News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
Lisa Esler, the Penn Delco school director who is running for the vacated 161st District seat in the Pennsylvania House, will be interviewed 11 a.m., today on the Dom Giordano Show on WPHT.
Dom can be found at 1210 on the AM band or here online.
The election is Aug. 4.
Yesterday, union boss John Kane expressed outrage about this photo we ran showing the signs on his lawn for the Republican-endorsed candidate in the Aug. 4 special election for the vacated 161st State House seat.
Kane is the business manager of Plumbers Union Local 690 and was the Democrat candidate for the 26th District State Senate seat last fall.
He was singing a markedly different tune about “privacy” and protecting children a year ago when a law was being debated that would do exactly that.
The bill, HB 1154 of 2013, would have prohibited union members from “harassment, stalking and threat to use weapons of mass destruction” activities now actually allowed by union members if it is part of a job action.
The bill was submitted after a female Post Bros. executive named Sarina Rose could not get a judge to stop union members from following her into restaurants and TAKING PICTURES OF HER CHILDREN AT THEIR SCHOOL BUS STOP.
In March 2014, Kane called this kind of crap “an essential right”.
HB 1154 died after it was gutted in the State Senate due to union lobbying.
The man the Republican Party picked to fill the 161st seat is cut from the same cloth as Kane.
Fortunately, there is a choice in the race as Penn Delco School Director Lisa Esler is running a write-in campaign and has a very good chance of winning.
John Kane, the Democrat who ran a vicious campaign last fall for the 26th District State Senate Seat ultimately won by Republican Tom McGarrigle, has taken a position regarding the Aug. 4 special election for the 161st District Pennsylvania House Seat.
He is supporting the Republican nominee Paul Mullen as per the signs outside his home on Villanova Circle in Swarthmore.
Kane remains a D.
Now, why would a Democrat who ran on extreme liberal positions nine months ago now support the man the Republican Party picked to fill a vacated State House seat?
Has John Kane changed his thinking? Hardly. He does, however, appear confident that the GOP candidate supports those same extreme liberal positions and will keep the gravy flowing to benefit the special interests of which he is part.
Wonder how the official Democrat who worked so hard for Kane feels.
Anyway, the traditional Republican voter has a choice as do those Democrats who see their standard of living dropping and their fear of the future rising.
Penn Delco School Director Lisa Esler is running a vigorous write-in campaign that is getting much traction.
Lisa’s reasons for running can be found in this “dear neighbor” letter:
Dear Neighbor,
My name is Lisa Esler and I am the WRITE-IN candidate for State Representative in the special election that will be held on August 4th. I am a wife, mother, grandmother, certified optician, and a school board director. Why am I doing this? Because in my role as a school board director, I have seen how Harrisburg has become tainted with special interest groups and lobbyists, leaving the taxpayer without representation.
If elected, I will be a Representative who speaks for the people in this district – not for the special interest groups with deep pockets who use money and power to stifle any meaningful reforms. As your voice, I will push hard for common sense solutions for the problems we face. For example, we have a looming pension crisis that drives your property taxes up every year and will cost taxpayers dearly for years to come. I want to join with the other like-minded legislators to work toward fixing that broken system.
I am not a career politician and do not intend to become one. I am not seeking this office to become wealthy on the backs of the taxpayers. If elected, I pledge not to take part in the pension system that is bankrupting you and our Commonwealth.
People have lost faith in their leaders and in the system. I hope I can restore some of that faith. You see my integrity and reputation mean a lot more to me than any political office.
Remember, I am not “endorsed” and therefore my name is not on the ballot. That is why I am asking you to WRITE-IN my name on the ballot. “How-To instructions” will be available at the polls on Election Day, Tuesday, August 4th.
I would be honored to have your support and your vote on August 4th.
If you have any questions or would like to help with my campaign, please call me at 484-995-1540.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Lisa Esler
Candidate for the 161st State House Seat
Paid for by Taxpayers for Lisa Esler
DONATE: Lisa Esler, 14 Pancoast Avenue, Aston, PA 19014
Make checks payable to Taxpayers for Lisa Esler.
For legal purposes, please include a separate piece of paper indicating your name, occupation and phone number.
VOLUNTEERS CONTACT: Regina phone by phone at 610-328-2463 or email her at reginamsch@verizon
We were with Lisa Esler as she went door-to-door, today, July 3, in her campaign to replace Joe Hackett as the representative for the 161st District in the Pennsylvania Legislature.
The response was extremely positive.
Delaware County Republican Chairman Andy Reilly appeared on the Dom Giordano show, Monday, (June 15) to defend the man the GOP picked to fill the vacant 161st District Seat in the Pennsylvania House.
