FRANKLIN TWP — Republican Party leaders urged Butler County voters to turn out for the upcoming primary at the annual Spirit of Lincoln Dinner at the Atrium Friday.

Butler County Republican Party Chairman Ed Natali, who announced that he isn’t seeking a third term as chairman, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, and state House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-28th, who has suspended his campaign for governor, urged the 200 party members at the dinner to energize Republican voters to turn out for the May 15 primary.

“It’s been an amazing 13 months,” Natali said about President Donald Trump’s time in office.

However he called for a strong turnout for the primary to avoid a repeat of the 2014 mid-term election in which a 20 to 25 percent voter turnout was a factor in Republican losses.

“It’s important that we get out and vote in every election,” Natali said.

He pledged to remain active in the GOP, but said he also believes the local party needs a new leader.

“I’m not going away. I think it’s time for new leadership,” he said.

Kelly thanked Natali and his wife Julie Natali for their work on behalf of the party.

“None of us got here by ourselves,” Kelly said.

He criticized the state Supreme Court for redrawing the congressional district map boundaries, and Democratic U.S. Sen Bob Casey Jr.

“When the Supreme Court decides to meddle in the election something is wrong,” Kelly said. “They have a decision to turn their backs on 200 years of constitutional law.”

The court has a 5-2 Democratic majority and it changed the map to help Democratic candidates because they are “tired of losing and we’re going to do something about it,” Kelly said.

He also harshly criticized Casey, who is up for re-election this year.

“Bob Casey will show up only when it’s in Bob Casey’s favor. He does absolutely nothing. he’s still running on his dad’s coattails,” he said, referring to Casey’s father, former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey.

Kelly was speaking in support of U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-11th, who is running for the party’s nomination and hopes to face Casey in November’s general mid-term election.

State Rep. Jim Christiana, R-15th, the only candidate who attended the dinner, is also seeking the nomination to run against Casey.

“I wish Western Pennsylvania had a senator that represents Western Pennsylvania values,” Christiana said.

Among Christiana’s accomplishments in Harrisburg are introducing legislation that enabled a petrochemical plant to be slated for development in Beaver County and creating vouchers that allow parents to send their children to the school of their choice, he said. He noted that both bills became law while Republican Gov. Tom Corbett was in office.

Christiana said the plant — a $6 billion project by Shell Chemical — represents the largest investment in the state since World War II.

He said Barletta and Casey are too much alike.

“Lou Barletta has the same voting record as Casey,” Christiana said.

While it was Natali who announced that Turzai was suspending his gubernatorial campaign to focus his attention on issues in the Legislature, Turzai urged Republicans to go to the polls without mentioning his decision to end his campaign for the nomination to run against Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

“Wolf has to go. Casey’s got to go,” Turzai said.

He also criticized the state Supreme Court’s redrawing of the congressional district map, saying the map approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Corbett in 2011 was properly created.

“Two chambers, that’s how it works,” Turzai said.

He said the U.S. Constitution, not the Pennsylvania Constitution, gives districting power to the legislature.

Surrogates also spoke on behalf of some of candidates.

State Rep. Brian Ellis, R-11th, spoke for state Sen. Scott Wagner, R-28th, who is seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

Corbett’s wife, Susan, spoke in support of gubernatorial candidate Laura Ellsworth, the global philanthropy director of the Jones Day law firm in Pittsburgh.

Brandon Rumbaugh, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Fayette County who lost both legs in combat in Iraq, spoke on behalf of gubernatorial candidate Paul Mango, a Pittsburgh businessman.

Also in attendance at the Spirit of Lincoln dinner were Butler County commissioners Leslie Osche and Kim Geyer, Sheriff Mike Slupe, District Attorney Richard Goldinger, Controller Ben Holland and Register of Wills Sarah Edwards.

State Sens. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st, and Elder Vogel Jr., R-47th, and state Reps. Ted Nesbit R-8th, Jim Marshall, R-14th, and R. Lee James, R-64th were also present.