Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate Primary Shows Trump’s Lingering Influence

The frontrunners have all touted their ties to or support for the former president.

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There are still six months to go before the primary election to determine who will run for retiring Sen. Patrick Toomey’s seat, but the race so far shows that Donald Trump is still a dominating force in Republican politics and that his influence shapes candidates’ campaign strategies. The four leading candidates in terms of fundraising and publicity have all touted their ties to the former president or are running campaigns that hit on Trumpian themes.

The early frontrunners are real estate developer Jeff Bartos and Army veteran Sean Parnell, who announced in March and May, respectively. Bartos, who unsuccessfully ran to be lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania in 2020, has toed the Trump line on some issues while sticking to pocketbook issues and making President Joe Biden the main foil of his campaign. The Philadelphia Inquirer followed Bartos on a bus trip around the state earlier this year and pointed to examples of the candidate drumming up support by leaning into culture war issues and using his business acumen to make the economy the central focus. 

Two other prominent candidates are Carla Sands, Trump’s ambassador to Denmark, and Kathy Barnette, a veteran and conservative commentator who appears frequently on Fox News, who hopes to become the first black Republican woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

But Parnell was seen as the favorite from the Trump camp from the beginning. A frequent Fox News guest and speaker at the 2020 Republican National Convention, Parnell narrowly lost a bid to become the congressman in Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Parnell is even crazier than I realized. Oh well, I doubt he will end up in Congress.

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    rlritt

    "he [ Craig Snyder] thinks the GOP primary could still be won by a “common-sense conservative.”

    How adorable. I wonder what color the sky is in his world.

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    Justin Stapley

    I don't fully understand why no one thinks that the very strategy that worked for Trump in 2016 couldn't be flipped and used against Trumpy and Trumpist candidates in 2021 and beyond. In this article, I just see a whole lot of cannibalization coming from wannabe Trump types and I think it's more than reasonable to suggest that a candidate running solo in a different lane could get just enough support from Republicans sick of the fiascos and from independents who could be drawn into the primary to overcome a split Trump-supporting vote.

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  4. Frederick F

    Glad this is being covered—and I hope we get more detailed pieces as we get closer.
    Our gubernatorial election should be interesting, too. Wolfe is not running, and a huge mass of repubs are testing the waters. Only one dem has announced.
    From what I can tell, our GOP has become pretty kooky. There was some insane dustup with the state Congress refusing to seat a dem because of election stuff, but it’s been really difficult to find local outlets giving detailed facts and unbiased coverage of PA politics. If anyone knows any sources, I’d be interested
    Our municipal elections are coming up next week. I looked up all the candidates yesterday. Decided not to vote for the wannabe clerk who was talking on her Facebook about having been trained to sniff out “Marxism” lol

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    Pat Riot

    This didn't "show" this anywhere near the nearly unanimous House Republican vote on pardoning Steven Bannon for his lawless refusal to testify.

    Bannon was indicted for ripping off Trump supporters--and then Trump pardoned him.

    *This* is the guy the Republican party is pulling out all of the stops to defend.

    That is how much control Trump has over the GOP.

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      rlritt

      It's incredible. It feels like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers. All these formerly good, smart people walking around like zombies picking up garbage and saying it's beautiful.

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      Bill Nelson

      “… nearly unanimous House Republican vote on pardoning Steven Bannon for his lawless refusal to testify.”
      There was no pardon, they voted not to refer the contempt charge to the DOJ. A position with very shaky legal reasoning, but different than a pardon.

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        Pat Riot

        Yes, the word "pardon" was used speaking in brief.... You know what I mean...

        Shaky legal reasoning. Oh my god. Republicans are blocking the 1/6 commission's work. That's the reasoning.

        And to be clear, you don't consider the Republicans on the Commission--who voted to hold Bannon compatible--to be "Republicans" anymore, correct?

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          Bill Nelson

          “Shaky legal reasoning.“
          Impeachment is not a legal process, it is a political process.

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            Pat Riot

            Yes, I know. And you know what I meant. So does anybody else reading this.

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    Bada Bing

    Well one thing is certain. If Parnell is good enough for Trump, he sucks.

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    Cornelius O’Brien

    No mention of the likely D candidate in PA Senate race kinda lacks context.

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    1. Frederick F

      Yeah, I’m hoping Lamb gets the dem nomination. I’m not sure I’d vote for him (I need to look him up more) but he seems pretty moderate and definitely the most moderate of the current dems running. If I can’t vote for the GOP candidate, which seems likely, then I *might* try Lamb.

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        Cornelius O’Brien

        Try the lamb. Chocolate mousse for dessert too.

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        1. Frederick F

          Hahaha
          It’s really difficult for me to vote for someone across-the-board pro-choice. Other than that I like Lamb, seems like a decent guy, moderate, a distinguished vet, good stuff from what I’ve seen.
          I guess it’ll come down to how realpolitik-y I feel.
          Either way, I hope he gets the dem nom nom nom

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    2. David Shannon

      Probably Conor Lamb, or Fetterman. Lamb is probably going to get my vote if we can’t get a non-Trumpy Republican

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      Cornelius O’Brien

      Forgot to say thank you for finally paying attention to this race.

