ICYMI: Could an ugly Senate primary hamper Pennsylvania Republicans? [National Journal]

September 24, 2021 Press Releases

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

National Journal: Could an ugly Senate primary hamper Pennsylvania Republicans?
By Matt Holt
September 23, 2021

Key Points:

• Less than a year out from the primaries, the top contenders for the nomination to replace retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey have already gone nuclear on one another-and candidates are just beginning to introduce themselves to voters.

• "There's significant concern about the crop of candidates that's currently in the field," said Mark Harris, a Pittsburgh-based GOP consultant who managed Toomey's 2010 campaign.

• Jeff Bartos sent a memo to reporters that revealed Parnell's former wife had sought two protection-from-abuse orders against him. In that memo, Bartos called Parnell "unelectable in a General Election as a direct result of his violent and disturbing history with women," and "a poison pill in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh suburbs."

• The Bartos campaign also launched a microsite, TheRealSeanParnell.com, which details Parnell's divorce, including files from the court proceedings, and features clips of sexist comments he's made in the past on Fox News. Meanwhile, a pro-Bartos super PAC is running ads hitting Parnell with the same claims. Bartos himself went on a Pittsburgh TV station to call Parnell "unelectable." In response, the Parnell campaign called on Bartos to drop out of the race, saying in a statement that he is "an unserious man for serious times."

• The confrontation serves as the opening salvo of what had been a sleepy primary.

• Pennsylvania's primary might be the most personal fight across the Senate map for Republicans, but it's not the only race for an open seat in which things could get messy.

• So far, it doesn't appear that either Bartos or Parnell, if nominated, would model the approach that won Toomey two terms in the Senate.

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