From Washington County in Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., politicians and the punditocracy were taken aback Sunday by a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer that Republican Sen. Pat Toomey would announce the following day his complete retirement from politics.
A source close to Toomey confirmed to Newsmax that the two-term senator, now 58 and a father of three, would announce he would not seek reelection or run for governor in 2022.
Although several of Toomey's friends expected such an announcement after the November elections, the early timing caught most Keystone State Republicans off guard.
Moreover, the exit of the state’s best known Republican has, in effect, turned Republican politics upside down.
There are at least three Republican gubernatorial prospects: State Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, a protégé of former Sen. and presidential hopeful Rick Santorum; former Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley, who lost his position in 2014 when then-GOP Gov. Tom Corbett was ousted by Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf; and State Sen. Doug Mastriano, a decorated U.S. Army veteran who served three tours of duty in Afghanistan.
Also being mentioned is former state House Speaker Mike Turzai, who seriously explored and then abandoned a bid for governor in 2018. But Turzai told Newsmax at the recent Pennsylvania Leadership Conference he was happy in the private sector and did not expect to reenter the political arena for a while.
“All of the possibilities for governor and considered pretty conservative,” said longtime Pennsylvania conservative activist Lowman Henry, who contrasted Corman, Cawley, Matriano, and Turzai with such moderate GOP figures of the past as the late Sen. Arlen Specter and former Gov. Tom Ridge, now a Republican for Biden.
At least two members of the House are reportedly eyeing Toomey’s Senate seat: Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, who has a solid base in Western Pennsylvania, and Dan Meuser, reportedly hungry to make a Senate race.
Both are considered strong conservatives, as is Montgomery County developer and 2018 lieutenant governor nominee Jeff Bartos, now the state GOP’s finance chairman.
With Wolf termed out in 2022, the near-certain Democrat nominee to succeed him is State Attorney General Josh Shapiro. A former chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, Shapiro, 47, is best known for his pursuit of more than 1,000 figures in the state’s Catholic Church for alleged sexual abuse.
Early money for the Democrat U.S. Senate nod is on Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman — by far one of the most flamboyant figures in politics anywhere. A onetime AmeriCorps operative and community organizer, he served as mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, and once appeared on The Colbert Show as the “coolest mayor in America.”
With his goatee, jeans, and perpetually disheveled appearance, Bernie Sanders-style Democrat Fetterman cuts a memorable appearance. In addition, he is an unabashed leftist who backs national health insurance, marijuana legalization, and open borders on immigration.
His message and appearance clearly resonated in 2018, when Fetterman ousted then-Lieutenant Governor Mike Stack in the Democrat primary.
For his part, Toomey — who had a successful career on Wall Street and then as owner of a chain of sports bars in Allentown, Pennsylvania — is widely expected to return to the private sector.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.