Montco's Kathy Barnette To Run For U.S. Senate

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA —The race for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania is suddenly intensifying, as another Montgomery County politician has thrown her name in the ri ng to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey. Republican Kathy Barentte, who ran for U.S. Congress last fall, announced her candidacy on Wednesday.

Barnette is a former corporate finance professor and conservative political commentator that has appeared on national media, like Fox News, in recent years. She's a staunch supporter of President Trump, and she took aim at President Biden in her campaign announcement.

"I'm Kathy Barnette and I'm running to become the first Black Republican Woman elected to the US Senate," she said in her announcement. "Now more than ever, we need strong voices to stand up and defend the rights that we hold dear...And by the way Joe, just because I believe in competent leadership doesn't mean "I ain't Black!"

RELATED: Montco's Val Arkoosh Announces Run For U.S. Senate

Barnette is the second pro-Trump Republican from Montgomery County to join the race for Toomey's seat. Sean Gale, the brother of Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale and another staunch member of the MAGA wing of the party, is also in the mix.

Last fall, Barnette lost her Congressional bid to Rep. Madeleine Dean, as the pair vied in the 4th District, which covers most of Montgomery County. Before Dean's victory had been called on Election Day, Barnette had filed a lawsuit, alleging the county illegally alerted voters of ballot errors, allowing voters to fix issues and return them.

Though the suit was eventually dismissed, it was among the first suits in the nation cast on Election Day making similar fraud claims. As President Trump and his supporters embarked on an aggressive campaign seeking to discredit the results of the election in the coming weeks, the suit launched Barnette into the spotlight, despite her loss.

Barnette has cast herself as an outsider, and says her background — from an impoverished childhood on a pig farm in Alabama to running for Congress — is emblematic of the American dream.

Should Barnette win the Republican nomination for Toomey's seat, she'll face the winner of an already crowded Democratic field which includes Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, and Philadelphia State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta.

The toss-up race is a critical one to the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. It is the only seat being contested in 2022 in a state which was won by President Biden in 2020.