Category: Election 2024

5 Dems Seek To Be Pennsylvania AG

5 Dems Seek To Be Pennsylvania AG

By Bob Small

Though there are five Democratic Candidates for Pennsylvania Attorney General, only Eugene Depasquale and Jack Stollsteimer have name recognition.  The others are Philadelphians Keir Bradford-Grey, Joe Khan and Jared Solomon.  None are endorsed by the state party.  If you like what Jack or Eugene has done, you can stop right here. If not, read on.

Keir Bradford-Grey would be the first Afro-American to be elected to this post.

She was head of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, and Chief Defender for Montgomery County. In Philadelphia, she led the Pre-Entry Initiative and Participatory Defense Hubs.

“I’m running to be the people’s lawyer, and that’s what the attorney general is in every other state other than Pennsylvania,” she said in a debate.

Boston-born, she went to Albany State University and Ohio Northern Pettit College of Law

Khan and Solomon are graduates of Swarthmore College, but that needn’t be held against them. Both now reside in Northeast Philly.

Khan is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School. Speaking of his upbringing;  “when my parents got together in the 70s, he was Muslim and my mom was Catholic, so they settled on a Jewish neighborhood as a place to raise their kids. “

He has been an assistant district attorney in Philly and assistant US Attorney for the Pa. Eastern District. He also spent three years as Bucks County Solicitor. He mentioned starting a “Housing Justice Unit”, among other plans.

According to Meet Joe Khan he plans to “enact a 67 County Strategy for Public Safety”

Jared Solomon, State Representative for the 202nd District, has worked in both private law and as a Jag Officer in the Army Reserves.

He also mentions the Colorado Method among other innovations.

He also believes that police officers should engage with the community, as they used to.

Below is the link for the latest debate between the five candidates FULL DEBATE: Democratic candidates for Pa. attorney general

My favorite fictional cowboy lawyer was The Big Valley ‘s Jarrod Barkley.

5 Dems Seek To Be Pennsylvania AG

5 Dems Seek To Be Pennsylvania AG

Delco Council Told Unauthorized Software On Voting Machines

Delco Council Told Unauthorized Software On Voting Machines — Delaware County (Pa) Council was told, last night, April 17, that there was unauthorized software on its Hart Verity Voting 2.7 voting system.

The software is MathNET Numerics Dll, said Robert Mancini of Upper Providence.

This is a dynamic link library for MathNET.Numerics and can be used for manipulating data, Mancini said.

He said it’s listed neither on the Pennsylvania Department of State certification of the system, nor thee U.S. Election Assistance Commission test report for Hart 2.7.

Mancinie said the machines must be immediately secured and that an investigation be conducted as to how the software appeared.

“This would include an inspection of the administrator logs due to the fact that software cannot be installed without administrator privileges and whenever the software is installed, that will show up on the administrator logs,” he said.

Secure build validation were performed on but nine of the county’s 428 precinct machines, Mancini said. These must now be done on every machine, he said.

He said a criminal complaint will be filed within two weeks against a public official in Delaware County.

His three minutes can be watched here starting at 1:08:56.

If we trusted the county, we’d chalk this up to something innocent.

As it is, this must be taken seriously and investigated.

What is the big secret with Fort Orange Press, anyway?

Delco Council Told Unauthorized Software On Voting Machines

7th District Wild Congressional Race

7th District Wild Congressional Race

By Bob Small

The 7th Congressional District was the bailiwick of such icons as Pat Meehan, Joe Sestak, and Curt Weldon and even a Mary Gay Scanlon before it became the District of Allentown’s Susan Wild. The shape of the District was described as “Goofy kicking Donald Duck”

Susan Wild became infamous recently for saying, with a later apology, that she was “dismayed” to have Trump-leaning Carbon County added to her District, which also includes Lehigh, Northampton, and a small parcel of Monroe counties.

Though she doesn’t have a Democratic opponent, there are three Republicans vying to take her on in November.

The primary election is April 23.

Maria Montero is bilingual and a first-generation American on her father’s side while her great-grandfather was a Carbon County coal miner.

She grew up in Carbon County.

She is a graduate of St. Joe’s and Widener Law. She has led the Pennsylvania Commission for Women and The Pennsylvania Latino Commission.

Kevin Dellicker with his wife, Susan, wrote Twenty-Percent Soldiers, Our Life in the National Guard

They are the co-founders of Dellicker Strategies Dellicker Strategies – Technology, Solutions, Services a technologies solution company.

He was an economic policy advisor to Tom Ridge and has degrees from Air University, Liberty, Penn State and Syracuse. His family, including three sons, live in Lehigh County. There are 22 issues on his platform.

