Republican Lou Barletta is running for governor of Pennsylvania.
The former U.S. congressman becomes the first prominent figure to enter the 2022 governor's race.
Barletta is a former Hazleton mayor and four-term member of Congress, and ran statewide in a 2018 loss to Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
Barletta tells the Associated Press that he would focus on boosting the state’s economy, but also aim to overhaul Pennsylvania’s election law and fight illegal immigration.
Barletta became one of Trump’s biggest allies on Capitol Hill.