With Pennsylvania Democrats expecting Attorney General Josh Shapiro to declare that he will run for governor and be the nominee next year, and with Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman and undeclared candidate Conor Lamb seemingly set to square off for U.S. Senate, the state’s Republicans seem headed for contentious races for their nominees.
The conservative PA Leadership Conference straw poll over the weekend named State Senator Doug Mastroiano and former congressional candidate Sean Parnell for Senate. Parnell narrowly lost to Conor Lamb for the 17th District seat in Congress last year. Both Mastroiano and Parnell are viewed as pro-Trump Republicans.
After Mastroiano, the straw poll for governor preferred former Congressman Lou Barletta, followed by Congressman Dan Meuser and several others. Trailing Parnell were businessman Jeff Bartos, and commentator Kathy Barnette.
The conference chose election integrity, the budget, and pension reform as the top three state issues facing the state General Assembly. The top national issues selected were illegal immigration, government spending, and the size of the government.
The state Democrat Party held its summer meeting this past weekend, while the Republican Party will hold its meeting this weekend.
