The Rest of the GOP Candidates

I'LL post 2 blogs entries today, one for Republican voters (below) and another for Democrat voters. Remember, you can find voter info at https://www.montcopa.org/753/Voter-Services.





REPUBLICAN US SENATE CANDIDATES

Jim Christiana has been a PA State Representative (Beaver County) since 2008, (since he was 25 years old). His issue statements (at https://jimchristiana.org/why-jim/) follow current GOP thinking in Congress, though he seems to have a poor understanding on some of the issues (for instance, his solution to the opioid crisis (his #3 issue) involves border agents, but opioids are more a domestic pharmaceutical and health problem). He also, with every issue, lists what he says Senator Casey is doing wrong (and sometimes what his GOP opponent is doing wrong), so I fact checked several of these. Most are gross exaggerations, bending of the truth, or outright lies.

Lou Barletta has served in the US House of Representatives since 2011. Before that he was mayor of Hazelton. His issue statements are at https://barletta.house.gov/issues. He lists his #1 issue as Defense, but it's really more about taking care of the soldiers. Most of his issues really say nothing (for instance, under energy, he doesn't say what types of energy he supports as long as it's made in PA, though there IS a photo of him beside a nuclear cooling tower). Under Gun Rights, he merely quotes the 2nd amendment, without saying what he thinks it means. He seems afraid to take sides on anything. But read his issues yourself and you can view his voting record at this link. Maybe you'll have better luck figuring out where he stands.

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Candidates for REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE

I tried to look up what the PA GOP State Committee actually does, but couldn't find no explanation in their own words. According to Wikipedia, a political party committee is an organization, officially affiliated with a political party and registered with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), which raises and spends money for political campaigning. So I'll go with that. I'm not going to look up every one of these candidates, but below is how you'll see them on the ballot. Google them yourself. My advice is to pick people who seem to represent you and your family and would support your best interests. You'll vote for no more than 19, up to 9 males and 9 females, plus one of either gender. None are from Norristown. You can, of course, vote for less than 19, or write in candidates.

ELECTION: Candidates for US Senate

Remember, the primary is next Tuesday, April 26th. Usually our primaries are in May and a lot of people I've talked to think it's still at least a couple weeks away. Please spread the word.

I can't stress enough how important this year's elections are, not simply because we're electing the president, but more importantly, because you'll be choosing nearly every person who'll represent you both in the US Congress and the PA State Legislature. If you're tired of Congress not doing ANYTHING, use your vote to change the personnel.

Candidates for most of these offices are running unopposed in each party, so I'll cover those in October before the general election. For US Senate, though, there are 4 contenders on the Democratic ticket.

Pat Toomey, the incumbent senator, is running unopposed on the Republican side. Frankly I wish the GOP had found someone to run against him. You can check out his voting record at this link. It's dismal ~ he voted against a law restricting access to explosives to people on the terrorist watch list. He's co-sponsored anti-immigrant legislation and he's pretty much in the fracking industry's pocket, despite contaminated drinking water found around fracking sites in southwestern and north central PA. If I were a Republican, I'd use my write-in vote for that office.

On the Democratic side, the choices are John Fetterman, Katie McGinty, Joe Sestak and Joseph J. Vodvarka.

John Fetterman is in his 3rd term as mayor of Braddock, PA (about 10 mi outside Pittsburgh, population 2150). Before that he was a community organizer and GED teacher (actually, I kind of like this guy, but I'd love to see him as a state or US rep first). His website is https://johnfetterman.com

Katie McGinty ~ Until last July, she served 6 months as Chief of Staff under Governor Tom Wolf. She was the PA Secretary of Environmental Protection from 2003-2008 and Chairperson of the Council of Environmental Quality in the Clinton White House from 1995-98. In between these posts, she worked for several clean energy businesses and also ran unsuccessfully in the primary for Governor of PA, finishing 4th behind McCord, Schwartz and Tom Wolf. She lives in Wayne and her website is http://katiemcginty.com/

Joe Sestak served in the US House of Representatives from 2007-2011 in PA's 7th District (a ridiculously gerrymandered patchwork of communities from Reading to the PA/DE border). He ran against Toomey before in 2010. Before running for public office, he was special assistant to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, and before that a 3-star admiral. He retired from the Navy when his daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer.  His website is http://joesestak.com/ and you can view his Congressional voting record at this link. 

Joseph Vodvarka is the owner of a small business called Ace Wire Spring & Form located right outside of Pittsburgh. He's never served in public office. The "principles" listed on his website in lieu of policy stances sound very Tea Partyish. http://www.joevodvarka.com/

I'm endorsing Sestak. He's the only one with legislative experience and he did a good job for his constituents when he was in Congress before.