{"id":1471144,"date":"2022-05-11T08:16:34","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T12:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1471144"},"modified":"2022-05-11T08:17:04","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T12:17:04","slug":"who-is-kathy-barnette-the-candidate-shaking-up-the-pennsylvania-senate-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/who-is-kathy-barnette-the-candidate-shaking-up-the-pennsylvania-senate-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Is Kathy Barnette? The Candidate Shaking Up The Pennsylvania Senate Race"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwho-is-kathy-barnette-the-candidate-shaking-up-the-pennsylvania-senate-race%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1471144&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A new poll out Sunday found a potential new frontrunner in the crowded GOP Pennsylvania Senate primary, and it\u2019s not the daytime television star or a former Trump official who have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/epolls\/2022\/senate\/pa\/pennsylvania_senate_republican_primary-7485.html\">neck and neck<\/a> throughout the contest. It\u2019s a political commentator running on a MAGA platform without the MAGA president\u2019s endorsement: Kathy Barnette. <\/p>\n<p>According to the survey from the Trafalgar Group, one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.fivethirtyeight.com\/pollster-ratings\/trafalgar-group\/\">most reliable pollsters<\/a> of the prior two presidential elections, Barnette is tied with medical TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz, with more than 23 percent to the doctor\u2019s less than 25 percent, within the nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetrafalgargroup.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/TRF-PA-GOP-Sen-Primary-0508-Poll-Report.pdf\">3 percent<\/a> margin of error. The Trafalgar Group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetrafalgargroup.org\/Polling-Methodology\/\">surveyed<\/a> 1,080 likely GOP primary voters between May 6-8, just after Barnette became a breakout candidate in the Republican Senate debate fueling a late-race surge.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetrafalgargroup.org\/news\/pa-sen-gop-0508\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-08-at-8.51.25-PM-1024x574-1.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cYes, it is true. I\u2019m black. And I\u2019ve been black all my life, fact check it,\u201d Barnette said on stage in one of at least two soundbites from the Newsmax-sponsored event to go viral, racking up tens of thousands of views on Twitter alone. \u201cBlack people are not special little unicorns. We want what everyone else wants. We want good schools, we want safe streets, we want good jobs. We don\u2019t want liquor stores on every street corner\u2026 We [Republicans] have the best story to tell. The problem is we keep picking people who suck at telling it.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"IzJO3RB9fxLV8ZQoXypnCaWmMPlTvEg5Nud2Uq7FKcjtGhse6DSAY1ki4bH\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I\u2019m Black and I\u2019ve been Black all my life. Fact check it.<\/p>\n<p>Black people are not special unicorns. We want what all Americans want.<\/p>\n<p>The GOP has the right message to win over Black voters, we just keep picking people who suck at selling it. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TONVO9jPLH\">pic.twitter.com\/TONVO9jPLH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kathy Barnette (@Kathy4Truth) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kathy4Truth\/status\/1522021188129677314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 5, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In another clip, Barnette touted her pro-life credentials, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/05\/05\/gop-senate-candidate-kathy-barnette-im-the-product-of-rape-but-was-never-just-a-clump-of-cells\/\">highlighting herself<\/a> as a product of rape, conceived when her mother was only 11 years old.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am the byproduct of a rape,\u201d she said. \u201cMy mother was 11-years-old when I was conceived, my father was 21. I was not just a \u2018lump of cells.\u2019 As you can see, I\u2019m still not just a \u2018lump of cells.\u2019 My life has value.\u201d She documented her birth story in a more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=z6xtY5AnJk8\">four-minute campaign ad<\/a> released in September. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"DfPqMvhoxL03a4GKcVU\"><\/p>\n[embedded content]\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The debate moment came two days after abortion entered the electoral spotlight with a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/05\/03\/before-finally-overturning-roe-supreme-court-must-block-yet-another-insurrection-attempt\/\">leaked draft opinion<\/a> previewing the Supreme Court\u2019s potential reversal of Roe v. Wade this summer.  <\/p>\n<p>Barnette\u2019s surge in the polls illustrated by RealClearPolitics below, just days before the Pennsylvania Senate primary, showcases a candidacy built on grassroots campaigning with a compelling message without the advantages of a well-funded war chest deployed by her competitors. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/epolls\/2022\/senate\/pa\/pennsylvania_senate_republican_primary-7485.