Pennsylvania Republican and Senate candidate Jeff Bartos, a political outsider and small business owner, and lifelong Pennsylvania resident, earned an endorsement from a high-ranking official in the Keystone State, his campaign announced on Monday morning.
Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity threw her support behind Bartos in the GOP primary. Garrity serves as Pennsylvania’s 78th Treasurer, and was the first Republican woman to win a statewide office in 20 years.
Inbox: PA Treasurer Stacy Garrity endorses Jeff Bartos (R) in the 2022 PA Senate race.
— Jonathan Tamari (@JonathanTamari) April 19, 2021
Garrity was one of several Rs who won key statewide races last year despite Trump losing at the top of the ticket.
Bartos co-founded the Pennsylvania 30-day fund during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic to allocate forgivable loans to small businesses burdened by covid-related restrictions and shutdowns. The fund has given $3 million to small businesses across the Commonwealth over the past year, while Democrat Governor Wolf issued continuous lockdown orders, as Garrity noted in her endorsement.
"Over the past 12 months, Jeff stepped up and helped over 1,000 small business owners across Pennsylvania keep the lights on and save thousands of jobs for working families in the midst of the Wolf administration’s burdensome COVID restrictions. The non-profit Jeff co-founded, the PA 30 Day Fund, raised and distributed more than $3 million to small businesses in all 67 counties,” Garrity said. “Jeff has made it clear that commonsense, conservative values remain the bedrock of economic progress, especially in the wake of the COVID pandemic. I look forward to the day we can call him Senator Bartos.”
??BIG CAMPAIGN NEWS??
— Jeff Bartos (@jeff_bartos) April 19, 2021
I'm honored to be endorsed by State Treasurer Stacy Garrity. She understands that PA families and small businesses need an outsider who will make Washington work for them, and she knows what it takes to win tough races in PA. https://t.co/3ofqCqTkq3 pic.twitter.com/aEJfwxEvIl
Bartos was the first GOP contender to enter the race to replace retiring Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA), and raised $1.2 million in the first 3 weeks of his campaign.