PA Gun Rights Group Pushing Write-in Campaign Against Toomey

Senator Pat Toomey has no primary challenger in Tuesday’s Republican primary. Pennsylvanians for Self Protection are urging GOP primary voters to write in “2A” in place of voting for Senator Toomey:

Pennsylvanians For Self-Protection (PA4SP) a non-partisan, non-profit gun rights advocate based in the Southeast yesterday recommended it’s members to write-in “2A” for 2nd Amendment when voting in the Republican U.S. Senate Primary. The write-in vote is a protest for Senator Pat Toomey’s strong support for gun control legislation. As Toomey is running unopposed in the Primary Election, the write-in vote is symbolic and a message to Toomey. PA4SP cites Toomey’s campaign ad where he is endorsed by a board member of the anti-gun group CeasefirePA as the final straw. In the past, CeasefirePA has called for laws that would restrict the rights to own and purchase firearms placing them at the mercy of criminal predators.

“Pat Toomey has consistently sided with the gun grabbers. He wants to do something about mass shootings in this country, we all do, but making it harder for law abiding people to protect themselves with legal firearms isn’t the way. We need to send him a message to remind him that the 2nd Amendment is a right.” said Dave Sager, President of PA4SP.

Toomey is the co-sponsor of the infamous Toomey-Manchin Gun Bill introduced after the Newtown Shooting in 2012. Critics slammed the bill as bad legislation, doing nothing to stop mass shootings and creating more problems than solving.

“Pat Toomey can’t point to a single mass shooting that would have been stopped by Toomey-Manchin. It’s bad legislation and we don’t need more laws for the sake of laws. We need to enforce current federal gun laws that provide strict penalties for guns used in crime.” offered Carlo Grilletto PA4SP’s Vice President.

Pat Toomey has betrayed legal gun owners. It is important for legal gun owners to let him know it.

I’ll be honest, I’ve never done a write-in before, and have no idea how you’d go about one with the new electronic fraud voting machines. Instructions on how to do a write-in would probably help boost this effort, since a lot of people aren’t going to want to ask poll workers.

The only thing that makes me wary of something like this is that if you set out to send a message, you really need to be sure you can send it. If you throw down, and don’t end up generating enough momentum for the targeted politician to really take notice, you signal weakness.

It’s a shame there was no primary challenger this cycle, but I suspect the GOP is concerned about holding the seat. Next election Toomey will be running in an off year, which to me is when a primary challenge will have better odds of success. The big question in my mind is whether we’ve only lost Pat Toomey on this one issue, or whether he’s embracing a strategy of trying to survive as an full on anti-gun Republican, like Mark Kirk. Time will tell.

9 thoughts on “PA Gun Rights Group Pushing Write-in Campaign Against Toomey”

  1. I’m sure their hearts are in the right place but, if you’re not writing in for an actual eligible office holder you’re just wasting everyone’s time. Obviously focusing this kind of effort is hard, especially in a relatively large commonwealth like PA but jayzuss… pick someone and write them in.

      1. Actually, it’s the government’s time, but who’s counting ;-)

        This is not a discussion like “a vote for is a wasted vote”, this is not that. This is a vote for an inanimate non-corporeal, non sentient thing is a wasted vote.

        What’s the message being sent? People are silly enough to cast a vote for an inanimate object; heck, it’s not even an object, it’s legal concept.

        If they have a write in plan, then nominate a person to be the write in candidate and go forth to the vote but voting against Toomey for 2A is no better than writing in Donald Duck.

  2. This is a poor strategy. I say this as a former judge of elections. Here’s why:

    1) You’re exactly right about poll worker enthusiasm to explain how a write-in vote works, especially during a busy election that could provide for RECORD HIGH turnout at the polls. Poll workers try to get people in and out as fast as possible.

    2) The effort will be under-reported by the media, if at all, regardless of the facts. Heck, they will under-report even when they have camera shots of bodies standing on the PA capitol steps! What makes anyone think they will even report numbers? Can’t you see it? “A gun rights group is undergoing a campaign to tell people to write in ‘2A’ in support of the second amendment. However, we’re hearing that the number of write-in votes has been underwhelming… Jim, what can you tell us about that?” …

    3) What Dave said… Not nearly enough gun owners are tuned in enough to know this

    In response to Toomey being anti-gun, the consensus from the 2A community seems to be that he’s never really been *strong* on the UBC issue in our favor. However, I have no doubt as to his interest in at least voting against further 2A encroachments, except for the “common sense” issue of UBCs. He has consistently voted against AWBs, mag bans, and no-fly/no-buy bills. I believe he has also vocally supported universal reciprocity as well.

  3. Write-In Instructions for Bucks County

    1. Press the “WRITE-IN BOX” on the Republican ballot for the U.S. Senate race.
    2. Press the blinking red button next to the write-in window. The window will automatically open to expose the paper tape.
    3. Write “2A” on the paper tape and pull down the cover of the window to conceal the write-in.
    4. The paper tape will automatically advance to the next write-in. The write-in window must be closed in order to continue to make selections or cast your ballot.

    1. Is it still possible to go in with a pre-printed sticker and past it onto the paper strip?

      I actually authored the “how to instructions” for our local newspapers voters guide, for the old machines, but I have not paid attention since the new machines were adopted.

      One comment on the “vote for a candidate vs. vote for ‘2A’ debate: It’s hard to get people to agree on an individual to vote for, and mixed results may lose some of their power. Voting for “2A” communicates “we cared enough about this issue to throw away our votes, that your party could have had but didn’t get.”

  4. Just don’t vote for that position. They notice things like 1000 votes cast, 10 votes for the idiot, no competition.

  5. A Pennsylvania side note ; Bill SB 737 to allow semi-auto hunting is being held up. Passage would be a blow to the grabbers who say ‘ nobody hunts with a … ‘ BUT according to PAFOA ( Pa. Firearm Owners Assoc. dot com) The NRA is holding the bill up. WTF ???

    1. How could the NRA be holding up a bill? Last time I checked they were not a government entity, just a group of about 5 million people who gathered together to protect the second amendment

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