Political consultant discusses delay in primary

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Pennsylvania’s primary election has been moved from April 28 to June 2 because of the coronavirus outbreak. But does the delay benefit anyone in the race?

Pennsylvania political consultant Mark Nevins with Dover Strategy Group said a delay in the primary probably does benefit someone in the race, but not one of the Democratic challengers.

“It probably helps the Republicans the most, the president in particular,” he said.

Nevins said mainly because the longer the Democrats are fighting with each other, the shorter the time they could focus on President Donald Trump.

Related: Pennsylvania lawmakers vote to delay primary election

As for the race between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, Nevins said Biden took over the race before coronavirus took over the news cycle and ground the country to a halt, and it’s going to be very hard now for Sanders to regain momentum. 

“Those rallies that were a staple of the Sanders campaign are not available to him anymore. So both campaigns are sort of stuck,” Nevins added. 

If the coronavirus pandemic continues on the current path, it will be hard to challenge Trump on his last four years, Nevins said. 

“Because everybody’s focus is on the last four days, instead of the last four years, and the next four days, instead of the next four years,” he explained.