Third-Party Candidates Add to Governor, Senate Races

The list of candidates for the 2022 U.S. Senate and Governor’s races is growing as third-parties are getting their preferred choices approved for the November ballot by the Department of State.

The Keystone and Libertarian parties have filed voter signatures, while the Green Party is still striving to get nominees in by the August 1 deadline.

Pennsylvania’s threshold for third-party candidates to qualify for the ballot is 5,000 signatures of registered voters.

In the race to replace Pat Toomey in the U.S. Senate, the Keystone Party has nominated Daniel Wassmer, while the Libertarians tabbed Erik Gerhardt.

Wassmer was the Libertarian candidate for attorney general in 2020 in a race that went to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro.

In the chase for the governor’s mansion, Joe Soloski is the Keystone’s choice with Nicole Shultz as his running mate.

Soloski ran under the Libertarian flag for state treasurer in 2020 – a race won by Republican Stacy Garrity.

Tim McMaster is the Libertarian candidate for lieutenant general against Carrie DelRosso and Austin Davis. He ran in the special election for the 48th District Senate seat in 2021.

In tightly contested races, a third-party candidate, while rarely victorious, can sway elections by drawing votes away from major party candidates.

Expect to see Republicans challenging the paperwork of Libertarians in court, while Democrats will likely do the same against Green Party selections.

A spokesperson for the newly formed Keystone Party said the organization was formed out of members of the Libertarian Party who felt that party was veering too hard to the right.

6 Responses

  1. “Tim McMaster is the Libertarian candidate for lieutenant general against Carrie DelRosso and Austin Davis”

    I wonder if any one is running for brigadier general or major general. 3 stars is an awfully ambitious start for a novice.

    1. That is a false entitlement and gas lighting response from the monopoly.

      Votes are earned- not entitled. Therefor they can not be “stolen”

      In fact the idea that only 2 parties can accurately represent 12 million people is absolutely narcissistic

      1. I agree with MRINDEPENDENT. Everybody has a right to run. The two major parties always try to kick minor parties off ballots. If you believe in democracy, and you do such things as preventing others from running, then you do not believe in democracy.

        1. OK, on the flip side, so you register another party, go get 5000 democrats to sign into it and have your fake candidate start spewing all the conservative and republican talking points to the left wing news on the campaign trail, (fake conservative) and come election time that candidate pulls 10 or 20,000 vote statewide. The real republican running loses because of this. Gee, democrats have never used that little trick before have they??





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