HARRISBURG – An unusual and competitive race is brewing in western Pennsylvania, featuring an independent candidate aided by a heaping of dark money. Republican Camera Bartolotta represents the 46th Senate District, a former Democratic stronghold south of Pittsburgh that stretches across a swath of hills, river valleys, and farmland, and contains old milltowns and active coal and gas development. The former businesswoman and actress has earned the ire of some local Republicans who’ve deemed her insufficiently conservative. She beat a well-funded primary challenger, bankrolled by the skill games industry, who leveled that exact argument. She won’t face a Democratic opponent this November, but that doesn’t mean she’s unchallenged. On the ballot is independent Jodi Borello, a former Republican and environmental organizer who says she’s voted for President Donald Trump three times. She’s eschewed either major party, pitching herself as an economic populist skeptical of data centers and big corporations. “This campaign is powered by people, not special interests,” her campaign website says. Like most legislative candidates, she has not yet been required to file a campaign finance report, but she’s running digital ads and has purchased TV space.
Borello’s campaign isn’t a quixotic endeavor. A poll commissioned by State Navigate, a nonprofit focused on state legislatures and helmed by a bipartisan board, shows Bartolotta and Borello are tied. The poll also found 14% of respondents to be undecided, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 points. The crosstabs show both candidates have crossover appeal, but Borello is doing a better job at winning independents. Borello also has particular strength among voters who identify as “far right” (31% of whom are definitely or probably voting for her) regardless of party affiliation, even as she wins over a clear majority of left-of-center voters. State legislative polling is rare because it’s difficult to sample small districts; this is the only public poll that has been released on the race.
Bartolotta’s campaign purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars in cable TV ads in recent weeks, per FCC records viewed by Spotlight PA, and ran an attack ad against Borello online. Asked about the spending, Bartolotta said: “You take every race seriously. I’ve taken every race seriously, even if I didn’t have an opponent.” There’s also been major spending to target Bartolotta. Coalfield Justice Action, a dark money group, has spent at least $10,500 on digital ads attacking the senator’s record on data centers. FCC records also show the 501(c)(4) nonprofit is buying airtime on cable TV in the region. “State Senator Camera Bartolotta wants to make it easier for Big Tech billionaires to bring massive data centers into towns across Pennsylvania,” one such digital ad says, per Meta’s database. “And while a wealthy few cash out, our communities will pay the price with higher utility bills, tanked home values, and destroyed land.” Coalfield Justice Action is closely related to the Center for Coalfield Justice, an environmental watchdog that has monitored fossil fuel development in southwestern Pennsylvania. The groups share an executive director and address. Borello was previously employed by the Center for Coalfield Justice. Coalfield Justice Action is not required to disclose its donors and only files financial reports once a year. Its sole federal filing in 2025 showed the group had about $200,000 on hand. Because its ads don’t mention the election, Coalfield Justice Action is not required to file campaign finance reports. (A 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling separated issue ads about an elected official’s stances from campaign ads that explicitly call for a candidate’s defeat.)