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      1. Avatar photocircle-angle-nib
        Ryan Brown vertical-nib Author

        Hey Cornelius! This piece was just a look at the GOP side, but a few months ago I wrote about both: https://thedispatch.com/p/an-early-look-at-pennsylvanias-2022

        Let me know what you think?

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          Cornelius O’Brien

          Danke. Apparently read that after cocktail hour.

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    Cornelius O’Brien

    When Toomey first ran he was ‘far right’ and divisive. Now he’s perceived as moderate even though he didn’t move. GOP should look for a Toomey-type serious pol or I expect PA to have another Dem in the Senate.

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      rlritt

      I hope so. Then maybe the true conservatives will stop trying to turn themselves into pretzels trying to fit into the bizarre Trump world.

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    2. Natty Bumpo

      Agreed. Would love a 'Toomey-type' to vote for.

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    Octávio Lima

    This is a bad sign for the GOP. It should be about ideas, and not solely one person. I see the mailers and they mostly mention Mr. Trump. Very few are about ideas, and the vast majority are about the culture war. If this is what the GOP will be, they had better hope the Democrats do not get their act together and keep moving left, otherwise the GOP will probably not make inroads.

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    Dusty

    To be blunt, there's no path to victory in an "anti-Trump lane." There is potentially a path to victory in a "looking forward" lane that tries to walk the tightrope between not being super Trumpist but also not being anti-Trump in the Nikki Haley kind of mold. These are the types of candidates that "anti-Trump conservatives" (to varying degrees) should, pragmatically, be lining up behind.

    Also, "leaning into cultural issues" is a wide net to cast. In some cases it seems to be said in a way that means "focusing on rabble rousing issues that don't actually impact anything." And in some cases, this is most certainly true. Conservatives making mask mandates a cultural issue is the prime example of this.

    But in other cases, not only are cultural issues important, they actually impact elections quite a bit. Youngkin in VA seems to be doing a pretty good job in making what was a non-competitive race pretty competitive by focusing on education and the cultural elements of that. Trump doesn't win the presidency and conservatives don't hold a majority of the Supreme Court without the pro-life movement that is focused exclusively on cultural issues.

    Point being, sometimes there's quite a bit of substance and reason to "leaning into cultural issues."

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      rlritt

      Nicky Halely is a rank opportunist who will say anything to promote herself. And in case you think I say that because she is Republican, I say the same thing about Kamala Harris. They're two of a kind.

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        Dusty

        All politicians are rank opportunists to some degree, at least those even considering presidential runs. But that’s not really the point. The point is that the line Haley is trying to walk between being a Trumpist (declaring the election was stolen, etc.) and anti-Trumpist (in the Liz Cheney kind of way) is the line that Republicans need to walk to victory. Youngkin is also trying to walk that line. It may not work in his case as VA trends more Blue, but it’s kept him competitive.

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        1. Gerald Cuesta

          Sure it keeps them competitive as spineless fearful shills who will try to career profit off of playing footsie with the big lie and the liar who tried to overthrow an election and the creeps and lunatics who believe this crap, or if they don’t, don’t care but want him anyway - while waving hi and winking -
          I’m not really with those people - to those who are appalled by the big lie the con artist and his uglies. Really? This person, these persons. Should be in consideration? No.

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      Frank Lee

      Xi launches a hyper-sonic nuclear capable missile and Biden appoints a transgender 4-star general.

      That pretty much sums up why Trump is so popular.

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      1. Peter

        Terrible comparison and Trump is still one of the most unpopular presidents of our time.

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          Frank Lee

          LOL. Sure he is with all those 74 million votes. Funny, last I checked Biden's numbers were lower than Trump's.

          You completely ignore the point though. What has Biden accomplished while China does its world domination thing?

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          1. Peter


            Imagine how crappy a president you have to be that your disapproval is higher than your approval rating for 4 years. His entire presidency.

            Now that is hilarious.

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      2. Richard Fulmer

        Well, no. Dr Rachel Levine is now a four star *admiral* of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Levine has no conceivable role in the U.S. response to China’s missile - unless we can knock it down with a hypersonic hypodermic.

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          rlritt

          Yeah, but that sounds like a good scare tactic. So be prepared for the Trump Republicans to use that a lot.

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          1. Richard Fulmer

            Levine's appointment would be a valid campaign issue if she were unqualified for her position and had been appointed only because she is transgender. However, as a former physician general for Pennsylvania as well as the secretary of the state's department of health, she appears to be well qualified.

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      3. Gerald Cuesta

        What does one have to do with the other? Try harder

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      Dusty

      "The Nikki Haley mold" meaning someone trying to walk that tightrope, not someone who is anti-Trump. Poor sentence structure and use of commas on my part.

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