across the country. 

As the ultimate swing state, Pennsylvania is the most prized state for the Left to capture.

Because they get it: Control Pennsylvania, and you control America.  

To win Pennsylvania, the Left has developed and sharpened a national strategy of pooling resources, targeting key races, and – in short – connecting left-wing billionaires and millionaires from far-flung states to hyper-local candidates in Pennsylvania. 

The result has been a steady influx of campaign money from wealthy progressive networks into Pennsylvania. These aren’t random occasional donations. They’re massive war chests that the Left deploys with precision, often in obscure races that most voters barely notice. 

For example, since 2018, the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee’s single largest donor – contributing more than $15 million – is a federal super PAC called PAC for America’s Future. And more than 97% of this PAC’s contributions have come from out-of-state donors – particularly from non-Pennsylvania millionaires and billionaires.

Do these donors know the candidates benefitting from their donations? Absolutely not. But do these donors know why they send massive resources via the Left’s national network? Yes, they do. 

Because they know it’s the local, state-level contests that determine who draws congressional maps, who oversees elections, and who shapes state policy that impacts the nation. 

In short, it’s these elections that determine the rules of the game by controlling the institutions making the rules.

To their credit, entrepreneurs on the Left recognize politics as an extension of their strategic mindset. They invest, coordinate, and execute with the same discipline they bring to business ventures. And, crucially, they play the long game.

But too often, the political Right does not have the same approach. Conservative donors and entrepreneurs tend to focus on high-profile national races, not realizing that it’s the state-level infrastructure that ultimately decides outcomes of those national contests. 

This mismatch has allowed progressive networks to gain ground, even in the ultimate purple state: Pennsylvania. 

You GOTTA win Pennsylvania! lays out exactly why Left-wing donors from California, New York, and elsewhere are investing their political dollars in state-level races in the Keystone State.  

And, more important, it issues an urgent call to entrepreneurs on the Right to likewise engage – not passively, but with urgency, scale, and precision – if they want to win Pennsylvania and save America. 

Why entrepreneurs? That’s simple: They understand risk, long-term thinking, and cause-and-effect. They are accustomed to building systems, solving problems, and taking decisive action. 

Let’s face it: If one side treats politics as a high-stakes investment and the other does not, the outcome is predictable.

Importantly, this isn't just about campaign donations. It goes far beyond that. It’s about a comprehensive strategy of recruiting candidates, funding organizations, shaping policy debates, and sustaining long-term engagement. 

In other words, entrepreneurs on the Right must build a political infrastructure that mirrors the sophistication of the Left’s behemoth network.

Ultimately, what happens in Pennsylvania will chart the course of America, for good or ill. 

Progressive entrepreneurs know this – and invest accordingly. The question is whether their counterparts on the Right will recognize it—and do the same.

If they do, we will win Pennsylvania – and save America.

But it all hinges on what entrepreneurs do next. 

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.