Why the candidate himself couldn’t appear is certainly a point of wonder especially as Andy couldn’t answer questions about where the candidate stood.
The candidate is Paul Mullen, who is business manager of IBEW Local 654 and until very recently was president of the county AFL-CIO. Mullen was a personal supporter of Joe Sestak, Toomey’s opponent, five years ago.
This is what Mullen said in 2010 about Sestak: A lot of politicians say they’ll support you when they run, then they turn their backs on you. Joe’s the opposite. He stands tall with the IBEW. Members here—they know Joe. He’s been to the hall several times and he’s toured our training facility. He’s definitely one of us.
Will Mullen support Toomey this time? Andy replied “I’ll bet you a steak dinner at a restaurant of your choosing that he will”.
Um, that’s not a yes.
Will Mullen support liquor privatization?
Andy: “I believe he does . . . it depends on how you define (privatization). What does that mean?”
One glaring issue that reveals why many of the loyal party workers are getting disgusted with the bosses is the claim that Mullen was picked by the grassroots.
“There is some kind of suggestion that the process of the endorsement of Paul Mullen was undemocratic,” Andy, who counts IBEW. Local 654 as among his law clients, told Dom. “The decision was made by the elected Republican committeepeople, one man and one woman from the neighborhoods in the district. Both candidates were provided with a list of committeepeople and addresses. They each sent a letter to the committeepeople along with their resume. We held a forum whereby both candidates were able to give their speeches, and then we handed a secret ballot, and both candidates were there to witness the tabulation. This wasn’t a decision made by the party bosses. This was a rank and file election by committeepeople.”
The forum and election tabulation was held 7 p.m., May 28 at Barnaby’s Heritage Ballroom in Ridley.
The results had been announced an hour earlier on Facebook.
The interview is 12:27 long and can be found here in Dom’s archives from June 15.
The 161st District seat was vacated by newly re-elected Rep. Joe Hackett, a Republican, on April 30. The election is Aug. 4.
Lisa Esler, the Pat Tooomey-supporting Republican, who went door-to-door for our Senator and made phone calls for him in 2010 and stayed up nervously watching returns and is going to happily support his re-election, is also seeking election to the seat.
She is more than willing to personally take questions from Dom on the air.
Mrs. Esler won election to the Penn Delco School in 2011 and developed a reputation for tackling the corruption and cronyism prevalent in state politics.
In this year’s May 19 primary election, Mrs. Esler was the top vote-getter on both Republican and Democrat ballots to retain her seat.
She is running as a write-in candidate, something the new machines make easy to do.
The non-GOP supported Democrat in the race is Leanne Krueger-Braneky of Swarthmore who lost to Hackett last fall.
While all eyes are riveted on the looming state budget deadline in Harrisburg, the political story of the summer is now playing out in Delaware County where a special election for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives has become the latest flashpoint in the ongoing internal GOP battle between union-leaning southeastern Republicans and the party’s pro-worker freedom grassroots.
The drama began to unfold when state Rep. Joe Hackett, R-161 of Ridley Township, resigned at the end of April. Despite having been re-elected just months earlier, Hackett decided he wanted to return to his old career in law enforcement. That set the stage for a special election which will be held on Aug. 4. Nominees in legislative special elections are chosen by the respective political parties rather than by voters in a primary. Thus, a candidate not selected by committee members has no recourse other than to run a write-in campaign. Such write-in campaigns had previously proven to be fruitless, until state Sen. Scott Wagner scored a historic write-in victory in a special election in York County last year.
The Delaware County Republican committee members participating in the selection of a nominee for Hackett’s 161st district seat chose a candidate who has riled grassroots conservatives across the commonwealth. They picked as their candidate Paul Mullen, who is president of the Delaware County AFL-CIO and business manager of IBEW Local 654. In doing so, the committee passed over Lisa Esler, a local school board member and co-founder of the Delaware County Tea Party Patriots.
As a labor union boss, Mullen can be expected to oppose most of the pro-worker freedom agenda being advanced by the Republican-controlled Legislature in Harrisburg. Pension reform, liquor privatization and paycheck protection are but three important issues that enjoy widespread support among the GOP grassroots and in the Republican caucuses in the Legislature. Progress on all three of these reforms has been blocked by the labor unions. Worse, Mullen supported Democrats Barack Obama, Joe Sestak against U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, and Tom Wolf over Gov. Tom Corbett, making his selection by the GOP even more curious.
The Mullen pick lit a power keg of fury among conservatives. Esler has stepped forward and will challenge the union boss in the upcoming special election by running a write-in campaign. Her efforts should be taken seriously for two reasons: The Wagner win proves it can be done; and the district is almost evenly divided by party registration meaning this is more than just a GOP intramural competition.
