Wolf says he won’t endorse in Senate primary
Candidates include Lt. Gov. Fetterman
Gov. Tom Wolf says he won’t make an endorsement in Democrats’ competitive 2022 U.S. Senate primary, even though his lieutenant governor, John Fetterman, is widely seen as the party’s early front- runner.
“I’m not weighing in on the primary,” Mr.
Wolf said in an interview Thursday.
He said he’s
“letting the Democrats decide who they want in the primary, and then I will support that candidate.”
His neutrality in the
Senate primary contrasts with his position in the 2022 governor’s race. Mr.
Wolf in 2019 endorsed state Attorney General Josh Shapiro for governor, even though Mr. Shapiro still hasn’t formally announced his candidacy.
It’s also a shift from 2016, when Mr. Wolf made an early endorsement in that year’s hard-fought Senate primary, backing Katie McGinty, his
former chief of staff, over Mr. Fetterman and former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak. He weighed in less than two months after Ms. McGinty entered the race, and as the Democratic establishment coalesced around her.
This year, party insiders in both Pennsylvania and Washington are taking a more hands-off approach, at least so far. But it also means Mr. Wolf has now passed on backing Mr. Fetterman twice.
Mr. Wolf noted that Mr. Shapiro is the only major Democratic figure said to be considering a run for governor, while in the Senate race, a number of wellknown Democrats are either actively campaigning or said to be eyeing the contest.
Along with Mr. Fetterman, some of the top Democrats running for Senate are Montgomery County Commissioner V Arkoosh and State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, of Philadelphia. U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, is also seen as a likely candidate, and State Sen. Sharif Street, of Philadelphia, has formed an exploratory committee. That gives Democrats wide range of choices in terms of geography, ideology, and personal and is likely characteristics, to prompt a bruising debate about who’s best suited to win a race that could decide control of the Senate — and, with it, the fate of much of President Joe Biden’s agenda.
Both parties see the Pennsylvania race as one of the most competitive in the country. The incumbent Republican, Sen. Pat Toomey, isn’t seeking re -election.
Dr. Arkoosh, an anesthesiologist, l would be the first Pa. woman elected to the Senate.
Asked in the why nascent he would gubernatorial endorse primary but not for Senate, Mr. Wolf pointed to the array of choices in the Senate race. that
“There’s I know really of, gubernatorial only one, candidate,” he said. “I’ve worked closely with with Josh for a long time, and I think he is a strong candidate and would be a ... good, good governor. All the [ Senate candidates] who have announced so far I think are really good people. I would have no problem with any of them.”
He added of his early Shapiro endorsement, which came before Mr. Shapiro had even won re-election to his current job, “I did jump the gun. Guilty.”