Lou Barletta announces senate run

Republican congressman, Lou Barletta, who represents the state’s 11th congressional district, announced a plan to run against Democratic Senator Bob Casey, with a video released to on his campaign website on Monday. 

In the video, Barletta – who became a member of Congress in 2011 after serving as mayor of Hazelton for 11 years – claims Casey is “building up a war chest bankrolled by the most extreme liberal special interest groups in the country.” 

Barletta’s district represents areas including Hazelton, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, as well as parts of Columbia, Monroe, Carbon and Luzerne counties.

Earlier this year, a member of Barletta’s office told the Associated Press that President Donald Trump had urged Barletta to run against Casey in the upcoming 2018 election, where Casey would be seeking a third-term in office.

In the recently released video, Barletta never mentioned the president, but he echoed Trump in urging Pennsylvanians to sign up and donate to his campaign to “make Pennsylvania and America great again.”

In the video, Barletta also urges viewers to take a moment to learn about his life’s accomplishments. As pointed out by the AP, these include controversial measures he attempted to bring to Hazelton in 2006, that would have denied permits to businesses who hired illegal immigrants and would have fined landlords who rented properties to illegal immigrants.

These measures were struck down by the Supreme Court in 2014 after the highest court in America refused to review these measures after they had been declared unconstitutional by lower courts.

Barletta will join eight other candidates in a Republican primary before he would have a chance to unseat Casey.