Greene County businessman Al Buchtan is looking to oust three-term state Sen. Camera Bartolotta of Washington County in what has been one of Western Pennsylvania’s most contentious primary races.
The race in the 46th Senatorial District has revealed divisions among local Republicans while attracting intense interest, and millions of dollars, from outside groups looking to influence the outcome of the primary.
Evan Snyder of Washington County’s Nottingham Township is unopposed in the Democratic primary. The district includes all of Washington and Greene counties and a small portion of Beaver County.
Bartolotta, 62, of Carroll Township, was first elected to the Senate in 2014, defeating incumbent state Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, by 6 percentage points. Voters reelected her by 17 points in 2018. She was unopposed in her bid for a third term in 2022.
This is the first time she has faced a primary challenge from a fellow Republican.
Bartolotta formerly owned and operated a quick-lube business in Washington County for about three decades and also previously worked as a TV and film actress and producer. Acting credits listed on IMDb include an uncredited role in “The Fault in Our Stars” in 2014 and the roles of Amber in “Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies” in 2014, Sonia Reich in “Lucifer’s Unholy Desire” in 2012 and a newswoman on an episode of “Hunter” in 1986.
In Harrisburg, Bartolotta serves in GOP leadership as the majority caucus secretary and sits on six committees, including serving as vice chair of the Labor & Industry Committee.
Bartolotta touts her record authoring 11 pieces of legislation that became law, including legislation to help first responders dealing with post-traumatic stress, victims of domestic violence and farmers.
“I work with other legislators. I develop relationships with my own caucus and the other side of the aisle and the other side of the building,” Bartolotta said, referring to working with members of the state House as well as her colleagues in the Senate. “That’s how you get things done. You have to do what’s best for everyone in your district.”
Buchtan graduated from Carmichaels High School in Greene County. In 2011, he founded Advanced Masonry, which is based in Carmichaels and does work across the region. He touted his experience serving on Carmichaels Area School Board from 2023 to 2025, when he stepped down to run for the state Senate. He said he worked to reduce unnecessary spending.
Among top priorities if elected, Buchtan said he wants to work to reduce wasteful state government spending, burdensome taxes and regulations that hinder the state from attracting new businesses and helping existing ones grow.
“We’re not business-friendly in this state,” Buchtan said. “You can go to surrounding states and the cost of doing business is a lot cheaper and there is a lot less red tape.”
He said he also supports term limits for lawmakers and protecting Second Amendment rights.
Buchtan is a lifelong resident of the 46th District — though his place of residence became a legal issue during the campaign. He and his family own a home in the Carmichaels area of Greene County and he rents another property in Washington County’s Canonsburg, both of which are in the 46th District. He listed the Canonsburg address on nominating papers. That drew a challenge from several voters in the district who argued he was trying to mislead voters by listing the Canonsburg address.
The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that Buchtan could remain on the ballot but has to run as a resident of Greene County.
Bartolotta has been the target of criticism from some Republicans in her county.
At an executive committee meeting of the Washington County Republican Party in January, a motion calling for a vote of no confidence in Bartolotta passed 21-3. More than 4 in 5 of the 46th District’s residents live in Washington County, and just over half of its registered voters are Republicans.
Bartolotta dismissed the vote, saying it didn’t reflect the sentiments of Washington County Republicans as a whole. Pennsylvania GOP Chairman Greg Rothman, also a state senator, would later declare the county committee’s vote “null, void, (and) of no effect” because he said it violated county and state party bylaws.
“The state party, that’s the swamp,” said Buchtan, who didn’t participate in the Washington County executive committee vote. “Rothman and the rest of his swamp creatures were obviously trying to protect her at all costs. For them, it’s all about who is controlling the purse strings. I don’t trust any of them.”
Among its criticisms of Bartolotta, the county executive committee said in a letter posted on the Washington County Republican Party’s Facebook page that she “undermined” President Donald Trump by disputing aspects of his characterization of how Haitian immigrants have impacted Charleroi, which is in the 46th District. Trump said during his 2024 campaign that the immigrants were “costing local taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars” and bringing “massive crime to the town and every place near it.”
In an interview with TribLive, Buchtan, who did not participate in the Washington County GOP committee vote, said, “She called Trump a liar.”
In response, Bartolotta said Buchtan “has such a distant relationship with the truth.”
“I have never been for illegal immigration, but these individuals were brought into Charleroi because there was work they were able to do. TPS (Temporary Protected Status) is a legal program that brought them here,” Bartolotta said, referring to a federal program that offers work authorization and deportation protection for people from designated countries dealing with armed conflict, environmental disaster or other crises.
The Washington County GOP also took exception to Bartolotta supporting a voting reform package that cleared the way for no-excuse, mail-in voting. Nearly every Republican in the state House and Senate did in 2019. After the 2020 presidential election, many Pennsylvania Republicans’ stance on mail-in voting changed.
“That bill has done more to damage the integrity of our elections than any bill passed in the history of our state,” the Washington County GOP committee wrote in January.
Money has been pouring into the race — much of it from outside groups.
The latest campaign finance reports that could be viewed Friday on the Pennsylvania Department of State’s website showed one of Bartolotta’s committees had about $6,500 in available cash as of May 4 and another had more than $168,000 as of Dec. 31, while Buchtan’s committee had more than $39,000 as of Dec. 31.
Records show a Virginia-based political action committee called Win for Pennsylvania spent nearly $2.7 million on campaign media and other activities supporting Bartolotta between April 3 and May 8 and more than $221,000 opposing Buchtan between April 24 and Thursday.
Win for Pennsylvania is tied to online sports betting interests, which are currently subject to a 36% tax in Pennsylvania. During last year’s state budget talks, the industry voiced opposition to a proposal that would have raised that rate to generate additional revenue.
Federal Election Commission records show entities connected with the sports betting companies FanDuel, DraftKings and Fanatics Sports Book contributed a combined $43 million to a super PAC called Win for America between Nov. 5 and March 31 — all of the contributions that super PAC received. Win for America gave $26.6 million to the American Conservative Fund during the same span, which in turn gave just more than $3 million to Win for Pennsylvania, records show.
Records also show that Virginia-based Citizens Alliance has received more than $1 million in contributions this year, with much of it from people associated with skill-games company Pace-O-Matic.
Citizens Alliance spent $280,000 for TV ads and $237 for phone calls opposing Bartolotta on May 7 and more than $35,000 for mailers supporting Buchtan on Wednesday, records show.
For years, state lawmakers have been discussing taxing and regulating skill games that have become ubiquitous at bars, convenience stores, fraternal clubs and elsewhere. Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed a 52% tax on the games and said it could generate much-needed revenue for the state, but lawmakers have to arrive on a figure.
“We don’t have a hard number yet,” Bartolotta said, adding that she isn’t in favor of “taking the majority of the profit away” from entities with machines like social clubs and fraternal organizations that benefit from the revenue the machines generate.