WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta is best known for his hard line on immigration, but the Hazleton Republican now running for U.S. Senate sees himself as much more than that.
He views himself as a strong businessman, a principled conservative, a Trump ally, a fiscal steward and a warrior in the fight against opioid addiction. Most of all, he sees himself as an alternative to Bob Casey, whom he labels as an obstructionist to President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Although Mr. Barletta first has to win the May 15 primary to get the chance to run in November, he seems to view primary challenger state Rep. Jim Christiana as a blip on his radar that he’s looking well beyond. The congressman’s message as he goes around the state talking with voters is that he can beat Mr. Casey.
Polls say otherwise, although it’s been a month since the latest ones and Mr. Barletta has been back and forth campaigning across the state since then.
“This election is going to be a contrast between me and Sen. Casey: what I’ve done in my private life as a businessman, what I’ve done as mayor, and what I’ve done in Congress versus what the senator’s lack of achievements have been,” Mr. Barletta said in a recent interview in Pittsburgh.
Likely voters polled a month ago by Muhlenberg College and the Morning Call said they’d rather keep Mr. Casey in office than elect either Mr. Barletta or Mr. Christiana. Still, it showed Mr. Barletta had the better chance. Mr. Casey came out ahead 48 percent to 32 percent in a direct matchup with Mr. Barletta, and he came out ahead 48 to 29 against Mr. Christiana. Major polling institutions have not surveyed voters on a primary matchup between Mr. Barletta and Mr. Christiana.
Barletta supporters expect his numbers to grow as voters become more familiar with him. Casey’s numbers are likely bolstered by better statewide name recognition stemming from his 12 years in the Senate and from voters’ familiarity with his father, the former governor whose son inherited both his name and his passion for public service.
Mr. Barletta says he inherited some things that make him formidable, too, namely his mother’s morality and his father’s business sense — qualities he says make him a lawmaker who will stand for issues such as jobs and security.
Mr. Barletta, 62, grew up in Hazleton, where his family had construction and heating oil businesses. He dropped out of college to try out for the Cincinnati Reds, who rejected him because he had trouble hitting curve balls. He returned from tryouts in Florida and, with his wife Mary Grace, started a business painting lines on roadways. The Barlettas grew their initial investment — $29.95 for a painting device and a case of aerosol cans — into Interstate Road Marking Corp.
He sold the business in 2000 when he became mayor of Hazleton, which faced a $1.2 million deficit, blight and economic problems. He implemented strict ordinances to crack down on illegal immigration by imposing financial penalties on landlords who housed undocumented people and businesses that employed them. They were the first laws of their kind in the country.
“That took a lot of courage and backbone for me to stand up by myself, and I literally stood by myself for a long time before anyone else felt comfortable to stand in the water with me. I believe that’s what Pennsylvania families and workers want: somebody who’s going to stand up and fight for them,” he said.
He says he’s been able to do that because — four decades after trying out for the Reds and seven years after coming to Washington – he now knows how to deal with curveballs.
“They still throw them in Washington and I still don’t like them, but there are other pitches you can hit. You just have to decide what to swing at,” Mr. Barletta said. “I’ve been successful because I’ve picked my pitch,” for example, by leveraging his votes to get something more for his district.
That’s something he did in 2011 after flooding from Hurricane Lee and Tropical Storm Irene devastated Luzerne County. He refused to support a continuing resolution to fund the government, prompting an invitation to then-Speaker John Boehner’s office, where he laid out his conditions. He wanted enough funding in the bill for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help his district, he wanted support for a bill to reduce interest rates for FEMA loans, and he wanted Mr. Boehner to visit Luzerne to see the damage there firsthand. Mr. Boehner agreed to his conditions, and Mr. Barletta — along with other Republican holdouts — changed his vote, and the government was funded.
“You can get a lot more for the people you represent when they really need your vote badly. If you can hold out, you will be able to put yourself in a position when leadership will come to you and ask what you need,” Mr. Barletta said. “You can’t swing at every pitch. You need to wait, and when the time comes I’ve been able to get some very good things done for my district.”
One of those good things was winning a fight in 2016 to restore 21st Century Learning grants, money for after-school programs that had been cut from the administration’s budget. Mr. Barletta credited the program with improving school attendance and graduation rates. He said he was able to persuade his colleagues in Congress to restore the grants that had been axed from the White House budget.
That program is one of the few things Mr. Barletta and President Donald Trump disagree on. The two are enthusiastic supporters of each other and find little room for criticism.
“We needed somebody who is going to fight for America and fight for the American people, whether for trade and jobs, steel, coal, you name it,” Mr. Barletta said.
Mr. Barletta said he’s been able to support the president’s policies as a member of the House and believes that he can have a greater effect in the Senate, where Republican policies have stalled.
He said he has a history of getting things done in Washington.
He helped negotiate a measure in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act that provides funding to help babies born addicted to opioids, and the House passed a bill in April that includes Mr. Barletta’s effort to require an investment in disaster planning, prevention and mitigation every time FEMA spends money on disaster relief.
He doesn’t appear fazed by the challenge from the Mr. Christiana. He’d rather talk about Mr. Casey — claiming that he doesn’t represent Pennsylvania values and that he was wrong to oppose the tax cuts that Republicans enacted without any Democratic support, wrong to oppose legislation that would have cut federal funding to sanctuary cities, and wrong to support the Affordable Care Act.
Mr. Barletta said he will better represent Pennsylvania’s interests in Washington. Largely, that means supporting the conservative policies of Mr. Trump, who won the state.
“This is about who is better for the working man and woman here in Pennsylvania,” he said.
Mr. Barletta lives in Hazleton with his wife Mary Grace and his “best pal,” golden retriever Reilly. The Barlettas have four grown daughters and eight grandchildren, who live in or near Hazleton.
Julian Routh contributed. Washington Bureau Chief Tracie Mauriello: tmauriello@post-gazette.com, 703-996-9292 or @pgPoliTweets.
First Published: May 7, 2018, 12:11 p.m.
Updated: May 7, 2018, 12:12 p.m.