Sen. Wagner’s election has changed the political landscape in a number of ways. Most notably party domination of special elections is now a thing of the past. With active and highly effective conservative groups now operating in the state, a write-in candidate such as Esler now has access to funding, consultants and grassroots workers previously unavailable to such challengers.
The Wagner write-in victory in York County, the first time in state history a write-in candidate won a special Senate election, proved the playing field has been leveled. Wagner was well funded, had substantial grassroots support from the local tea party and benefitted from a voter backlash over the high-handed campaign run by those supporting the party’s nominee.
All of those factors are at play in the Delaware County race. In what will be a low turn-out election in a small geographic district, Esler will be a force with which to be reckoned. The outcome will have no impact on party control of the Legislature. The GOP has a historically large majority, but it will impact the GOP caucus. A small group of southeastern Pennsylvania Republican representatives, out of step with a majority of their caucus, have sided with Democrats on labor power issues. Those looking to enhance worker freedom in the state will be anxious to prevent another member from being added to their number.
And that is how what should have been a routine, sleepy special election in the dead of summer could turn out to be the political battle of the year.
Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal.
In a passionate, heartfelt speech beneath dreary skies before a crowd of 40 at the steps of the Delaware County Courthouse, Lisa Esler explained, this morning, June 15, why she entered the race for the 161st District Pennsylvania House seat.
The seat is open because just-elected Republican incumbent Joe Hackett stepped down April 30 saying he wanted to return to law enforcement.
The Delaware County GOP to the puzzlement of many picked county AFL-CIO boss Paul Mullen as their candidate to replace him. Mullen had been a strident supporter of Democrats over the last several election cycles, even to the point of serving as a muscleman enforcer.
Mullen’s only foray into public service was a stint on the Penn Delco School Board in the mid-oughts, which, like Hackett, he quit soon after his appointment.
Mrs. Esler, an Aston resident, described herself as a wife, mother, grandmother, certified optician, and a member of the Penn Delco School Board.
And a Republican.
She said she is running to give the district’s voters a choice.
“I am challenging the Delco GOP’s candidate because in my role as a school board director, I have seen how Harrisburg is tainted by special interest lobbyists. As head of the AFL-CIO in Delaware County and the business manager for the IBEW, Mr. Mullen is the poster child for special interests,” she said. “Further, Mr. Mullen has supported liberal Democrats in the last two major election cycles — under his leadership, his union supported Barack Obama and Bob Casey; and Mr. Mullen personally supported Joe Sestak and John Kane. That the Delco GOP machine would favor a man who is, for all intents and purposes a Democrat, is a slap in the face to every Republican in Delaware County.”
She noted that Mullen was picked before the ostensible committee-person vetting process. While taking questions after her prepared statement, she said that a GOP Facebook post announced that Mullen was the candidate an hour before the official selection meeting started May 28.
Mrs. Esler will be running a write-in campaign which, with the new voting machines, is no longer tilting at windmills. The Democrat candidates for Delaware County Council got on the ballot this year via a write-in campaign and Scott Wagner won a write in campaign in a special election last year to take the 28th District State Senate seat.
The official Democrat in the race is Leanne Krueger-Braneky of Swarthmore who lost to Hackett last fall by 2,696 votes.
Mrs. Esler said the district needs someone who will fight for the taxpayers and that there are many cost saving measures that could be implemented without loss of services but are kept from doing so by the political class.
“I am not and do not intend to become a career politician,” she said, and specifically pledged not to take a pension.
“I pledge to the people in the 161st District that I will not burden them by taking part in the pension system that makes our legislators wealthy and is bankrupting our Commonwealth.”
She said people were needed to stand up to the lobbyists and the party machines and to work for the taxpayer.
“I will work for you and not be beholden to any special interest group, lobbyist or political party. I am in this race to win and hope the people of the 161st will give me the opportunity to go to Harrisburg and work for them,” she said.
The 161st District is the townships of Aston, Nether Providence, Ridley (PART, Wards 01 [PART, Division 03], 02 [PART, Divisions 01 and 03], 03, 05, 07 and 08) and Springfield (PART, Ward 03 [PART, Division 02 (HD161)]) and the boroughs of Brookhaven, Rose Valley, Rutledge and Swarthmore. Total population: 63,539
Leanne Krueger-Braneky will be the official Democrat in the 161st District special election to fill the Pennsylvania State House seat vacated April 30 by Republican Joe Hackett.
Hackett quit the legislature saying he wanted to return to law enforcement.
The election is Aug. 4.
She will face Lisa Esler, a popular Penn Delco School Board member who is running a write-in campaign, and Delaware County AFL-CIO President Paul Mullen who the county Republican leaders placed on the R side of the ballot.
Mullen has been a strong campaigner for Democrats in recent state and national elections.
