What the Pennsylvania primary tells us about the GOP in Bucks. A county divided?

Donald Trump wasn't on Tuesday's ballot, but for many casting their vote in Bucks County, he loomed large in their minds.

Bucks County voters lined up behind Trump-endorsed candidates Doug Mastriano in the crowded Republican primary field for governor, and Mehmet Oz, who continued to hold on to a slim lead over businessman David McCormick in the primary for U.S. Senate.

At a campaign appearance Tuesday night at the Newtown Athletic Club, Oz was greeted by enthusiastic supporters who cheered his place in the returns.

Around midnight Wednesday, Oz, still waiting on results in the razor-close race, thanked Trump for his efforts: "After he endorsed me, he continued to lean into this race in Pennsylvania," he said, helping him with rallies and televised town halls which he advised Oz to do. They were "a brilliant idea," Oz said. "God bless you for putting so much effort into this race. I'll make you proud."

Yet the same voters who sent the staunchly conservative Mastriano to the governor's race also soundly backed moderate Republican Brian Fitzpatrick in his reelection bid, over "America First" candidate and political newcomer Alex Entin.

Pennsylvania primary: Fitzpatrick beats GOP challenger Alex Entin in 1st district race

Bristol Borough resident Robert McKenzie, who described himself as a lifelong Republican, was critical of Fitzpatrick, saying he had lost sight of his core Republican values.

Yet he was realistic about the outcome of the election.

“I voted for Alex, but he probably won’t win,” McKenzie said. “I wanted to take a stand against Brian’s policies and how he voted with Democrats.”

When asked if he would vote for Fitzpatrick in the general election should the incumbent win, McKenzie said he would feel obligated to.

“I’m not going Democrat,” he said. “And I’m not going to sit that election out, so if Brian does win here, then he will have my vote in November.”

Fitzpatrick will face Democrat Ashley Ehasz in the November. She was unopposed in her party's primary.

Democrats united early behind her and their other candidates.

Despite question about his health after suffering a stroke days before the election, Lt. Governor John Fetterman easily won the party's nomination for U.S. Senate. Josh Shapiro, who canceled his Election Day plans due to a COVID diagnosis, was immediately declared winner of the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania governor. He was unopposed.

"I think we have a good slate of candidates," said Bucks County Democratic Chairman John Cordisco. "Josh Shapiro should be a good factor."

Cordisco foresees problems in the Republican camp because many moderate Republicans put their support behind former Congressman Lou Barletta to try to curtail Mastriano's lead, but that backfired.

"He's a candidate with half a party," Cordisco said of Mastriano, and he thinks that will work to Shapiro and the Democrats' favor. "It's very helpful to the Democrats."

But Pat Poprik, county Republican Committee chairperson, said that in the primary, everyone has a chance to run, but once the candidates are voted for, the party rallies around those who are chosen through the elective process. "The party will come together in Bucks County," she said.

Live results from the Courier Times:Bucks County 2022 primary election results

Live results from The Intelligencer:2022 primary election results for Bucks and Montgomery counties

What Bucks County Republicans said at the polls

At the polls Tuesday, the split among Republican voters was apparent.

Before entering Bristol Junior-Senior High School, Hugh Franklin said he was going to vote for Fitzpatrick for Congress, Barletta for governor, and McCormick for U.S. Senate.

“We’re under attack from Democrats and cancel culture. We need candidates with a spine to stand up to the Democrats here in Bristol and across Bucks County,” Franklin said, adding that Fitzpatrick should get tougher with Democrats, and that Mehmet Oz is an “outsider” who doesn’t know Pennsylvania. “McCormick can win; his stance on small business and immigration are solid.”

Elsewhere, however, Republican Mort Epstein stood outside the polling place at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Levittown. He was upset about Fitzpatrick.

“You gonna tell Fitzpatrick I hate him? I don’t. He should be booted, he’s a RINO,” Epstein said, referring to a term used by orthodox conservatives meaning “Republican In Name Only.”

Epstein was among a group of people at Bucks County polling places on Tuesday called “Bucks First - America First.” They were pro-Trump, and supported Alex Entin, Fitzpatrick’s Republican primary opponent.

“Fitzpatrick is an anti-Trumper,” Epstein said, “and as someone who supports (the former President), when Trump says ‘Jump’, the next question from us should be, ‘How high?’

“(Trump’s) agenda was the best for America. And I didn’t vote for him because he’s Mother Teresa. He was tough. He got things done. And gas was two bucks a gallon. And leaving Afghanistan the way we did, leaving people behind and $85 billion in military equipment? How did that work out for us? Eighty-five billion. You could have armed Ukraine 10 times over. You like the inflation we have now? These elites are destroying the country right before our eyes.”

Epstein, an Israeli immigrant and retired truck driver, pointed to his big white pickup truck in the parking lot.“It’s got a 37-gallon tank. At six bucks a gallon, it’s over $200 to fill up. Two hundred bucks! Look, I’ll live with that, but I’m not the only one. It’s why I’m here today. We aren’t the Trump wing of the Republican Party. We’re the anti-RINO wing, and we need to get rid of all the RINOS,” he said.

In addition to supporting Entin, Bucks First-America First also was running its own field of 17 candidates for seats on the Republican State Committee, competing with other candidates endorsed by the Bucks County Republican Committee. Committee members recruit and endorse candidates for office and organize campaigns.

When the votes were counted for those seats, the Republican Party-endorsed candidates won 15 of the 17 seats. The Bucks First group acquired two, Poprik said.

"I'm extremely happy," she said. "The voters for the most part believed the party was fair and the ones we recommended were the best to do the job."

Several members of the Bucks First group who handed out fliers at the polls said that come Wednesday, they would work with whichever Republicans were elected.

“It needs to be a very solid win for Republicans,” said Matt Collins, of Upper Makefield.

At Snyder Elementary School on Beaver Street in Bristol, Marie Anne Herbinger, a lifelong Republican who said she didn’t vote for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, said she chose Fitzpatrick over Entin due to Fitzpatrick’s track record and longevity.

“This is my third time voting for (Fitzpatrick), and I am very comfortable with the way he votes. He delivered money for us, and he is the only candidate that can really win in November.

“I don’t know much about his challenger, so that part makes it easier.”

Staff writers Peg Quann, Damon Williams and J.D. Mullane contributed to this report.

1st district race:Pennsylvania primary: Fitzpatrick faces GOP challenger Alex Entin in 1st district race

PA Senate:Lehigh County Republicans seek nomination in Upper Bucks state Senate race

PA House:Two Republicans seeking nomination in 31st state House race

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Pennsylvania primary highlights Republican split in Bucks County