Today the Keystone Report, a popular “Drudge-style” blog focused on Pennsylvania politics, published a new poll commissioned by American Principles Project suggesting that Gov. Tom Wolf (D-Pa.) will likely struggle to win re-election in 2018. Less than 35 percent of Pennsylvania voters approve of Gov. Tom Wolf’s job performance, while 43 percent disapprove.
A majority of Democrats said they were less likely to support Wolf when they learned about his support for a “gender identity” mandate on schools. When told Governor Tom Wolf supports school policies that force children to share shower facilities with members of the opposite sex, 71 percent of voters said they were less likely to support the Governor, including 51 percent of Democrats.
The poll was conducted on April 11-13 by Revily, Inc.
The sexual orientation/gender identity (SOGI) issue is a big one in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania legislature has thus far failed to pass the so-called “Fairness Act,” a bill Gov. Wolf has made his top non-budget priority, which would make SOGI a protected class. Last year, Gov. Wolf ousted the former head of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) and installed a new chairman to further his progressive agenda. Now, the PHRC is threatening to act on the substance of the “Fairness Act” by executive fiat, arguing that SOGI should be included as a protected class under the definition of “sex.” The PHRC is currently studying the proposed change and is widely expected to adopt it. The ramifications of such a radical policy shift would be dramatic.
As the poll shows, Democrats are going to be extremely upset with their own governor — 51 percent said they were less likely to vote for him — when they find out he is pushing policies that would force their children into showers with members of the opposite sex.
If Republicans have the intestinal fortitude to message on this issue — if they have the courage to do both what is right and what is politically smart — Gov. Wolf will lose tens of thousands of Democrat votes because of his radical agenda. He won’t be able to recover from that.
Photo credit: Governor Tom Wolf via Flickr, CC BY 2.0