Ryan Mackenzie is the State Representative for the 187th District.

He is a descendant of a Northampton County Militia soldier in the Revolutionary War.

He is a graduate of NYU and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

He wants to prohibit congresspeople from trading stocks based on insider information. He also wants term limits.

As a state rep, has voted to eliminate state cars for legislators and for curriculum transparency in K-12 schools.

He lives with his wife, Chloe, and their rescue hound dog, Ruckus, in Lower Macungie Township.

7th District Wild Congressional Race

Republican Battle In District 1

Republican Battle In District 1

By Bob Small

Pennsylvania Congressional District 1’s Republican primary, April 23, features a real contrast between incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick, who has held a seat since 2107, and his challenger Mark Houck.

This District was the 8th District during Fitzpatrick’s first term and then became the 1st due to a court-ordered redistricting.

Houck and Fitzpatrick share a connection with the FBI. Fitzpatrick is a former FBI agent and Houck was arrested by the FBI.

Houck’s arrest stems from an incident outside The Philadelphia Planned Parenthood Clinic on Oct. 13, 2021.

Abortion activist Bruce Love claimed Houck assaulted him.

The Biden Administration filed charges against Houck — which not even Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner was willing to do — and Houck was arrested the early morning of Sept. 23, 2022 by a large contingent of feds in body armor and carrying assault rifles at his rural Bucks County home.

The FBI’s official statement back peddles the bullying, of course.

“No SWAT Team or SWAT operators were involved,” they say. “FBI agents knocked on Mr. Houck’s front door, identified themselves as FBI agents, and asked him to exit the residence. He did so and was taken into custody without incident pursuant to an indictment,”

Houck was tried and declared not guilty, Jan. 30, 2023. The jury took just one hour.

Houck is a co-founder and president of The King’s Men

He has been with the Pro-Life movement for many years. He has a BA from Catholic University in Human Resource Management and a Masters in Education from Holy Family University.

In Houck for Congress, he quotes James Madison “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government are few and defined”. He also wants to defund the Department of Education,

Houck is negotiating a debate with Fitzpatrick as part of the Eagle’s Forum at The Fuge in Warminster on Sunday, April 14.

Republican Battle In District 1
Mark Houck at a meet and greet in Doylestown

Candidates Met At Gatsby’s

Candidates met at Gatsby’s

Candidates met at Gatsby's.

Republican candidates attending United4Delco’s meet the candidates night, last night, April 4, at Gatsby’s Bar and Grill in Aston included Kathy Buckley, 168 District Pennsylvania House race; Mike Woodin, 9th District State Senate race; Gabby Mendez, 162th District House race; Kay Dugary, 166th District House Race and John Mancinelli, the 161st District House seat. Also attending was Alfe Goodwin, who is seeking the nomination for the 5th Congressional District race.

Pennsylvania GOP AG Race 2024

Pennsylvania GOP AG Race 2024

By Bob Small

The first fact to know is that there has not been a GOP in the Pennsylvania attorney general’s chair since 2008.

Since incumbent Democrat Michelle Henry is not running, we will not have an incumbency effect.

Two are on the ballot for the April 23 primary to be the Republican nominee.

Party endorsed is Dave W. Sunday, Jr.

Maybe his slogan can be Vote Sunday on Tuesday.

His opponent is Craig Williams.

Sunday of York is a US Navy Veteran and a graduate of Penn State and Widener University Law School. He is the York County district attorney and among his accomplishments are  Operation Sunrise, a large-scale multi-jurisdictional that led to the arrest and prosecution of over 100 members and affiliates of the Latin Kings which was a violent criminal gang operating in York County. His office also co-chairs   HOME | YCRC, the York County Reentry Coalition, seeking to help returning people who have been incarcerated.

Sunday has worked with the York County coroner to begin what became the York County Opioid Collaborative, which works to increase access to treatment.

Through this, he equipped all police with the overdose reversal medicine naloxone.

He also countermanded Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders to cite businesses staying open during Covid.

Sunday issued a similar mandate not to prosecute citations related to Wolf’s 2021 order requiring masking in schools. “

He lives with his wife and son in Spring Garden in York County.

Alabama-born Craig Williams graduated from Duke University, The Levin College of Law (University of Florida) and Columbia Law School. He is a USMC veteran of 28 years who reached the rank of colonel. Williams flew 56 combat missions during the Gulf War and served as chief prosecutor at Camp Pendleton, He was elected in 2020 to the PA House, representing District 160 which consists of parts of Chester and Delaware counties.

Williams, 58, helped lead the charge to impeach Philly DA Larry Krasner

He’s also remembered as losing by 20 points to Joe Sestak in a 2008 US Congress race.

