State Sen. Camera Bartolotta defeated challenger Al Buchtan by nearly 7 percentage points Tuesday night in a contentious primary race for the Republican nomination in the 46th District.
As of 11 p.m., with all of the Senate district’s precincts reporting unofficial results, Bartolotta had collected 53.1% of the votes tallied compared to 46.3% for Buchtan, a Greene County businessman.
Evan Snyder of Washington County’s Nottingham Township was unopposed in the Democratic primary. He will now face the three-term incumbent Bartolotta in November.
The 46th state Senatorial District includes all of Washington and Greene counties and a small portion of Beaver County.
“It was an all-out effort by our phenomenal campaign team. We worked our tails off, knocking on doors from Independence (Township in Beaver County) to West Alexander (in Washington County) and all over the district,” Bartolotta said in a phone interview.
The GOP primary race revealed divisions among local Republicans while attracting intense interest, and millions of dollars, from outside groups looking to influence the outcome of the primary.
Several Republican voters in the district unsuccessfully challenged Buchtan’s residency in an attempt to get him removed from the ballot.
Meanwhile, the Washington County Republican Party’s executive committee questioned Bartolotta’s conservative bona fides and passed a vote of no confidence in her. The Pennsylvania GOP later declared that vote “null and void,” saying it violated county and state party bylaws.
The campaign also featured a slew of negative ads and mailers.
Bartolotta said she thought her primary win was “reflective of all the work that I’ve done over the years and not being partisan and addressing only one party’s issues. I think people are sick and tired of the divisiveness and ugliness.”
Bartolotta, 62, of Washington County’s 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.
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.
During the campaign, Bartolotta touted her ability to get legislation passed, including laws to help first responders dealing with post-traumatic stress, victims of domestic violence and farmers.
Bartolotta formerly owned and operated a quick-lube business in Washington County for about three decades. She also previously worked as a TV and film actress and producer.
Buchtan graduated from Carmichaels High School in Greene County. In 2011, he founded Advanced Masonry, which is based in Carmichaels. 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.
During the campaign, Buchtan said he wanted to work to reduce wasteful government spending, burdensome taxes and regulations that hinder businesses from thriving.
