HARRISBURG — More than a dozen Republican candidates for governor appeared on stage together for the first time, in a question-and-answer session Wednesday sponsored by conservative groups and a statewide business association that inspired agreement and not debate.

The questions — such as how would you to reverse brain drain or how would you manage the pandemic differently than Gov. Tom Wolf — inspired pledges to cut taxes and regulations, promises to respect liberty and bitter recriminations over shuttering businesses.

Thirteen candidates showed up to the evening event at Dickinson College in Carlisle to answer questions from representatives of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry and conservative website Broad and Liberty.

Candidates each received one minute to answer a question, with no time built in for rebuttals or responses.

A question about protecting the energy industry brought criticism of the centerpiece of Wolf’s strategy to fight climate change, a plan that would impose a price on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

It also brought pledges to expand drilling in what is already the nation’s No. 2 natural gas state. Jason Richey, a Pittsburgh-based lawyer, said he would push to develop liquefication plants to help export the state’s natural gas.

Guy Ciarrocchi, the former CEO of the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry, said the state is “duty bound” to extract as much natural gas it can to help the nation, as well as attract downstream businesses that use it.

Some of the candidates stressed their small-business credentials. Several noted that they had been shut down by Wolf’s orders during the pandemic. One, restaurateur Shawn Berger, said he had refused to close his restaurant.

One candidate, former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, declined to attend, saying he will not participate in forums or debates — other than a Feb. 4 event sponsored by the state Republican Party — until candidates have qualified to be on the ballot.

The deadline to file ballot paperwork is March 8. The primary election is May 17.

The huge and wide-open GOP field is unlike anything party officials have seen in at least decades, as the party searches for a nominee to potentially succeed outgoing Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat.

And the Republican field is still growing.

Former Pittsburgh-area U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart formally announced her candidacy Wednesday, becoming the only woman in the GOP field. State Sen. Doug Mastriano of Franklin County is expected to formally announce his candidacy Saturday.

None have run statewide before, except for Barletta, who was the party’s 2018 nominee for U.S. Senate when he unsuccessfully challenged the reelection bid of Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.

The presumed Democratic nominee is Josh Shapiro, the state’s two-term attorney general.

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