He lives with his wife and four children.

To see the PA GOP Attorney General debate go to YouTube PA Attorney General Republican Debate – YouTube

The Democrats have five candidates int the AG primary. This requires a separate post.

Stay tuned.

Maybe.

Pennsylvania GOP AG Race 2024

Pennsylvania GOP AG Race 2024

United4Delco Candidates Night At Gatsby’s

United4Delco Candidates Night At Gatsby’s — United4Delco will host a candidates night for those running in the April 23 primary election at Gatsby’s Bar and Grill, 4936 Pennell Road, Aston, Pa 19014.

Attending will be candidates for Congress, the Pennsylvania House and Senate and delegates to the GOP convention.

The event is free but please order a a cold drink for one of the many delicious menu items.

United4Delco Candidates Night At Gatsby's

No Choice In Pennsylvania Primaries For US Senate

No Choice In Pennsylvania Primaries For US Senate

By Bob Small

When one first viewed the dueling slates of candidates for the Pennsylvania US senate seat, there were two Democrats and three Republicans listed, enough to have an interesting Primary.

The incumbent, Bob Casey, Jr. is still remembered by many alternative party adherents for forcing Green Party candidate Carol Romanelli off the ballot in 2006 and, at one point, he was ordered to pay $100,000 in court costs, later appealed.

On March 4, Democrat William Parker was ordered off the ballot for insufficient signatures.

Thus the Democrats have again protected Bob Casey, Jr. from a meaningful debate before the Primary.

Dave McCormick is again running for the US Senate, two years after losing to Doctor Oz, for the right to face John Fetterman.

This year, they were not taking chances of a loss again.

McCormick was endorsed by the state party in September.

It is believed to be the first time the state party has endorsed a candidate for an election more than a year away.

Brandi Tomasetti, of Lancaster County ended her campaign against McCormick, March 8, with a court challenge pending regarding her nominating petitions.

“We will never surrender the country. We lost a battle but we will win the war,” she said. She asked voters to write in her name.

On March 11, Commonwealth Court ordered Joseph Vodvarka of Clinton be struck from the GOP ballot leaving McCormick uncontested.

To see his campaign site, go to Joseph Vodvarka for Senate! while it’s still up there. Actually, we just checked, it’s no longer up there.

So the primary race is pointless for U.S. Senate.

Ved Dookhun, of the Socialist Workers Party is the only third party candidate so far who will be on the ballot.

One expects that, at the very least, that the Pennsylvania chapters of the Constitution Party, the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and maybe even the No Labels Party, will run candidates.

Of course, the chance of any of these candidates winning is, as they say “slim and none and slim just left town.”

No Choice In Pennsylvania Primaries For US Senate

No Choice In Pennsylvania Primaries For US Senate

Pennsylvania AG Debate Tonight

Pennsylvania AG Debate Tonight — Nexstar Media will host a one-hour debate, tonight, March 14, between Republican primary Pennsylvania attorney general candidates Dave Sunday and Craig Williams.

It starts at 7 and can seen on WPHL Channel 17 in the Philadelphia area.

Moderator will be WHTM abc27 News anchor Dennis Owens. 

The election is April 23.

Pennsylvania AG Debate Tonight

Free And Equal Presidential Debate

Free And Equal Presidential Debate

By Bob Small

The second 2024 Free and Equal Debate happened on Thursday, Feb 29.

The moderators were Christina Tobin and Jason Palmer who was a Democratic presidential candidate included in the last Forum.

The participants were the Green Party’s Jasmine Sherman and Jill Stein, the Libertarian Party’s Lap Mapstead and Chase Oliver, and the Socialist Party’s Claudia De La Cruz.

A video of the event can be seen on Rumble and You Tube.

Chase Oliver was the candidate who impressed me the most, although the others had their moments.

Oliver received 80,000 votes in the 2022 Georgia Senate race.

He is platform includes returning to an Ellis Island style of processing immigrants and ending qualified immunity for federal law enforcement. He also wants to abolish the death penalty.

He also wants to abolish the FISA amendments act of 2008, the Patriot Act, and end the TSA.

Oliver also seeks to return America to being a republic rather than an empire. He wants to close all overseas bases and immediately return active-duty personnel to domestic bases. He wants to end aid to nation currently at war.

He wants to abolish the Department of Education and supports gun rights for all.

He’s probably too smart to ever be elected President.

Both Adlai Stevenson (Princeton) and Michael Dukakis (Swarthmore) were defeated rather handily.

Because of that, he also won’t be our first Gay President.

Free And Equal Presidential Debate