From The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS), by Gillian McGoldrick
The city of Philadelphia The former state director of President-elect Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign has withdrawn from the race to head the Pennsylvania Republican Party, demonstrating Senator-elect Dave McCormick’s influence in the state party and paving the way for a state senator and former Cumberland County GOP chair to assume leadership next year.
Ted Christian, a longstanding Trump admirer, declared earlier this month that he will run against GOP Chair Lawrence Tabas to lead the state party, with the support of a Bucks County venture entrepreneur. Top Republicans led by McCormick mounted a full-court drive in favor of state Sen. Greg Rothman, R-Cumberland, for the position after Tabase finally said he would not seek reelection.
Christian’s public bid for party chairman, however, did not last long. In a statement released on Thursday, he declared that he would support Rothman for the position and withdraw his bid to become the state party head.
“I have always prioritized our Party as a donor, grassroots activist, senior strategist, and state chairman candidate,” Christian said in a statement. In light of this, I have made the decision to withdraw from consideration for the position of Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman.
Christian continued, “I look forward to supporting the Party in new ways going forward and will be supporting my friend, Greg Rothman.” On Thursday, he was unavailable for additional comment.
In September, in Steelton, state senator Greg Rothman, a Republican from Cumberland County, speaks in favor of Dave McCormick. In the file, Dan Gleiter can be found at [email protected].
Support for Rothman surged shortly after Tabas said during the GOP’s reorganization conference in February that he would not seek reelection as party chairman. In November’s red wave election, Rothman most famously won McCormick’s support and defeated U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
In the meantime, Christian had won over a number of early Trump supporters, including Val Biancaniello and Curt Coccodrilli, two delegates to the Republican National Committee and electors who voted for Trump earlier this week. Christian served as the head of the Republican state committee in New Jersey, the state director for the Trump campaign in 2016, a member of Trump’s first transition team, and a senior adviser on his 2020 campaign.
Since Trump is term-limited after his inauguration next month, state GOP officials chose to pick Rothman over Christian because he is more involved in state politics rather than the longstanding Trump supporter backed by startup capital. Rothman hosted a fundraiser for Ron DeSantis in Pennsylvania and supported him over Trump in the 2024 presidential primary. In more recent times, though, he sided with Trump and ran ads on X featuring pictures of Rothman and his family with the president-elect.
In a statement, Bucks County venture capitalist Paul Martino, who contributed $100,000 to Christian’s campaign for party chairman and supported a slate of largely conservative suburban school board members in 2021, expressed disappointment at the news and his continued belief that Christian is the best candidate for the position.
“The Republican Party in Pennsylvania is clearly led by Dave McCormick,” Martino continued.
Martino said, “The party fell in line after he made his choice.” Change was undoubtedly required, and I hope this is the beginning of a new era of strong leadership for our party in Pennsylvania.
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