Four-term U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator, defeating state Rep. Jim Christiana of Beaver County in Tuesday’s primary election.
Barletta, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, will face Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey in the general election. Casey was unopposed in the primary.
In Centre County, Barletta defeated Christiana by about 1,400 votes and statewide he secured 63 percent of the vote.
Barletta first entered the national spotlight as mayor of Hazleton for his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration, which ranged from fining landlords and denying business permits to making English the city’s official language and prohibiting the translation of documents without official authorization.
He was first elected to Congress in 2010 after unsuccessful campaigns in 2002 and 2008. In 2017, Trump asked Barletta to run for Senate and since then the president has been a vocal supporter of the campaign, most recently recording a campaign call on Barletta’s behalf.
