HARRISBURG (TNS) — Lieutenant governor hopeful Brandon Flood has announced he is ended his campaign for the Republican nomination and is throwing his support behind fellow GOP candidate Jeff Coleman.
Flood, who recently left his position as secretary of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, said he sees Coleman, a former state lawmaker, as the most qualified and electable in the crowded field of at least nine GOP candidates competing for the party’s nomination for the post.
Also factoring into his decision to suspend his campaign, the former Democrat is currently recovering from a heart transplant in UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. He said he will remain hospitalized for a few more weeks and as such, was unable to participate in Saturday’s Central Caucus meeting of GOP state committee members.
“The final reason for me suspending my efforts and redirecting my support to Jeff was due to the face he shares my vision of making a commitment to wholesale criminal justice reform, being a practitioner of functional government, and working across the aisle to advance meaningful public policy that actually improves the quality of life for all Pennsylvanians,” Flood said.
Coleman of Cumberland County, who kicked off his campaign last week, welcomes Flood’s endorsement. He said it will help build coalitions, particularly around the issue of corrections reform. Flood, a strong advocate for second chances, spent nine years in prison before being freed and pardoned for drug dealing and illegal handgun possession convictions.
“It confirms the message that I have been trying to connect in this preprimary process which is Republicans have to be very concerned that we have in many ways ended the conversation with people who live in cities and are dangerously close to not having a serious conversation with families that live in the suburbs about their needs and problems,” Coleman said. “Corrections reform is a clear path for us to be sincere and also take action on an issue that impacts hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians.”
Flood said he plans to join Coleman on the campaign trail. He also will encourage Democrats who share their vision, particularly Black and brown Pennsylvanians, to consider changing their party affiliation to support Coleman’s primary campaign. He also plans to encourage the re-entrant community and family members of incarcerated/justice-involved individuals to support Coleman to help build on Flood’s efforts of criminal justice/executive clemency reform.
Other Republicans running for the party’s nomination for lieutenant governor are: Back to School PA executive director Clarice Schillinger of Montgomery County, state Rep. Russ Diamond of Lebanon County, former state representative Rick Saccone of Allegheny County, businessman James Jones of Montgomery County; New Castle Mayor Chris Frye of Lawrence County, lawyer Jen Gilliland Vanasdale of Butler County, former Northampton County executive John Brown, and former police officer Teddy Daniels.
