Barlotta vs Buchtan, R primary PA Senate SD46

[Deminpenn]

This contested primary on the Republican side for SD46 should tell us about the Trump coalition.

Buchtan is running as an outsider on sort of the conservative/libertarian idea of affordability. Small govt, no taxes, low utility costs, term limits. You get the idea.

Barlotta is specifically embracing Trump. Deport "illegals", drill fossil fuels everywhere all the time, but nothing about cost of living.

[Deminpenn]

1. The negative ads are flying in this primary

All of them are trying to appeal to the Trumpers. Post Gazette reports gambling interests opposed to taxes on skill games are putting big $s in the race.

[Deminpenn]

2. More detail from the Post-Gazette

As the race to be the Republican nominee for the state Senate district heated up in recent months, an unprecedented amount of money poured in.

Win for PA — a political action committee funded by online gambling giants including DraftKings, Fanduel, and Fanatics — has spent at least $1.5 million on ads favoring Bartolotta, according to the political ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

That's in addition to the $512,000 spent by Bartolotta's campaign.

At the same time, Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania — a group backed by Georgia-based skill games operator Pace-O-Matic — spent more than $680,000 on ads for Buchtan.

link: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2026/05/17/pennsylvania-primary-bartolotta-buchtan-trump/stories/202605170065

[Deminpenn]

3. Barlotta won her primary by 7 points

as reported in the Pgh Tribune-Review today. This was a battle pitting skill games gambling interests (Buchtan) against regular gambling interests (Barlotta),