PA Sentate Race: Casey, Barletta A Study In Contrasts

What U.S. Sen. Bob Casey lacks in passion, he makes up for in perseverance. That presents a challenge for Lou Barletta, the Luzerne County congressman who is attempting to topple the senator in the November 6 election.

The Casey name has been a staple in Pennsylvania politics for decades. Casey’s father, Bob Casey Sr., was governor. His son was state auditor general from 1997 to 2005 and served as state treasurer for two years after that before unseating conservative Republican Sen. Rick Santorum.

To say that Barletta, 62, doesn’t have Casey’s name recognition is an understatement, but he has knocked off an established incumbent before. Barletta was the mayor of Hazleton for 11 years before defeating Democrat Paul Kanjorski for the 11th Congressional District seat in 2011 - a seat Kanjorski held for a quarter of a century.

The Senate race largely mirrors Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial battle: the Democratic incumbent has a large lead in the polls and a considerable fundraising edge.

The most recent poll, conducted by Franklin & Marshall College in late August, showed Casey, 58, with a 13-pont edge, 47 percent to 34 percent. Nineteen percent of those surveyed were undecided.

But it’s unlikely Barletta can swing a majority of those voters his way, as 53 percent of poll respondents indicated they didn’t know enough about hm to have an opinion.

The gap between the two candidates is even wider in money. The latest campaign finance reports filed showed Casey with $10.5 million on hand, compared to $1.5 million for Barletta.

President Trump endorsed Barletta in August, telling the crowd at a Wilkes- Barre rally: “We need Republicans. We need Lou Barletta.” He also criticized Casey as being overrated and mocked his typically somnolent vocal delivery, calling him “Sleeping Bob.”

Trump won Pennsylvania in the 2016 presidential election, becoming the first Republican to accomplish that feat since George H.W. Bush in 1988. But the political climate then is vastly different from what it is now and there is no guarantee Trump’s backing will bring Barletta many votes.

Barletta seems to believe that tying himself to Trump is the correct strategy. A campaign commercial that has aired since last month shows Trump and Barletta at the Wilkes-Barre rally.

“Help me help President Trump drain the swamp and make America great again,” he tells the crowd, displaying an ability to rouse a crowd that Casey would find foreign.

Casey’s ads thus far have stuck primarily to touting his achievements in the Senate, although one ad does attack Barletta for voting in Congress to “end Medicare as we know it” and increasing costs on seniors.

Perhaps to counter Trump, Casey is about to get a presidential endorsement of his own. Barack Obama, who has been on the campaign trail stumping for Democratic candidates, will headline a Sept. 21 rally in Philadelphia for Casey and Gov. Tom Wolf.

But Casey appears headed for a relatively easy victory in November with or without Obama’s backing.

Lacking both familiarity with the electorate and the financial resources to increase it via an onslaught of campaign commercials, Barletta seems a long shot to unseat the incumbent.

Photos via Getty Images.

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