
How Trump's endorsement of Oz gave Kathy Barnette an unexpected opening in Pennsylvania
CNN
To Kathy Barnette and her ardent supporters in Pennsylvania's Republican Senate primary, former President Donald Trump made a mistake.
It's not that Barnette and her supporters don't still support the former President. They do, and many of her backers remain Trump's most fervent defenders. But when the former President endorsed celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz in the Republican Senate primary, it opened a pathway for Barnette to run further to the right, and more in line with the "MAGA movement" than any of her primary opponents.
"As much as people support Trump, hey, he ain't God," said Gary Smith, chair for the Constitutional Republicans of Western Pennsylvania in Jefferson County who personally plans to vote for Barnette. "He made a mistake. I think it is one of the worst mistakes he has made in his endorsements because Oz is everything we are not."

Janet Mills and her allies are counting on a gender gap to narrow Platner’s wide lead ahead of the June 9 primary to decide who will face incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. They are betting that the unfiltered style that has brought Platner widespread attention as someone who could help Democrats reach young men will backfire with women.












