Sorry, but a solid conservative, like Kathy Barnette, can win statewide.
I do not understand why our side talks itself out of supporting constitutionalists with this fake "unelectable" thinking.
Trump was proclaimed to be unelectable in 2015 as well, but he won.
If we do not support solid constitutionalists in the primary, they will stop running for office and Pennsylvania will turn into New Jersey and New York where the GOP has no real defenders of the constitution who run for office.
1. Kathy Barnette isn't one of the current state elected officials running in PA, so my comment about those candidates being unelectable in a statewide race doesn't apply to her.
2. Having said that, I would point out a very big hurdle for someone like her: She ran once already for Congress in a suburban Philadelphia district, and lost. Statewide elections in PA are won and lost in the suburbs of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. What makes her a better prospect to win a statewide race in PA in 2022 than she was when she lost in suburban Philadelphia in 2020?
3. Take a look at the last 25-30 years in Pennsylvania and list the Republicans who have won statewide races. Does that track record give you any confidence that a "solid conservative" can win there? I see names like Arlen Specter (about as liberal as it gets for a Republican), Tom Ridge, Tom Corbett (lost his re-election bid), and Pat Toomey. Rick Santorum was the only one who came close to an ideal Republican, and he was very much an anomaly in GOP politics in Pennsylvania.
4. Barnette's biggest problems are two-fold: money and name recognition. I think it's great that someone who isn't a career politician is running for the U.S. Senate. When you're an outsider with little name recognition and no money, it's pretty much impossible to win a race that has any kind of media coverage and an opponent who is running a well-funded campaign.