Last week we featured the PA Gubernatorial race; this week, we will try to cut through the maze of the candidates running for US Senator from Pennsylvania for the seat currently held by Republican Pat Toomey. With the Senate currently at 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, every race is going to be a battlefield. This explains the depth of candidates on both sides. The Democrats’ frontrunners are John Fetterman and Conor Lamb, running somewhat equally with a number of others in the “no hope so no mention” category. The GOP candidates still in contention are Memet “Dr” Oz, David McCormick, Jeff Bartos, Carla Sands, and Kathy Barnette.
Looking at the Democrats first, John Fetterman has the benefit of name recognition as the current Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. He also has a wide appeal to blue-collar folks forged from his fourteen years as mayor of the borough of Braddock in Allegheny County. Conor Lamb is a US Congressman from the 17th PA District in Western Pennsylvania, winning his seat in a high-profile special election in March 2018 over Republican Rick Saccone that attracted national attention. This race will be intriguing because it demonstrates the current tension in the Democratic Party. John Fetterman is solidly in the progressive camp, sure to follow Governor Wolf’s policies, whereas Conor Lamb comes across as a more moderate, conventional candidate.
The Republican side could also go in any direction; in fact, it already has. Early on, one betting expert picked Sean Parnell, primarily based on an early endorsement from Donald Trump. Bad call as Parnell has already dropped out of the race. Dr. Oz has had a lot of buzz and media hype due to name recognition but has been steadily declining with each new poll — not a hopeful sign for the Great and Powerful Oz.
David McCormick and Jeff Bartos are the active contenders who probably have the best shot. In the 2018 campaign cycle, Jeff Bartos was the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor, winning a 4-way primary and receiving almost 50% of the vote. David McCormick has a very impressive resume; a West Point graduate who served for five years and was deployed to Iraq, served as undersecretary to the Treasury under President George W. Bush, and CEO for Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund. Both of these candidates have wide appeal and would be strong contenders in November.
But one of the ironies of this year’s Pennsylvania Senate Race is that it is the Republicans who have more diversity than the Democrats. There are two females still in contention; Carla Sands, a businesswoman who was US ambassador to Denmark under Donald Trump, and Kathy Barnette, a military veteran, and successful businesswoman. Carla Sands is polling well because she is a good campaigner, which is not totally surprising given she was a Hollywood actress. She married a very rich real estate developer who died five years after they married. Sands then took over her husband’s operations and subsequently became a major donor to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential race and was rewarded by serving on his inaugural committee and given an ambassador appointment.
Kathy Barnette could not be more different. Born in 1972 on a pig farm in southern Alabama in a home with no plumbing, no toilets, and no insulation to an eleven-year-old African-American mother who had been impregnated by a 21-year-old man. Her teenage mother and grandparents raised her with a solid religious conviction and a passion to excel. Barnette went on to serve in the United States Army Reserves for ten years, studied, and eventually became a Professor of Corporate Finance and a champion of conservative politics. It would certainly shake up the status quo on both sides of the aisle with a black, conservative, veteran, academic/businesswoman Republican in the US Senate!
The race for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat will be one of the most important elections in the country this year. A recent feature in a national news site, thehill.com, notes that many are looking to this race as a dry run for the 2024 presidential election. Pennsylvania has swung back and forth in the past two presidential elections, both by razor margins, and with the variety of candidates from both parties, it might be a clue to the national mood. Are the voters looking for a new voice or reassured with one they know? Will the suburbs shift back to the Republicans again this election cycle? Will the Democrats be discouraged and not come out in their usual numbers? The eyes of America will be on Pennsylvania on Tuesday, May 17th.
