Former Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA) dropped out of the Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial primary race to endorse former Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA). The endorsement comes after Jake Corman also dropped out to endorse Barletta.

During a press conference on Friday, Hart announced that she was suspending her gubernatorial campaign and endorsing Barletta in the race.

“The stakes are too high, our Republican primary is too fractured, and we need someone to come out of the Republican primary who is a proven leader, who is a uniter, who is someone who can get Democrat votes, and who can lead as a person who has a vision and the values that the people of Pennsylvania support,” Hart said:

I am suspending my campaign and I’m supporting Lou Barletta. We all win when we support a candidate who shares our values and shares our vision and who can win. And that candidate is Lou Barletta. [Emphasis added]

Barletta thanked Hart for her endorsement and urged Republican primary voters to get behind his campaign for the goal of beating Democrat gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro in the November general election.

In this Nov. 26, 2019, file photo, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks at Muhlenberg High School in Reading, Pa. (Matt Rourke, File/AP)

“We’ve all seen the terrible direction Pennsylvania has taken over the last seven and a half years, and we know that Josh Shapiro would make things even worse,” Barletta said. “I have a history of beating Democrats, having been elected mayor in a heavily Democratic city and defeated a 26-year incumbent Democrat for Congress.”

“There is no question that as the Republican nominee, I can also beat Josh Shapiro, because the people of Pennsylvania know me,” he said. “I am proven, road-tested, and ready to lead.”

This week, a number of Republican heavy hitters in Pennsylvania politics announced their endorsements of Barletta, including former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), former Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker (R), former Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley (R), and former Rep. Fred Keller (R-PA).

The Pennsylvania gubernatorial election is on May 17.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.