A dozen Republican candidates are running in Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial election to replace Democrat Tom Wolf, who is termed out. The crowded primary naturally means that candidates are trying to separate themselves from the pack.
Dave White, the owner of an HVAC business and a former county councilman, hopes he can do so by earning former president Donald Trump’s endorsement. White’s relationship with a certain state senator, however, could complicate his ability to earn Trump’s favor.
White revealed that he had a private sit-down with Trump at last month’s CPAC in Orlando, Florida.
“I’m looking forward to meeting the president. He has done great things for the United States. He put America first, similar to what I’m trying to do in Pennsylvania, putting Pennsylvania first, getting people back to work, getting good jobs,” White told Fox News.
Trump has a vested interest in who wins the race because, in Pennsylvania, the governor gets to select the secretary of state. And the secretary of state gets to administer future elections. Pennsylvania was a hotspot for allegations of voter fraud from the Trump campaign in 2020, particularly due to last-minute “guidance” regarding ballots from secretary of state Kathy Boockvar.
“Sometimes the vote counter is more important than the candidate,” Trump recently said in a video message to Pennsylvania Republicans.
White has run several campaign ads calling for a full audit of the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania and for legislation tightening election security.
However, White also has the endorsement of State Senator Dan Laughlin, who has been very vocal about his desire for Republicans to move away from voter fraud allegations and other “culture wars.”
Laughlin called attempts to audit the 2020 election a “spectacle” that “will only further the paranoid atmospherics”, saying that there was no “credible evidence” of fraud.
“If two sides want to fight over a year-old election, I advise them to take it outside. We have real work to do in the Capitol,” Laughlin wrote in an op-ed this past July.
Laughlin explored his own run for governor in December, but instead opted to endorse White, who is largely self-funding his campaign. The state senator has officially registered to circulate petitions so that White may appear on the primary ballot.
The Spectator reached out to Senator Laughlin about his endorsement of White considering their disagreement on a Pennsylvania audit, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Bob Salera, campaign manager for Dave White, told The Spectator that Laughlin’s endorsement is evidence of White’s ability to unify the Republican Party:
“Dave is proud to have Senator Laughlin’s endorsement. He is working to unify all factions of our party to defeat socialist Attorney General Josh Shapiro in November, but that doesn’t mean he agrees with all of his supporters on every issue. Dave has been very clear where he stands on election integrity — he would repeal no-excuse mail-in voting and implement voter ID, and he supports an election audit and an investigation into voter fraud in Philadelphia that failed US Attorney Bill McSwain refused to conduct.”
White is no stranger to befriending those with conflicting interests. Townhall reported in February that White, who is campaigning against Critical Race Theory being taught in schools, hired a lobbying firm that previously worked on behalf of Pennsylvania’s pro-CRT teacher’s union. According to White’s campaign manager, the lobbying firm dropped the teacher’s union as a client at White’s request.
