Latest news with #swingstate
Forbes
28-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Learning From The Ripple Effect Of Pennsylvania's Energy Dominance
The Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant is seen on September 21, 2024 from across the river in Etters, ... More Pennsylvania. Microsoft and Constellation Energy reached a deal that would restart Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear plant, which was previously retired in 2019. (Photo by) 'The politics of Pennsylvania are the reason why you're always looking at Pennsylvania for every election to see how did the suburbs of Philadelphia go, whether they've swung or not to the left or to the right,' Pennsylvania Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan told me in an exclusive interview. 'My district itself is 40% Democrat, 40% Republican, and 20% independent. So I'm a good kind of little Petri dish case study of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the country at large,' pointing out that 'we have urban, suburban, rural Democrats, Republicans, you know, independents.' Pennsylvania is the ultimate swing state, having voted for Donald Trump in 2016, for Joe Biden in 2020, and then back to Donald Trump in 2024 by less than 1%. Graphic on support for energy in Pennsylvania, Global Strategy Group research - 2025 Houlahan is a Democrat representing Pennsylvania's sixth district, and the first woman to do so. She's an Air Force veteran, an engineer, an entrepreneur, an educator who worked with Teach for America and taught 11th grade science in Philadelphia. Her grandparents and parents survived the Holocaust, came to the U.S. as immigrants with nothing, and built a military family (her father and grandfather served in the Navy). She earned an engineering degree from Stanford (with an ROTC scholarship) and a Master of Science degree in Technology and policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Bemoaning that 'just a couple dozen of us have STEM background or proclivity' in Congress,' at a time when every issue intersects with it, she founded and co-chairs the Women in STEM Caucus too. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA 06). ca. 14 November 2018. (Photo by: HUM Images/Universal Images Group ... More via Getty Images) Reflecting the 'petri dish' of her district in both political bent and priorities, Houlahan is Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. With 60 members, she said it's one of the largest bipartisan caucuses in the House. What that means for the country's energy and climate policies circa 2025 remains to be seen, though. Dozens of House and Senate Republicans signed letters to their leaderships earlier this year asking that the clean energy financial incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act be preserved. But then those same GOP members voted to gut those incentives in the massive Republican bill last week. Pennsylvania provides multiple energy sources and in a big way. According to the Energy Information Agency (EIA), it's the second-largest natural gas producing state, 'the third-largest coal-producing state,' and the second-largest generator of electricity from nuclear power (in 2023). 'Pennsylvania is the second-largest net supplier, after Texas, of total energy to other states,' EIA reported. Hydrogen key to domestic energy - Clean Air Task Force screenshot - May 8-2025 Two new hydrogen hubs are being developed there too, courtesy of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), though they are on the chopping block in the new GOP bill. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has secured or will benefit from over $700 million worth of climate action and clean energy investments from the IRA, according to the City of Philadelphia in January. Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly support increasing clean energy in the state, 76% overall, including 84% of independents and 59% of Republicans. 'I just believe that we're fundamentally a very pragmatic people who really think hard, are well educated, in different ways, to understand the complexity of all problems that we have,' including energy, 'and we can find solutions that are pragmatic as well,' Houlahan insisted on Electric Ladies Podcast. 'Our planet is under attack and we do have an energy crisis and we do need to move towards renewable and sustainable energies more rapidly than we are. And I think the people of our community, my community, recognize that.' New research by the Environmental Voter Project found that 'far more women than men are listing climate and environmental issues as their top priority in voting' – by a 62% to 37% margin. They also found that gap was 'largest among young people, Black and Indigenous voters.' Environmental Voter Project study on gender & climate vote - 2025
The Independent
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Republicans fear Marjorie Taylor Greene could win the Georgia primaries – then cost them the whole race
Republican senators are concerned about the prospect of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene running in the state's GOP senate primary ahead of next year's race against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Greene has said she's considering running for Senate or governor next year, sharing her confidence that she would win a primary. This comes as Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp has announced that he won't challenge Ossoff. Republican senators note that she would have a good chance of winning the GOP nomination because of her strong support among Trump voters and national profile. However, there are concerns among some that Greene may very well win the primary but lose the general election against Ossoff, much like former NFL player Herschel Walker, who won the Republican nomination for Georgia's other U.S. Senate seat in 2022 but lost the general election to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. North Dakota Republican Senator Kevin Cramer was asked if Greene would be a strong candidate for the general election. 'We need to have the absolute best candidate, and that includes electability. It's very difficult to apply a formula for a very gerrymandered, very conservative congressional district into a statewide election with as much diversity as Georgia has,' he said, according to The Hill. 'That is a swing state that's pretty independent-minded,' Cramer added. 'If I was to put my political science hat on and look at all the criteria, she wouldn't be high on my list of recruits.' In 2021, Cramer wrote in Newsweek about some of the 'crazier' things Greene has said and theories she has supported, such as the notion that the 9/11 terror attacks against New York and Washington were an inside job, or that the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida in 2018 was a false flag operation. He also brought up her 2018 suggestion that a fatal wildfire in California was caused by space lasers, and that it may have been a part of a plan by wealthy financiers to make space for a new high-speed train line. Greene subsequently deleted that Facebook post. 'I think she's recanted some of the crazier things she's said,' said Cramer. However, he emphasized that 'electability is one of the more important criteria in recruiting a candidate.' 'Sometimes we let ideology be more important, and that's a mistake,' the senator said. North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis is up for re-election next year. He also noted that Greene may win the Republican nomination but could be a weaker general election candidate, adding that being able to appeal to independents and moderates in the suburbs remains vital. 'I think she'd be a solid primary contender, but the state's a lot like North Carolina. It could be a challenge at the statewide level,' said Tillis, according to The Hill. Greene told NewsNation, 'The polling shows I can win the governor's primary or I can win the Senate primary. That's a choice that I can make, and I'll give it some thought.' 'I'm sorry that Brian Kemp's not running,' Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn said, according to The Hill. He added that he wants a candidate 'that can win. I don't know whether she qualifies or not.' A spokesperson for Greene told The Hill that 'Polling shows Congresswoman Greene would blow out a primary. She has the same type of support President Trump has, and now he's president.'
