PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting… Lou Barletta, darling of the Republican establishment? That might sound odd. The former congressman was among Donald Trump’s earliest supporters in 2016 — at a time when most national Republicans either didn’t take him seriously or desperately sought to elect anyone else. But now Barletta is being anointed by some Pennsylvania Republican Party leaders as their last best chance to stop gubernatorial front-runner Doug Mastriano, the state senator from Franklin County who is perhaps even more popular among the ”Make America Great Again” faithful.
That’s the message being conveyed by state Senate leader Jake Corman, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, former Gov. Mark Schweiker, and former Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley. All of them endorsed Barletta’s campaign Thursday. Former U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, a long-shot candidate for governor, was set to join Barletta for a “major announcement” Friday morning in Harrisburg, signaling that she would likely back him next. Corman, also a candidate for governor, asked voters Thursday to ignore his name on the ballot and support Barletta instead.
“The amazing thing about Lou’s campaign is he’s consistently been towards the top of the polls in his race, despite spending far less money than other candidates,” Corman said as the two appeared together in Harrisburg. “It shows his popularity. It shows his tenacity.” The other leading rivals to Mastriano, former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain and former Delaware County Councilman Dave White, have their own big-name supporters. But so far it’s Barletta who has gathered the most support from party leaders seeking a single alternative to Mastriano, whom they fear would lose the general election to presumptive Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro.
WKOK note: PA State Senator John Gordner has joined this list of endorsers, of former Congressman Lou Barletta for governor.
