Bartos, Wallace campaign in Cambria County

Dave Sutor, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·2 min read

Jul. 28—CARROLLTOWN — With more than 2,000 miles already behind him, 2022 Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Bartos, riding in a blue, white and yellow campaign bus, rolled into the Carrolltown American Legion Park on Tuesday during the ninth day of his "Fighting For Pennsylvania" Tour.

It was the 49th county he visited.

He plans to stop in all 67 counties before the 12-day trip ends.

Bartos, who ran for lieutenant governor in 2018, attended a Cambria County Republican Party picnic, where he discussed issues and his background, which includes co-founding the Pennsylvania 30 Day Fund, a nonprofit that financially helped small businesses during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"This stop, this entire journey that we're on is emblematic of how I'm going to be as a United States senator," Bartos said.

"For too long, career politicians in Washington have thought of Pennsylvania as two large cities — two giant cities — with a lot of farmland in between. What I know from my last campaign and from my work on a nonprofit that helped rescue over a thousand small businesses, including many here in Cambria, is that Pennsylvania is made up of incredible communities, incredible main streets, incredible small businesses across all 67 counties."

Bartos said one of the main concerns he has heard on the tour is from owners "desperate to see business get back up and running," but who cannot find employees.

He felt too many decisions were made by "government, elected officials, career politicians" during the pandemic that benefited larger businesses while mom-and-pop operations suffered.

"We have to get back to a place that is uniquely American," Bartos said. "The culture of our country for 200-plus years, we trust individuals to make the decisions that are right for themselves, their families, and, as a community, the community makes decisions."

Bartos was joined for the day by attorney Stacy Wallace, a Republican candidate in this year's Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania race, whose mother grew up in Patton.

"When people ask me why I chose to run for the Commonwealth Court, the answer is actually very simple and it may sound cliché, but it's my truth," Wallace said.

"And that is, my mom said to me, 'Where can you do the most good?' And, while I had worked at the Superior Court, which is the sister court to the Commonwealth Court where I drafted hundreds of decisions for judges to sign, the Commonwealth Court makes decisions that impact entire school districts, entire counties, the whole state of Pennsylvania. If it's an election law matter, it can have nationwide consequences and arguably even global consequences. So the decision was where can I do most good? And that was the reason I went to the Commonwealth Court race."