A group of Republican lawmakers and party officials in Pennsylvania publicly voiced their collective support for Jeff Bartos’ candidacy for the United States Senate. The letter signed by 12 GOP county chairs and state legislators urges former congressional candidate Sean Parnell, who is rumored to be announcing a Senate bid, to run for the House of Representatives again. Parnell nearly beat incumbent Rep. Conor Lamb (D-PA) for the 17th district in 2020, as the letter points out, and the district could be even more competitive this time around.
"2022 presents our party a remarkable chance to take back the House and the Senate. And the mission to take back both of those chambers starts right here in Pennsylvania,” the letter reads. “We have two phenomenal candidates who can win two must-win seats. Sean Parnell came close to beating Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District in 2020 and if we unite behind Sean early, we know 2022 will be a different story. Sean Parnell is our best chance to win PA-17 and take back a seat that should be in Republican control.”
The clear frontrunner thus far in the race for the Republican nomination, Bartos is a lifelong Pennsylvanian and small business owner. He also spent much of the pandemic helping small businesses in Pennsylvania keep their doors open via the PA 30-Day Fund, which allocated forgivable loans to small businesses in need. The group of Republicans signed onto the letter agreed that Bartos is “the perfect contrast” to Democrats’ lockdown policies.
“Jeff's Pennsylvania 30 Day Fund has raised over $3.4 million and saved over 1,000 small businesses in Pennsylvania, a perfect contrast to the Democrat Party's lockdown policies that put working families out of a job. Jeff Bartos is our best chance to win the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat and put our party on the path back to the majority,” the letter continues.
Bartos managed to raise $1.2 million in the opening weeks of his campaign.