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"644\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RealClearPolitics-Pennsylvania-1024x644-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-272298\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RealClearPolitics-Pennsylvania-1024x644-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RealClearPolitics-Pennsylvania-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RealClearPolitics-Pennsylvania-768x483-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RealClearPolitics-Pennsylvania.jpg 1299w\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/05\/10\/kathy-barnette-pennsylvania-senate-gop-primary-00031262\">According<\/a> to Politico on Monday with data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, rival candidates Oz and former senior Trump Treasury official David McCormick have spent $12.4 million and $11.4 million on television commercials, respectively. Barnette has only spent about $137,000, a spending ratio of 358-1 against her competitors. Yet Barnette, running without former President Donald Trump\u2019s support while coopting his movement, is in a prime position to clinch the contest. <\/p>\n<p>So who is Barnette? The political newcomer has only sought public office once before in a failed House bid for the Philadelphia-area fourth congressional district two years ago. Her star-studded rivals include two former high-level officials in the Trump administration, McCormick and Carla Sands, who was ambassador to Denmark, and the television celebrity who captured their former employer\u2019s endorsement, Oz. <\/p>\n<p>Barnette is a retired Army reservist who spent a decade in the military, enlisting when she was 18. The Senate hopeful told The Federalist her experience serving in the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) unit fundamentally shaped her perspective of law enforcement as far different from the one she\u2019s expected to hold as a black woman. Barnette said she was the youngest in her unit by at least 20 years, and was the only black person, let alone woman, in her group.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPolice are considered bad across the board, but today as I stand my best friends are in the industry,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I\u2019m running out of a bad situation, they\u2019re running into a situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barnette said she spent time in South Korea \u201cas well as other places\u201d over her decade of service as a reservist. She later added \u201cauthor\u201d to her resume after four years of frequent national television and radio commentary since 2016, publishing \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Nothing-Lose-Everything-Gain-Conservative\/dp\/1549130994\">Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: Being Black and Conservative in America<\/a>.\u201d The book published in 2020, the same year she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2020\/11\/03\/us\/elections\/results-pennsylvania-house-district-4.html\">lost<\/a> her congressional race by nearly 20 points. <\/p>\n<p>Despite the loss, she jumped with both feet into the crowded 2022 Pennsylvania Senate primary shortly after, undeterred and relentlessly campaigning with sometimes 1,300 miles traveled in a single week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve had to go person to person to make my case,\u201d Barnette told the Federalist, adding despite low early poll numbers for much of the race, she kept going with the refusal to believe there was \u201cno snowball\u2019s chance in Hades of making an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barnette\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/barnetteforsenate.com\/day-one\/\">platform<\/a> is firmly conservative, with no issue standing out as more important than the other, she told The Federalist. On her website, Barnette condemns censorship, celebrates the 2nd Amendment, cherishes the right to life, deplores vaccine mandates, demands energy independence, and insists on parental input over school curriculums. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything\u2019s on fire and everything\u2019s equally important,\u201d she said, when asked about any wedge issues she\u2019d carve out as a hallmark of her time in the upper chamber. <\/p>\n<p>While declining to single out a particular problem to make her stand, she spoke about the need to address four-decade high inflation, Democrats\u2019 rapid forfeiture of energy independence, and emphasized the crisis on the southern border helped inspire her entrance into electoral politics. On whether she would support the Republican nominee no matter who captured the race next week, she declined to make a blanket pledge. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt depends on who it is,\u201d Barnette told The Federalist, without offering a name. \u201cI\u2019m not interested in supporting globalists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While running on a similar platform with Trump\u2019s blessing, past comments have surfaced to haunt Oz, the lead contender in the race for much of the last month. The television host\u2019s prior endorsement of abortion and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/dr-oz-now-a-gop-senate-candidate-had-jazz-jennings-transgender-parents-transgender-surgeon-on-his-show\">showcasing<\/a> of transgender activism on his daytime program have raised skepticism about his conservative credentials in a race, despite his claims today to be pro-life. <\/p>\n<p>Oz <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nkw8Du6grzA&#038;t=1492s\">said<\/a> on a 2019 episode of The Breakfast Club Podcast he didn\u2019t want to \u201cinterfere\u201d in women\u2019s ability to get an abortion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to be very sober about the decision we\u2019re about to make,\u201d Barnette said. \u201cFortunately, Pennsylvanians have an option and don\u2019t have to hold their nose and vote for the lesser of two evils.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new poll out Sunday found a potential new frontrunner in the crowded GOP Pennsylvania Senate primary, and it\u2019s not the daytime television star or a former Trump official who<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1471144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1471144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1471144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1471144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1471144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}