FRENCHCREEK TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Paul Woodburne and his fellow rural Democrats sometimes feel disconnected from their political party while living in deeply Republican areas, worrying about nabbed signs and lost friendships.
That’s why Mr. Woodburne and hundreds of others from across rural northwest Pennsylvania camped out at the Venango County Fairgrounds this weekend for Demstock — an annual convention of sorts billing itself as “all things Democrat.”
“If you’re isolated, you don’t realize what power you have,” said Mr. Woodburne, who leads the Clarion County Democrats. “We’re marginal, but sometimes the margins are what drive the elections.”
The schedule included lighthearted activities such as trivia and stargazing but also a speaker lineup that included U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, U.S. Senate nominee John Fetterman, now the state’s lieutenant governor; State Rep. and lieutenant governor nominee Austin Davis; and State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia.
A trio of women strummed ukuleles outside the main hall, playing Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin,'” as attendees ranging from State House candidates to the state party chairman, State Sen. Sharif Street of Philadelphia, chatted up attendees.
The gathering took on an increased urgency this year, with key races fast approaching for governor and U.S. Senate that could have significant ramifications on a variety of issues. Mr. Casey said Democrats work hard to better the lives of all Pennsylvanians, while Republicans instead just “talk a good game.”
Democrats face an uphill climb in winning back rural voters, who have moved steadily Republican for decades.
Joe Biden was able to win back some of them in the 2020 presidential election, and Josh Shapiro, who is running for governor this year but won re-election as state attorney general in 2020, garnered even more votes than Mr. Biden, in large part through support from crossover voters.
Mr. Fetterman, who faces Republican celebrity physician Mehmet Oz, has been a chief proponent of reaching voters in all corners of the Keystone State, even working it into his campaign slogan, “Every county, Every vote.”
“I can’t win, I can’t make it to D.C. without your help — that’s the truth,” said Mr. Fetterman, who just returned to the campaign trail two weeks ago after recovering from a stroke. “You guys are the secret, you are the reason why. If you can help me jam up Dr. Oz in all of your counties, you will be the ones who will send Dr. Oz back to New Jersey.”
Mr. Davis said the work of rural Democrats “couldn’t be more important.”
“We need you in this fight,” he said. “I know Josh and I have asked more of you this election cycle than we’ve ever asked before. But the stakes could not be higher.”
Mr. Woodburne said a key takeaway from the event was that rural Democrats aren’t alone and together can flex their electoral muscle.
“They know and we know our votes are very important,” he said.
Christine Proctor, who chairs the Washington County Democratic Party, attended her first Demstock this year. She said all the key leaders attending showed that the party was doubling down on what she described as an already expanded commitment to funding political organizing statewide.
“They have definitely been on the ground longer, and there’s more of them,” she said.
Ms. Proctor said she has seen increased energy among voters and has received “nonstop” phone calls since the May primary election to request lawn signs. She views two factors as important to Democrats in the November general election — potentially depressed turnout from supporters of former President Donald Trump, and what she described as “long-term” Republicans deciding their gubernatorial nominee, Doug Mastriano, is too far right.
“Being in a red county, we’re always working in the margins,” she said. “All we want to do is increase our vote totals for the statewide ticket as much as possible.”
Lara Putnam, a history professor at the University of Pittsburgh who has studied grassroots politics, said Demstock provides an opportunity for often-outnumbered Democrats to come together as a unified party.
“Providing organizational spaces in which folks – who are in the minority within their own counties, but having had shared experiences and shared values and visions – can sort of find each other and network across those spaces has been really important,” she said. “Demstock is an example and sort of an outcome of that.”
Ms. Putnam added that Democrats must campaign in all parts of the state to win, and sees the current candidates not repeating what she described as mistakes made in previous election years. She said some party strategists had made a “false diagnosis” by solely focusing on voters in big cities and their surrounding suburbs, while Republicans racked up ever-larger vote margins in rural areas.
“If Republican dominance is that lopsided in rural areas of Pennsylvania, Democrats for sure can’t reliably win statewide and they’re at risk of not being able to compete well statewide,” she said. “The size of the margin by which Republicans win or Democrats lose in rural areas really matters to statewide results.”
Jon Moss: mosspg412@gmail.com; Twitter: @mossjon7.
First Published: August 28, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
Updated: August 28, 2022, 1:49 p.m.