A former congressman and a Donald Trump-backed nominee for Senate in 2018 has announced he will run for Governor in 2022.
Earlier today, 65-year-old Lou Barletta announced his intention to run for the open governor’s seat on the Republican ticket. Barletta is a former mayor of Hazleton, his hometown, and served in the U.S. Congress from 2011 to 2019. He was one of the first congress members to endorse President Donald Trump in 2016, and served as Trump’s campaign co-chair in Pennsylvania and on Trump’s transition team. Trump would endorse him in his run for the U.S. Senate Seat in 2018, but he lost that election to U.S. Senator Bob Casey. Barletta let his term in congress expire and started Pioneer Strategies, a consulting firm.
Barletta said if he was elected, he would focus on boosting the state’s economy , overhauling the state’s election law and fight illegal immigration.
Barletta’s only declared opponent for next year’s primary is Montgomery County Commissioner Joel Gale. Several others have announced interest in running for the Republican nomination, including Congressman Dan Meuser, who succeeded Barletta in Congress, and federal prosecutor William McSwain.
There are no declared candidates for the Democratic nomination yet, but Attorney General Josh Shapiro has expressed an interest in the nomination. Governor Wolf is unable to run as he has reached his term limit.
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