Independent state Senate candidate gets dark money boost, lawmakers file then withdraw skill games petition, and the latest from Harrisburg. I'm Capitol reporter Stephen Caruso.
This is Access Harrisburg.
Indie Surge
(Commonwealth Media Services)
AN UNUSUAL AND COMPETITIVE RACE IS BREWING IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, FEATURING AN INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE AIDED BY A HEAPING OF DARK MONEY.
Republican Camera Bartolotta represents the 46th Senate District, a former Democratic stronghold south of Pittsburgh that stretches across a swathe of hills, river valleys, and farmland, and contains old milltowns and active coal and gas development.
The former businesswoman and actress has earned the ire of some local Republicans who’ve deemed her insufficiently conservative. She beat a well-funded primary challenger, bankrolled by the skill games industry, who leveled that exact argument.
She won't face a Democratic opponent this November, but that doesn’t mean she’s unchallenged.
On the ballot is independent Jodi Borello, a former Republican and environmental organizer who says she’s voted for Donald Trump three times. She’s eschewed either major party, pitching herself as an economic populist skeptical of data centers and big corporations.
“This campaign is powered by people, not special interests,” her campaign website says. Like most legislative candidates, she has yet to file a campaign finance report, but she’s running digital ads and has purchased TV space.
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