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Jun 24, 2026 By Mike Jones 5 min read

The Democrat running against state Sen. Camera Bartolotta in the 46th Senate District has withdrawn from the race, paving the way for an independent candidate to take his place on the ballot as the lone challenger to the three-term incumbent.

According to online election records filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State, Evan Snyder of Nottingham Township withdrew his candidacy Monday after running unopposed in the Democratic primary on May 19.

Ten days after that primary election, Jodi Borello of South Franklin Township held a campaign kickoff event to formally announce her run as an independent candidate.

To get on the ballot in the Nov. 3 general election, independent candidates must circulate nominating petitions and receive enough signatures from registered voters in the district that would equal 2% of the largest vote-getter in that district in the preceding statewide election. In this case, Borello needs 1,566 signatures from registered voters before the Aug. 3 deadline, which is more than three times the 500 signatures needed for party-affiliated candidates running to get on the primary ballot for a state Senate race.

Any Democrat, Republican or non-party affiliated voter registered in the Senate district can sign the independent candidate’s nominating petition. The 46th State Senate District includes all of Washington and Greene counties, and the southern sliver of Beaver County.

Borello, who is listed as a community organizer for the Center for Coalfield Justice, posted on her Jodi 4 PA Senate campaign Facebook page that she was circulating her nominating petitions at Washington’s Main Street Farmers Market on June 11. Volunteers were also seen gathering signatures at the Juneteenth celebration and Summer Concert Series in the city that following weekend. A “meet and greet” event for her campaign is scheduled for Friday night at the Beck-Ringland Tavern in Scenery Hill, where she said she’ll continue to circulate her petitions trying to get on the ballot.

In a written response asking for comment about her candidacy, Borello said that “people understand that neither the Democratic or Republican parties are delivering results for regular people” in the district. She added that they are “making progress” in getting enough petition signatures to get on the ballot.

“Costs are rising, billionaires and Wall Street are ripping us off, and main street is still getting left behind,” Borello said Tuesday. “I’m running to put our community first and take on the corruption controlling both parties that keeps hurting working families. Let’s deliver real change this November.”

Snyder did not respond to a phone call or email asking him for comment on why he decided to exit the race.

But Washington County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Christina Proctor said they “knew that was what he was planning on doing” as far as Snyder removing his name from the ballot. When asked why Snyder would have gone through the process to gather enough signatures to get on the May primary ballot only to withdraw, Proctor said it was “to ensure Camera couldn’t run a write-in on the Democratic side” to get a politically-friendly proxy candidate who would not seriously challenge her in the general election.

It now appears unlikely the Democratic committees in the district will nominate a candidate to replace Snyder on the ballot, and Proctor said it would be up to individual committee members to decide whether to independently endorse Borello.

Bartolotta, a Carroll Township resident who first won election to office in 2014, fended off a challenger in a bruising and costly Republican primary this year, defeating Al Buchtan of Cumberland Township by a 53.5-46.5% margin.

“I don’t understand why someone would go through the trouble of getting petition signatures and everything, only to be talked off the ballot,” Bartolotta said in a phone interview Tuesday.

She said issues involving jobs, law enforcement and healthcare will be important topics on the campaign trail, but one of the biggest items will be energy production in the district. She pointed to Borello’s work with Coalfield Justice and her stances against natural gas fracking as key issues that will be discussed on the campaign trail.

“Any candidate who has eyes on hindering any of those industries literally threatens the livelihood and jobs for families in the district,” Bartolotta said of natural gas drilling and coal production.

Just as Bartolotta appears to have a challenger in the Nov. 3 general election, it also seems likely fellow Republican state Sen. Pat Sefano of Bullskin Township will have a competitive campaign this fall in the 32nd State Senate District.

Jacob Cecil of Somerset County circulated nominating petitions to get on the ballot for the Democratic primary, but his name was removed before the election for not having enough valid signatures. Cecil mounted a write-in campaign in the primary and received nearly 1,000 votes, according to unofficial election results, which would put him well above the 500 needed to get on the ballot. The 32nd State District includes all of Fayette, Somerset and Bedford counties, along with a tiny sliver of southern Westmoreland County.