In the redrawn 55th District, voters in the Nov. 8 midterm election will choose between a longtime Republican political organizer and a Democratic candidate who earned a spot on the ballot through a write-in campaign.
Scott Gauss, a retired human resources director for Boeing, will go up against former Westmoreland County Republican Committee chair Jill Cooper. Cooper beat incumbent Jason Silvis and another Republican challenger in the primary, while Gauss garnered enough write-in votes to secure a spot. Both live in Murrysville.
“I wanted to get involved and try to really make a change and a difference,” Cooper said. “I think we can do better as a legislator: be more effective and more efficient.”
Gauss, a 30-year Pennsylvania resident who moved to Murrysville in 2019, said he was surprised to receive his primary ballot and find no Democrats running for the 55th District seat in a county where 39% of voters are registered Democrats.
“I thought we needed to step forward and give people a choice,” Gauss said. “I was also seeing primary ads with Republicans talking about rolling back voting rights and doing away with mail-in ballots, which I thought was outrageous.
“Then we had the Roe vs. Wade (Supreme Court) decision, which was a big rollback for women’s rights, and I thought someone at least needed to get out there and talk about these issues.”
For Cooper, who said she has knocked on more than 9,500 doors and plans to hit the 10,000 mark before Election Day, the top issue she’s heard about from voters is the economy.
“We need to do better and help people, and work to keep inflation and taxes down,” Cooper said. “We need to expand what we do with energy and give people some relief in what they see on their grocery bills and gas bills.”
Cooper said at the state level, legislators could work to reduce spending, “look at alternative ways to reduce the gas tax and promote businesses and growth.”
Gauss said the state’s most important issue is “not being run by people who are following in Donald Trump’s footsteps.”
“People who don’t fall in line with him, even people with traditionally Republican values, seem to get tossed to the side,” Gauss said. “Additionally, Pennsylvania is losing population, and that’s hurting us — it’s giving us less clout, politically, it makes investment in the state harder. I think we need to give young people who live here good reasons to stay, and give young people outside Pennsylvania reasons to move here.”
Locally, Cooper said she would like to see the state do more for small businesses that have struggled to rebound from the covid-19 pandemic.
“Now they have inflation on top of that,” she said. “We really just have to fight for a pro-growth, pro-economic agenda to help keep these businesses open, meet payroll and allow workers to supply their families with what they need.”
Gauss said state officials need to focus on the infrastructure in Pennsylvania’s small towns.
“We need more investment in things like aging waterlines, and that requires help from the state,” Gauss said. “Smaller towns need help with big projects like water and sewage.”
Cooper said voters should choose her because she has heard their concerns and wants to address them.
“I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, Republican or independent, I want to hear what’s important to you,” she said. “I’m a tenacious problem-solver.”
Gauss said he’s a moderate voice with nuanced position, which he said is sorely lacking in the state Legislature.
“I certainly don’t advocate for third-trimester abortion, but I don’t think we should get rid of it altogether,” he said. “I have no problem with people owning guns and rifles, but I think something like an AR-15 is much more geared toward the military than the everyday citizen. And I think that moderate voice is something people need to hear in Harrisburg.”
The biggest redistricting-related change in Westmoreland was the radical move of the 54th District, which was shifted from Murrysville across the state and into Montgomery County.
Murrysville then became part of the 55th District, which has shifted north and west.
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .
https://ift.tt/zqmoV51
2022-10-23 09:30:00Z
CBMiamh0dHBzOi8vdHJpYmxpdmUuY29tL2xvY2FsL3dlc3Rtb3JlbGFuZC9wb2xpdGljYWwtb3JnYW5pemVyLXdyaXRlLWluLWNhbmRpZGF0ZS12aWUtZm9yLTU1dGgtZGlzdHJpY3Qtc2VhdC_SAQA
0 Commentaires