Ms. Krueger-Braneky, a Swarthmore resident, lost to Hackett last fall by 2,696 votes.
There will be opposition to the Joe Sestak-supporting union president picked by the Delaware County Republican Party to fill the 161st District State House seat being vacated by Joe Hackett.
Lisa Esler, a Penn Delco school board member and Republican, will hold a press conference 10 a.m., Monday, June 15, at the Delaware County Court House, 201 W. Front St. , Media, Pa., 19063, to announce a write-in campaign.
“I am challenging the Delco GOP’s candidate because in my role as school board director, I have seen how Harrisburg is tainted by special interest lobbyists,” Mrs. Esler said. “As the head of the AFL-CIO in Delaware County and the business manager for the IBEW, (Paul) Mullen is the poster child for special interests. Further, Mr. Mullen has supported liberal Democrats in the last two major election cycles—his union supported Barack Obama and Bob Casey and Mr. Mullen personally supported Joe Sestak and John Kane. That the Delco GOP machine would favor a man who is, for all intents and purposes a Democrat, is a slap in the face to every Republican in Delaware County.”
Hackett quit his legislative post, April 30, after easily winning re-election last fall saying he wanted to return to law enforcement. Mullen, ironically, was a Penn Delco School Director in 2007 before also quitting, suddenly and mysteriously, well before the end of his term.
“Harrisburg needs legislators who will fight for the taxpayers—not the special interests,” Mrs. Esler said. ” There are many cost saving measures that could be implemented. We need people who are willing to stand up to the lobbyists and the party machines and work for the taxpayer. That is my pledge to the residents of the 161st district—I will work for you. I am in this race to win and hope the people of the 161st will give me the opportunity to go to Harrisburg and work for them.”
A non-GOP-endorsed Democrat candidate is expected to be announced by the end of the week.
The election is Aug. 4.
The guy the Delaware County Republicans picked in the 161st District Pennsylvania House race was the hatchetman used against unruly union members supporting Republican Tom McGarrigle in last fall’s 26th District State Senate race, according to stories from September.
Andrea Devenney appeared in an advertisement praising McGarrigle for saving her husband’s refinery job. Soon after, Mrs. Devenney’s husband, Steve, a union electrician, was approached by Paul Mullen who allegedly told him something along the lines of get the little lady in line or your job is toast.
Mullen is the one the Republicans want in in the 161st Seat that is being vacated by Republican Joe Hackett.
Mullen admitted to making a call but said he was just offering Steve a job. Mullen is Business Manager of IBEW Local 654 and president of the Delaware County AFL-CIO
Mrs. Devenney, however, says Mullen made the call on behalf of John Kane, the Democrat opposing McGarrigle as she quickly texted the McGarrigle campaign in disgust saying ‘So John Kain(sp?) called paul mullin flipping out over the commercial. Steve is in serious trouble and his job may be on the line. I’m in a horrible spot….how long will that commercial run?’”
Mullen was (is?) a strong supporter of liberal Democrat Joe Sestak in 2010 against moderate Republican Pat Toomey. Has the county GOP asked him what he will do if the expected rematch happens in 2016? Suppose if Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is the presidential nominee. Can a guy who ran the county AFL-CIO support him? Of course not. There is no upside to Mullen as a Republican legislator.
Hackett is vacating the seat saying he wants to return to law enforcement. The special election is Aug. 4. The Democrats have not yet announced a candidate albeit there is no real reason why they should bother. A write-in campaign is being considered by Penn Delco School Board Director Lisa Esler.
The 161st District is the townships of Aston, Nether Providence, Ridley (PART, Wards 01 [PART, Division 03], 02 [PART, Divisions 01 and 03], 03, 05, 07 and 08) and Springfield (PART, Ward 03 [PART, Division 02 (HD161)]) and the boroughs of Brookhaven, Rose Valley, Rutledge and Swarthmore. It was a population of 63,539.
Americans have to learn to stop making politics a contest between which side gets to milk the public cow for two or four years. We have to learn to look at issues. In Pennsylvania, the biggest issue is the pension bomb caused by the malfeasance of men and women we elected to watch the public purse and our foolishness in trusting them. SB 1, a small but necessary step in alleviating future pain, is on the table. The unions are outspokenly against it. Where does Mullen stand? LOL.
In Springfield — this is for you people in Ward 3, Division 2 — a $130 million new high school is being sought. Repealing the state prevailing wage law would likely shave millions off the cost — 20 percent according to one respected source. Would Mullen support it? Again LOL.
If you, the retiree, the guy that’s out of work, the mom with three kids, the one who owns a pizza shop or works 9-5 to make ends meet want to see your standard of living stop shrinking, then don’t vote for guys like Mullen.