Former Trump-Endorsed Candidate Sean Parnell Backs Dave McCormick in GOP Senate Race

Sean Parnell, a former candidate for U.S. Senate who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, backed recently-declared candidate Dave McCormick in the same race.

McCormick will take on former lieutenant governor contender Jeff Bartos, political commentator Kathy Barnette, former ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands, and cardiac surgeon Mehmet Oz, and multiple other candidates.

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Conor Lamb the Latest to Jump into Critical Pennsylvania Senate Race

Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb launched a long-expected Senate bid in his state Friday morning, becoming the latest to join a crowded primary field in one of the country’s most competitive races.

Lamb, a 37-year-old Marine, first won a special election in a Pittsburgh-area swing district in 2018, months before Democrats took control of the House. He is vying to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in a state that President Joe Biden narrowly won, as Democrats look to expand their slim 50-50 majority.

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Commentary: Something Rotten in Pennsylvania

An October 29 story in the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that election officials in several Pennsylvania counties were debating how to alert voters that their mail-in ballot might not meet state requirements. “Officials across Pennsylvania are trying to help voters fix mail ballots that would otherwise be disqualified because of technical mistakes in completing them, creating a patchwork of policies around how—or even whether—people are notified and given a chance to make their votes count,” reporter Jonathan Lai explained. Some jurisdictions were contacting voters directly; one county, according to the paper, sent the “flawed” ballots back to the voters.

But there was a much bigger story behind Lai’s article: Election officials clearly violated the law by inspecting mail-in ballots before November 3. According to Pennsylvania’s election rules, county election boards were required to “safely keep the ballots in sealed or locked containers” until pre-canvassing legally began at 7 a.m. on Election Day.

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