After months of questions on whether his party’s presidential nominee could earn his support, Republican Pat Toomey finally gave his answer Tuesday evening after exiting his Lehigh County voting booth.
Toomey — who had said throughout the summer and fall he would not vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton but was unconvinced by the GOP nominee — said just before 7 p.m. Tuesday he had cast his ballot for Donald Trump.
“In the end I decided we’ve just got to change the course we’re on,” the first-term senator told reporters gathered outside his polling site in Zionsville.
In the April primary, Toomey voted for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. But since Trump became the GOP nominee, Toomey — who has been fighting a tough battle to hold on to his U.S. Senate seat — repeatedly declined to say whether he could endorse or vote for Trump.
He also declined to distance himself too far from Trump, a position over which his Democratic challenger, Katie McGinty, attacked him over and over. She questioned how Toomey could say he’d stand up to a president of either party, a promise he stated in campaign ads this fall, if the legislator wouldn’t even say who he was voting for.
Her campaign spokesman, Josh Levitt, lambasted Toomey for announcing Tuesday morning that he wouldn’t vote until the evening of Election Day, describing the incumbent as “most craven and self-interested politician in the country.
“Let’s be clear here: Pat Toomey is intentionally waiting until millions of his constituents have already voted today before making clear to them who he supports to be our next commander in chief,” Levitt said in a statement.
Toomey did condemn several of Trump’s most controversial remarks, including his call for banning Muslims from entering the country and his statement that an Indiana judge could not be impartial due to his heritage. He did not appear with Trump at any of the nominee’s Pennsylvania rallies.
Toomey also praised Trump’s choice of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate, and said he believed that Trump would be likely to sign a proposal that Toomey supports on repealing Obamacare and reinstating sanctions against Iran.
Political experts have said Toomey’s hedging with regard to Trump is likely the wisest course available as he seeks re-election in a state with nearly 1 million more Democrats.
Toomey needs to win over independents and moderate Democrats in his own race, but he needs to do so without losing support from Republicans energized by Trump. Doing so could be fatal in such a close race.
Toomey, however, has downplayed any potential effects on his race from his alignment — or lack thereof — with the top of the ticket, arguing that voters will be making up their minds in each race separately.
Toomey and McGinty remain in a close contest according to most of the latest polls. The winner will join Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey representing Pennsylvania in the Senate.
Twitter @LauraOlson
202-824-8216
