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Kathy Barnette. Photo by Leon Laing.

Kathy Barnette may have conceded for the U. S. Senate race, but she earned the third-most votes among her Republican counterparts. And she clinched her spot without spending as much money as Dave McCormick and Mehmet Oz, the two front-runners.

“Kathy was outspent 15-1 (or more) by each of the two front-runners,” her campaign told Black Wall Street Pennsylvania.

If she had won the race, she would’ve been the first black female Republican senator. When she appeared on CNN, Barnette discussed one of her challenges during the race.

“I was ignored because the media had their picks,” she told CNN. “There’s so much partisan journalism that’s going on that it’s creating a very challenging environment for Americans to know what’s true, what’s not true.”

On April 25, the Republican Senate candidates faced off in a debate held at abc27. Barnette, Jeff Bartos, Carla Sands, Oz and McCormick participated.

Oz is a TV talk show host, and McCormick was a CEO for one of the world’s largest hedge funds. With the race being neck and neck as a of press time, a recount is expected.

Sen. Doug Mastriano, who won the election to become the GOP nominee for Pennsylvania governor this year, endorsed Barnette.

“Kathy is a defender of the constitution and a veteran of the U.S. Army,” Mastriano said on Barnette’s website. “She is a fighter and is tenacious in her pursuit to leave our country better than how she got it. Kathy is also a person of faith who stands up for truth.”

Aside from running for the Senate, Barnette is a political commentator. She also authored the book Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: Being Black and Conservative in America.

“For me — as a black woman, married to a black man, raising black babies — one black person being shot or accosted by a police officer for no reason at all is one black person too many,” she told our newspaper.

Barnette also examined the relationship between Blacks and the Democratic Party.

“No one has been more loyal to the Democratic Party than black people,” she said. “What exactly have we gotten for our loyalty?”

Story and photo by Leon Laing for Black Wall Street Pennsylvania.