Brandi Tomasetti, a secretary and treasurer for Conestoga Township in Lancaster County, is seeking the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat. Citing her roots in Pennsylvania, Tomasetti came out swinging against GOP candidate David McCormick, the only other Republican who has launched a campaign to run against Democratic incumbent Bob Casey.
“With a dedicated effort, I can defeat career politician and RINO Republican Dave McCormick who is unlikely to succeed in a purple state,” Tomasetti said in a video posted to social media. “China Dave, a former hedge fund manager and CEO of Bridgewater, accumulated his wealth by investing in Chinese companies linked to human rights violations while cutting jobs in Pittsburgh. He spent the last 15 years in Connecticut, with his billions. How can Dave genuinely understand the diverse concerns of Pa. voters?”
In the video statement, Tomasetti said she is seeking volunteers “to help gather 2000 signatures from Jan. 23 to Feb. 11.”
In Pennsylvania, party candidates are required to file nomination petitions with the Pennsylvania secretary of state, and 1,000 signatures are required for U.S. Senate candidates. Tomasetti does not appear to have filed the necessary paperwork to run yet, and her campaign did not immediately reply to a request for comment from the Capital-Star.
The McCormick campaign appeared unfazed by Tomsetti’s announcement. He has already received the endorsement of the state Republican Party, and said last week he had raised $6.4 million in the fourth quarter, including $1 million of his own money.
“We welcome her to the race and look forward to winning the primary in April,” McCormick campaign communications director Elizabeth Gregory said in an email to the Capital-Star. “Come November, Pennsylvanians will elect combat veteran, West Point graduate and seventh-generation Pennsylvanian Dave McCormick to shake things up in Washington and put an end to Bob Casey‘s ineffective 17-year career in the Senate.”
In a statement on her website, Tomasetti cited “frustration with the prevalence of career politicians driven by personal agendas, exploiting positions of power to enhance their own wealth and status.”
Tomasetti echoes some of the GOP’s anti-immigration rhetoric in her website statement, saying “current lax standards for immigration mean that not everyone entering shares our values, contributing to a pressing border crisis that the Biden administration and his Democratic colleagues have allowed to worsen.”
According to campaign finance records, Tomasetti donated to former President Donald Trump’s campaign in 2016, and again in 2020. She told Lancaster Online in December that her previous donations had earned her invitations to private Trump campaign events, including one in November at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
In a social media post early Wednesday, Tomasetti said she would “work tirelessly for the people,” adding a “Trump2024” hashtag. In another post on Monday, she announced her endorsement of Trump for president.
McCormick has said he’s not planning to endorse anyone in the Republican presidential primary.
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