Anti-Trump Republican Drops Bid for Pennsylvania’s US Senate Seat

Philadelphia lobbyist and consultant Craig Snyder said he has been unable to generate enough support in a crowded field for what is expected to be one of the nation’s most competitive contests for Senate in 2022.

HARRISBURG — An anti-Trump candidate said Monday he is dropping his bid for the Republican nomination for US Senate in Pennsylvania.

Craig Snyder, a longtime lobbyist and political consultant from Philadelphia, said he has been unable to generate enough support.

The seat is opening up with the retirement in 2023 of two-term Republican US Sen. Pat Toomey. Pennsylvania’s Republican and Democratic primaries are crowded for what is expected to be one of the nation’s most competitive contests for Senate in next year’s election.

Snyder had seen the big GOP field as a key ally.

He had theorized that he could target what he believed to be 40% of Republican voters who see themselves as more loyal to the party and conservatism, while the five or more other primary candidates would split up voters loyal to former President Donald Trump.

Republicans running include conservative commentator Kathy Barnette; real estate investor Jeff Bartos, the party’s 2018 nominee for lieutenant governor; Sean Parnell, a decorated former Army Ranger and author who penned a New York Times-bestselling memoir of his service in Afghanistan; and Carla Sands, the wealthy former ambassador to Denmark under Trump.

Parnell — who is endorsed by Trump — and Barnette both ran for the US House unsuccessfully last year. The GOP primary field includes several other relative unknowns.