Jul 30, 2021 4 min read

BEALLSVILLE – In the fall of 2022, Jeff Bartos and John Fetterman could be experiencing a sense of deja vu.

In 2018, both were vying to be Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, with the Democratic ticket of Fetterman and Gov. Tom Wolf ultimately trouncing the Republican ticket, which paired former state Sen. Scott Wagner with Bartos. They are apparently friends – Fetterman has called Bartos “a really good dude,” while Bartos has called Fetterman “a mensch.”

Fast forward to today, where Fetterman is the Democratic front-runner for the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat that is being vacated by Pat Toomey, and Bartos is hoping to break out of a Republican field that so far consists of at least seven candidates and could well see more. At a stop at Nemacolin Country Club Wednesday as part of a statewide bus tour, Bartos acknowledged that he might not be prone to the apocalyptic rhetoric that has come to characterize American politics in 2021.

“I am inspired by what I’ve seen” on the campaign trail, Bartos said, adding that in his estimation Pennsylvanians are “looking forward. … They want to build a better life for their children and grandchildren. They don’t want to have to buy a plane ticket to visit their grandchildren.”

A 48-year-old real estate developer from the Philadelphia suburb Lower Merion, Bartos has never held elected office before, but was able to travel into some of the most far-flung corners of the commonwealth during his campaign to be lieutenant governor. According to Bartos, “It was the privilege of a lifetime.” He explained that he learned a lot “about what makes Pennsylvania special and the entrepreneurial spirit of my fellow Pennsylvanians. I loved virtually every minute of the 21 months on the campaign trail.”

Bartos was greeted at the country club by a handful of local Republicans. In a field that is fluid, Bartos so far has a fundraising advantage. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bartos had $1.8 million on hand, with $440,000 of that coming from his own coffers. While this does not match the $2.5 million war chest that Fetterman has amassed, Bartos said, “I’m highly confident we’ll have the resources to win the primary and the general election.”

Other Republican candidates that have entered the fray include Sean Parnell, the Army veteran and author who was narrowly defeated by Conor Lamb in the 17th Congressional District race last year, political commentator Kathy Barnette and former U.S. ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands.

Shortly before Bartos’ bus pulled into the parking lot at the country club, the announcement came that the Senate had agreed to move forward on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package that includes money for water, roads, rail, public transportation and bridges. When asked if he would have supported the bill if he had been in the Senate, Bartos explained that he would have wanted to have read through the whole proposal.

“I’m deeply concerned about the nomenclature the Biden administration has used to describe infrastructure,” he said. He conceded that Pennsylvania’s roads “are in need of major repairs,” but doesn’t want to “place a burden on working families.”

The Bartos campaign has made helping small businesses a marquee issue. He co-founded a nonprofit organization that provided loans to small businesses in the state during the pandemic, and slammed the shutdowns that he said hurt many mom-and-pop enterprises. He said, “They don’t want anything from the government. What they want is a level playing field.”

A slice of the Republican electorate has declined to be vaccinated against the virus, and view it as either a hoax or overblown by the media. Bartos said that, yes, he has been vaccinated, but opposes federal mandates.

“I felt that being vaccinated was the right thing for me, and I believe at my core we should trust people to do what’s best for themselves and their families.”

And while Donald Trump Jr. has endorsed Parnell, Bartos said he would welcome the endorsement of Trump’s father.

“Of course I welcome the former president’s support,” he said.