Trump Looms Large In PA’s GOP Primaries

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — With Pennsylvania’s wide-open races for governor and U.S. Senate taking shape, Republican candidates with strong ties to Donald Trump are running and considered strong contenders for the party’s nominations — a powerful sign of the former president’s enduring popularity within the GOP. Within a few days of each other, Sean Parnell entered the race for U.S. Senate and Lou Barletta entered the race for governor. Trump had urged both men to run in prior bids for public office. Parnell and Barletta have ties to Trump that go deep. Barletta was co-chair of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in Pennsylvania and a loyal ally on Capitol Hill when he was in Congress. He was Trump’s endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018 and watched the Super Bowl that year with the then-president. He was one of Trump’s hand-picked presidential electors in Pennsylvania last year and has hired veterans of Trump’s campaign to run his own.