User:Zifrs69/sandbox/Kathy Barnette

Kathy Barnette is a conservative political commentator, author, veteran, and candidate for the 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania. She was previously a candidate for Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections.

Early Life and Education
Barnette was conceived by rape when her mother was just 12 years old and her father was 21 years old. She grew up on a pig farm in southern Alabama “below the bottom rung on the economic ladder". She went on to spend a decade in the United States Army Reserve where she was accepted into Officer Candidate School.

Career
Following college, Barnette worked as a adjunct professor of corporate finance. She sat on the Board of a pregnancy crisis center for five years. On February 4, 2020 Barnette published her first book: Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: Being Black and Conservative in America sharing how "liberal leadership has failed the black community and how being a democrat is not synonymous with your skin color". After creating the provocative video, “I’m Black, But I’m Not a Democrat,” she got the attention of Fox News which came with an invitation to discuss it. She credits the video with changing her life and her career trajectory.

2020 Pennsylvania 4th District Race
Barnette announced she was running for congress in Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district on June 2019 becoming the first black woman to run for congress in the 4th District. Barnette asked to speak at a rally organized by the NAACP on June 7, 2020 where her opponent incumbent Madeleine Dean was scheduled to speak. She was denied the opportunity to speak sparking controversy after her campaign manager objected on Facebook to her denial to speak. Pottstown NAACP president Johnny Corson responded saying that the rally "was not a candidate's forum". One politician from each party, had been allowed to speak because "they are officeholders who have the ability to affect policy." Barnette ran unopposed in the Republican Primary obtaining 58,571 votes. Going into the election, the seat was considered a safe democratic seat. Barnette received 40.5% of the vote to Dean's 59.5% losing by approximately 80,000 votes.

2022 Pennsylvania Senate Race
On April 6, 2021 Barnette announced on social media she was running for the open senate seat in Pennsylvania following incumbent Pat Toomey's retirement. Just a few hours after announcing her campaign she amassed numerous endorsements including some high profile endorsements from Congressman Burgess Owens and Former Deputy Assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka.

Personal life
Barnette has 2 children.