News & Brews May 13, 2022

Sen. Jake Corman yesterday dropped out of the GOP primary for governor and threw his endorsement behind Lou Barletta. The move comes as Republicans are increasingly concerned over a potential primary win by Doug Mastriano, who has been leading in the polls but who the GOP fears would not be able to beat Democrat Josh Shapiro in November. Thus far, attempts to get the other frontrunners to coalesce around a candidate who can beat Mastriano in the primary have been unsuccessful.

The New York Times has a pair of stories on our Senate primaries. The first looks at why Democrat Rep. Conor Lamb, who “had all the makings of a front-runner,” is “struggling.” And the second considers why Republican Kathy Barnette, who’s spent far less than her rivals, is rising.

Spotlight PA breaks down the latest campaign finance reports of the gubernatorial candidates, including total amounts raised, biggest donors, and more. The story notes that since the beginning of 2021, candidates have raised more than $44 million, and in April of this year alone, they raised nearly $12.8 million.

Meanwhile, in our Democrat and Republican primaries for U.S. Senate, out of state donors make up 62% of itemized campaign donations. How much is each of the leading candidates getting from non-PA folks? Find out here.

Broad + Liberty Editor-at-Large Kyle Sammin argues that the PA primaries for governor and Senate, in which candidates may win with just a small fraction of their party’s vote, is reason for the state to consider implementing ranked-choice voting for future primary elections. Read his piece here.