New PA GOP Chair Committed To Retain 'Trumpocrats'

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Val DiGiorgio, the new Chairman of the Pennsylvania GOP, talked with Chris Stigall on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about assuming command of the party's strategizing in the Commonwealth.

He says he will take a lead role in attempting to get voters that come out for Trump to support upcoming candidates for governor and Senate.

"I feel personally responsible for all of them. My staff and I, we're already starting to think ahead for that. What we need to do is make sure we're laying the groundwork for that, so that we're ready to tee up for that presidential race, we've got people in every county ready to go. We're building coalitions. A big mission for me is to reach out to new constituencies. We've got a goal of keeping those, what I'm going to call Trumpocrats, who came up big time in places like Luzerne County and Erie County, which we hadn't carried for presidential candidate in generations, in some cases, and at the same time, reach out into the Readings and Lancasters and Coatesvilles to continue to build our coalition."

DiGiorgio said the party is customizing their pitch specifically to attract the voters that put Trump over the top here.

"They're suspicious of any establishment people, whether they're Republicans or Democrats. They're not going to be, necessarily, an easy sell but, I think to the extent you're  taking a pro-growth message and...I think it's incumbent upon us to go out there and get our message out and we have to be fearless in doing that. That's what they want to see. They want to see that we have a message and we're fearless and we're not going to be intimidated by political correctness. It's very important to them."

He added that the state party will be a key partner for whoever is chosen to take on Governor Wolf in 2018.

"Next year, when we run a governor, it's our job to make sure the ground game is ready to go for whoever that gubernatorial candidate is, to make sure we're doing outreach into all neighborhoods and make sure we're focusing the party activists on messaging. We're, very much, going to be a partner with our gubernatorial candidate next year, but the gubernatorial candidate will run his or her own race with their people. In a year like this, where we're running judges, this is where we really take a more active role in actually running the race. Next year, we'll be handling the ground game and some of the fundraising for the gubernatorial candidate, but not the messaging."