Former US MP Keith Rothfus eyes working within the GOP Senate major | Information | Pittsburgh

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Even after a high profile Republican is eliminated, the race for the GOP area code for the US Senate in Pennsylvania continues to grow. This week TV presenter Dr. Mehmet Oz officially takes a run, and hedge fund CEO David McCormick is preparing a run.

And now the Pittsburghers may see a more familiar face entering the race, as former US MP Keith Rothfus (R-Sewickley) is also reportedly eyeing a run. Rothfus told NBC News on Nov. 30 that he was considering launching a campaign that would expand the Republican field to more than half a dozen. Rothfus said he made several calls and received “positive feedback”.

According to NBC News, Rothfus said that should he officially step in, he would focus his campaign on strengthening Pennsylvania’s energy industry, advocating a more aggressive foreign policy with China, and capping government spending.

Rothfus, a lawyer with experience in the financial sector, has long criticized government spending and repeatedly called for federal debt increases despite voting in 2017 for a federal tax cut bill that increases federal debt.

With the recent departure of Army veteran and Fox News agent Sean Parnell, Rothfus’ potential entry would make him one of the only nominees and the biggest name currently on the Republican side in western Pennsylvania. Both the US MP Conor Lamb (D-Mt. Lebanon) and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D-Braddock) from Pennsylvania have declared runs on the Democratic side. Apparently, if Rothfus were to run, he would also be the only Republican candidate with experience as an elected civil servant and the only one to have previously won a federal election.

The greatest legacy of suburban Pittsburgh lawmakers in Congress was drafting a bill signed by former President Donald Trump that eliminated a rule that allowed customers to participate in class actions against large banks and the like, and instead customers to negotiate having financial institutions and the like forcing their powerful legal teams to be one on one in arbitration. Atlantic Monthly wrote in 2017 that the repeal of the rule means individuals who have suffered financial damage or identity theft as a result of large corporate violations “may not have the right to bring them to justice.”

Rothfus first won the 2012 election after the Pennsylvania congressional maps were redrawn after the US census; these cards were later discarded by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for partisan gerrymandering, which benefited the Republicans unduly. In 2018, Rothfus then lost his seat to Lamb after the circle was redrawn more just.

The incumbent US Senator Pat Toomey (R-Lehigh) announced his resignation last year. Current GOP field for the Pennsylvania headquarters includes Oz, business owner Jeff Bartos (R-Montgomery), political commentator Kathy Barnette (R-Montgomery), former Montgomery County Commission candidate Sean Gale (R-Montgomery), former US Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands (R-Cumberland), businessman Everett Stern (R-Philadelphia), and others.