Kathy Barnette mentioned Wednesday she is not going to run for U.S. Senate in 2024 after putting third in Pennsylvania’s Republican major final yr.
Barnette, who has been engaged on Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s marketing campaign, knowledgeable Politico of her intention to not run.
“Instead of playing coy, I wanted to come out and say I am not interested,” she mentioned. “I thought about it and I wanted to be real clear.”
Her feedback come a day after she appeared on the Daybreak Stensland Present on 1210 WPHT in New Jersey, the place she didn’t rule out a possible bid for Senate.
“At this particular juncture, we have not made a decision on what it is that I’m going to do,” she mentioned. “Right now, I’m very interested in helping Vivek because I think that’s what our nation needs right now.”
Stensland additionally requested Barnette a couple of hypothetical 2024 Pennsylvania GOP Senate major ballot launched on Monday. The ballot confirmed her behind Doug Mastriano, who misplaced final yr’s gubernatorial race to Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) in a landslide, and David McCormick, who practically beat movie star Dr. Mehmet Oz in final yr’s GOP Senate major.
Barnette emphasised that GOP voters mustn’t romanticize candidates who can handily win a major however who lack the power to safe a normal election victory:
While you’re this explicit ballot proper now, and also you see those that they’re presenting as leaders, I believe what we, as Pennsylvania Republicans, ought to be aware of is that it’s not about who can win a major. It’s about who can work their behind off and battle for you and your values and for our nation and really win a normal election.
Shapiro cruised to an almost 15 share level victory over Mastriano in November in a race that was by no means really aggressive. Shapiro even ran commercials to spice up Mastriano within the GOP major, signaling he recognized the Republican as probably the most beatable normal election opponent.
Final yr’s GOP Senate major in Pennsylvania was a three-way race between Barnette, movie star physician Mehmet Oz and businessman David McCormick. Oz and McCormick in the end went to a recount, whereas Barnette took practically 25 p.c of the vote and positioned third. Oz bested McCormick and subsequently misplaced to now-Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) within the normal election.
Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA), who presently holds the seat that’s up for election in 2024, has not mentioned if he’ll run for an additional time period, WHTM reported Tuesday.
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