He made it pretty clear why he did this. First, because the reality of the Pennsylvania electorate, he knew he would not win in the Republican primary. He did not say this outright, but he did say that it looked "very bleak." He said he did not want his 30 years of service to be decided by the Republican primary electorate.

In addition, he is correct in that he is not philosophically aligned with the modern Republican party. He did not appreciate the powerful Club for Growth targeting moderate Republicans, and he wanted to stand against it.

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