Borello to challenge Bartolotta in November election
The former Republican replaces Evan Snyder, who withdrew from the race.
After the Democrat running against Republican state Sen. Camera Bartolotta withdrew from the race in June, another candidate is on the ballot to face the three-term incumbent in November.
According to online election records filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State, Evan Snyder of Nottingham Township withdrew his candidacy after running unopposed in the May 19 Democratic primary.
Shown, from left, are state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, and her challenger, Jodi Borello.
Jodi Borello of South Franklin is officially on the ballot after no one challenged multiple batches of nominating petitions with far more than the 1,566 signatures she needed from registered voters.
Department of State candidate records show Borello’s candidacy was formally approved by election officials on July 17, but her campaign waited until last week to make the official announcement since any registered voter in the district had until Aug. 10 to make the filing deadline.
Bartolotta, of Carroll Township, defeated challenger Al Buchtan by a 53.5-46.5% margin during the Republican primary.
She will compete with Borello to represent the 46th State Senate District, which includes all of Washington and Greene counties and the southern sliver of Beaver County.
Borello was a longtime Republican until she registered as an independent in 2008. She registered again with the GOP in 2017 before switching back to independent in March, according to voter registration records.
“I’m proud of the grassroots movement we’ve built in the 46th district, collecting over 3,000 petitions from voters who are clear that they want a new Independent voice instead of more of the same,” Borello said in a release.
Her priorities if elected include cutting costs by raising the minimum wage, enacting a moratorium on data center development, investing in emergency responders, cracking down on corporations and bringing jobs into the district.
“Democrats, Independents, Republicans, and voters from across the political spectrum are tired of the status quo that puts big corporations over the people of this district,” she added. “When I’m in Harrisburg, my priority will always be my constituents, not billionaires, data center developers and large corporations.”
Democratic Party officials in Washington County said in June that Snyder was a placeholder so Bartolotta could not get a political ally to run for the Democratic nomination to ensure her seat was safe.
Bartolotta told the Mon Valley Independent that the Democratic Party placed Borello in the new position, and claimed that Borello switched parties to run as an independent. Bartolotta claims that Borello made the switch to have a better chance of winning the race.
“A Democrat can’t win in Southwestern Pennsylvania today,” Bartolotta said. “Because the Democrat Party right now has moved so far to the left, it’s not the Democrat Party of even 10 years ago. She is the AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) of Washington County.”
Borello is a community organizer Coalfield Justice environmental group based in Washington, Pa., that protects communities impacted by fossil fuel extraction. Bartolotta said Borello’s involvement within the environmental group would allow Borello to eliminate energy industries and jobs in the Mon Valley.
Bartolotta claims that Borello is waging a war on families with blue collar jobs and would destroy the energy industry.
Bartolotta said Southwestern Pennsylvania has to produce more energy for jobs to flourish. She said there is a way to do it safely and reliably while protecting the environment.
“We cannot have that. We cannot have her attacking good-paying jobs, and hurting our blue collar families,” Bartolotta said. “We’ve seen enough of that in the Mon Valley in particular. For decades, the Mon Valley has been hit hard by deindustrialization and outsourcing of jobs. That’s not Western Pennsylvania. Anti gas, coal, energy is not a message that resonates.”
