Kathy Barnette

Still on the fence about who to vote for in the Republican primary race for Pennsylvania’s US Senate seat, I watched the Newsmax “debate” earlier this month. I was naively hoping to determine which of the five candidates most aligned with my values. Instead what I learned was that they all hate each other. The debate (again, I use that word loosely) was hosted by Grove City College, a small, Christian liberal arts school in western Pennsylvania that does not accept federal funding (there are a handful of such holdouts across the country). College president Paul McNulty offered an optimistic opening message, expressing hope that the event would be an opportunity for the “thoughtful exchange of ideas.” Ha!

The big news stories this morning are not just about the results of yesterday’s primary elections, but about how big of an impact Donald Trump’s endorsements did or did not have. Politico, CNN, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Hill, and others have all sounded off on this subject — proving that Trump is, indeed, still quite influential. To center-left publications, at least. Until very recently, Trump had an impressive 55-0 endorsement winning streak. He finally struck out with Charles Herbster, who was running for governor of Nebraska amid several sexual misconduct allegations. Last night’s results, however, have called into question Trump’s “status as GOP kingmaker” (as Newsweek phrased it). As the Hill reports, “Tuesday was a mixed night at best for Trump.

Anyone who watched the Kentucky Derby this year was treated to a thrilling race in which the horse with the worst odds — at 80-1 — surged from behind during the last stretch, passing the two frontrunners that had been dominant since the start. No one was paying attention to Rich Strike, way in the back. And no one — not even his owners — saw it coming. This exact scenario — except with people, not horses — is playing out in Pennsylvania’s US Senate race, where underdog Kathy Barnette’s odds had been, for a long time, 358-1 (the margin by which her campaign has been outspent). Barnette is now neck-and-neck with the other top contenders, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dave McCormick. One Pennsylvania Republican strategist has called the race “a dead heat.