LANSDALE, POG -- Despite incumbent Nationalist politicians having low approval ratings and presiding over a difficult economy, Conservative candidates in POG did not fare well in the 2022 elections.
There's a reason for that, says POG's Attorney General Austin Mendajara, the only Conservative statewide candidate to win in 2022.
"We had nothing compelling to offer voters," Mendajara told the Lansdale Focus newspaper in an interview.
Mendajara, first elected in 2018, pulled out a 51%-48% win in a close race against Nationalist political newcomer Devon Hunter.
But the attorney general performed better than Mike Indano, the Conservatives' candidate for governor.
Indano fell short of the state's top job to Gov. Ramon Ramos (N) by just 53,000 votes out of more than 9.5 million cast.
Sen. Dick Trau (C), the state's only Conservative senator and heir to a political dynasty, did even worse, losing to Nationalist Assemblyman Jim Mahenas. Trau took 48 percent to Mahenas' 50 percent.
Secretary of State Benny Ortiz (C), a fellow Hispanic who was elected in 2018 alongside Mendajara, lost his bid for re-election too, edged out slightly by little-known Nationalist Jane Grey.
Ms. Grey took almost 50% compared to nearly 49% for Ortiz.
So why did Conservative candidates falter, when economic and political conditions were ripe for solid Conservative gains?
After all, Ramos, POG's governor, is a hero for progressive, but deeply divisive and polarizing, and loathed by Conservatives.
"We should have beat him easily," Mendajara told the Focus. "With the economy the way it is, and Ramon being so polarizing and confrontational, the voters were really hungry for a good alternative. But Mike Indano is also polarizing and controversial. You put two controversial and polarizing people in the same room, and people tend to stick with the one they already have and know," said Mendajara.
The Indano-Ramos race was exceedingly close. In the initial vote tally, Indano had a small lead. But two subsequent recounts found Ramos to be the winner.
Indano has since accused Ramos and Nationalists of cheating.
"It was rigged," he told a Lansdale conservative radio host last week. "The Nationalists had this thing rigged from the beginning. They didn't want me and they'd do anything to protect Ramon Ramos, so they rigged the counting. We have proof of that, we have evidence to back that up," said Indano, although he declined to give any specifics when pressed to present evidence.
Nationalists and many Conservatives stress the gubernatorial election was not fraudulent.
"Ramon won and I think he did so fairly and squarely," Mendajara said. "It just was a very close race. But it shouldn't have been. With a stronger Conservative candidate, Ramon would have lost with no question."
As for Dick Trau, the incumbent Conservative senator who is the son-in-law of former federal Secretary of State Dick Lanman, Mendajara says Lanman tried to walk the middle in a polarized election.
"Dick tried to stay in the middle. He wanted to appeal to, and he did appeal to, the middle-of-the-road, moderate voters. But he also needed the support of the really conservative voters. Unfortunately, his moderate stances really irked a lot of the hardliners. And Jim Mahenas, his opponent, was also a moderate, middle-of-the-road Nationalist, so they had to compete for those independent and swing voters, and it was just a tough race for Dick," Mendajara said.
And Benny Ortiz, another young Hispanic Conservative who was often profiled and closely aligned with Mendajara, he lacked confidence, his attorney general friend says.
"Benny is a friend of mine, he's a nice guy. He has a good heart and wants to serve his community and our state. But I think he came across as a bit timid, a bit insecure. And he was running against a very confident, assured candidate on the other side who projected confidence. And voters want confidence in their secretaries of state," said Mendajara.
But after election losses, "everyone looks for someone to blame," Mendajara added.
And part of the blame lies with POG's Conservative Party itself.
"The party leadership, here in POG and also nationally in some ways too, is stuck in the 1990s and 1980s," he said. "We need to realize that POG's demographics are changing, POG is becoming a younger, more diverse state. And yet, we as a party, we are stuck in the old-fashioned mindset. We aren't appealing to minorities as much as we should. We're not appealing to women as much as we should. We're not appealing to working class people as much as we should. We need to re-frame our perspective, I think. And offer voters more than just a return to the past."
POG State Conservative Party Chairwoman Charla Huggerin disputed Mendajara's characterization of the state party.
"While I respect Attorney General Mendajara, I don't feel the POG Conservative party is stuck in the past. We are very much future-minded and looking forward to new possibilities and new growth policies for POGeans. And the data backs that up. All of our Conservative candidates did very well among minority voters in places like Bassutton County, Van Hassett County, Clemson County, Bardwell County, and to some degree in Caspella and Harpinscott Counties as well," said Huggerin.
Indeed, Conservative candidates did run up the score in heavily Conservative, upper-middle class Bassutton County, which includes many northwestern suburbs of Lansdale.
The party also did well in Van Hassett County, which is home to the University of POG and several military bases. Conservatives also dominated in Clemson County in the state's southeast, another highly-educated county that includes the southwestern suburbs of Kingham and has a large minority population.
Bardwell, Caspella and Harpinscott Counties were more evenly split. However, the NAT performed well with the majority of minority voters, particularly in the Kingham, Lansdale and Knoxbury metro areas.
While Conservatives had some localized successes among minority voters in certain areas, Huggerin agreed with Mendajara that the party could do more to reach out to non-white voters.
"We have a lot more to do, a lot more room for growth, and we are always looking to expand the big tent of our party to appeal to POGeans of all backgrounds," she said.
Looking to the next governor's election in 2026, Mendajara has not said whether he intends to run. As POG's only statewide Conservative elected official, he is the most logical choice for Conservatives to run.
But there is no shortage of ambitious CNS candidates in POG, and its likely Mendajara, who is moderate, would have an open path to the party's nomination.
Indano, who has ran unsuccessfully for governor once and federal Senate twice, has not ruled out running again in 2026.
"It's something we're thinking about," he said in his radio interview last week. "We still will need a pro-growth, pro-business, anti-tax governor in 2026, so I think the need will still be there. And do we have any other strong conservative candidates who can stand on their own feet and not be controlled like a puppet by the state party and the establishment? Those are questions we'll have to ask ourselves in the future," said Indano.
Mendajara hopes Indano will soften his image a bit before running again for the governorship in 2026.
"I don't care who runs for governor in '26, but whoever it is, I hope we have learned as a party that blowhards do not win. Buffoons do not win. People who cry 'cheating' every time they lose do not win. People who sow doubt about elections and who rile up their base voters with outlandish stories and conspiracies will not win in POG. So our next nominee for governor needs to be someone who's smart, who appeals to a broad swath of voters, and who is above all the fray and noise of the political discourse," said Mendajara.
Will that candidate be him?
"It's way too early to tell. I'll let you know in three years," he laughed.
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