Kathy Barnette said Wednesday she will not run for U.S. Senate in 2024 after placing third in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary last year.
Barnette, who has been working on Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign, informed Politico of her intention not to run.
“Instead of playing coy, I wanted to come out and say I am not interested,” she said. “I thought about it and I wanted to be real clear.”
Her comments come a day after she appeared on the Dawn Stensland Show on 1210 WPHT in New Jersey, where she did not rule out a potential bid for Senate.
“At this particular juncture, we have not made a decision on what it is that I’m going to do,” she said. “Right now, I’m very interested in helping Vivek because I think that’s what our nation needs right now.”
Stensland also asked Barnette about a hypothetical 2024 Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary poll released on Monday. The poll showed her behind Doug Mastriano, who lost last year’s gubernatorial race to Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) in a landslide, and David McCormick, who nearly beat celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz in last year’s GOP Senate primary.
Barnette emphasized that GOP voters should not romanticize candidates who can handily win a primary but who lack the ability to secure a general election victory:
When you’re looking at this particular poll right now, and you see the ones that they are presenting as leaders, I think what we, as Pennsylvania Republicans, should be mindful of is that it’s not about who can win a primary. It’s about who can work their behind off and fight for you and your values and for our country and actually win a general election.
Shapiro cruised to a nearly 15 percentage point victory over Mastriano in November in a race that was never truly competitive. Shapiro even ran advertisements to boost Mastriano in the GOP primary, signaling he identified the Republican as the most beatable general election opponent.
Last year’s GOP Senate primary in Pennsylvania turned into a three-way race between Barnette, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz and businessman David McCormick. Oz and McCormick ultimately went to a recount, while Barnette took nearly 25 percent of the vote and placed third. Oz bested McCormick and subsequently lost to now-Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) in the general election.
Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA), who currently holds the seat that is up for election in 2024, has not said if he will run for another term, WHTM reported Tuesday.
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