Category: Bob Small

6 On Ballot For PA AG

By Bob Small

There are six appearing on this year’s ballot for Pennsylvania Attorney General, but the incumbent, Michelle Henry, isn’t among them.

The Democrat candidate is Eugene De Pasquale and the Republican is Dave Sunday. 

There are, however, four alternative party candidates.

The Constitution Party candidate is Justin L. McGill. He received his Juris Doctorate from Roger Williams School of Law (RI). He is an Armyveteran. In his interview with the Committee of Seventy Justin Magill, he said the Attorney General has a responsibilityin “ Having the proper understanding of the role of government is critical to advising other officials on their roles” and to protect them from both state and us government overreach.

He believes in the right to bear arms. On abortion, he says “To terminate an innocent human being without due process of law is to commit murder and should be punished accordingly by government. “ For his many other positions, see the above article.

The Forward Pary is putting forward Eric Settle. He was a founder of Republicans for Josh Shapiro and is a governing board member of the Early Head Start Program of CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia).. He received his J. D. ( with Honors) from George Washington Law School. He has been married for almost 40 years to his wife, Robin and they have two adult sons. See also The Forward Party’s Eric Settle.

The Green Party Candidate is Richard L Weiss.  His J. D. is from the University of Denver. He was a Ford Foundation fellow in Public International Law at Washington D.C.’s  American University. His MBA is from the University of Chicago. Among his many opinions are this one on policing: All training and equipment should be devoted to taking suspects alive, and a death considered a failure’

See also Richard Weiss Candidate for PA Attorney Gener

The Libertarian candidate is Rob Cowbur.

Cowburn chairs the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. He says on his website that he is a staunch advocate for attracting and retaining businesses.

“I’ve witnessed firsthand how state and federal regulatory overreach has stifled American industry,” he says.

See also On the Issues: Robert Cowburn

6 On Ballot For PA AG

Decision Time In The 165th

By Bob Small

Pennsylvania House District 165 is Springfield; Upper Providence; the 5th, 6th, 7th wards and the 2nd Division of the 4th Ward of Marple; and the boroughs of Media, Morton and Swarthmore.

Incumbent representative is Democrat Jennifer O’Mara of Springfield. She has Master’s Degrees in English and History from the University of Pennsylvania and degrees from West Chester University.

Before joining the State Legislature, she worked for seven years at the University of Pennsylvania as the assistant director of University Stewardship. She is on numerous House Caucus group and co-chairs the Taiwan Caucus.

She is married to Bradford and they have a rescue dog Ladybug.

Liz Piazza is CEO of Piazza Property Pros, Inc. She has been a committeeperson for Media and Upper Providence.

“I want to be a representative like our region had before, such as Reps. Bill Adolph, Chris Quinn and Alex Charlton, and bring back bipartisan problem solving to help fix the gridlock in Harrisburg,”she says.

After graduating from high school, she worked in the insurance sector, while being a single mom raising three children in Upper Providence.

She earned a Widener University bachelor degree in paralegal studies. This led to her two decade career with the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Family Law Division. She also has been an adjunct professor for seven years, at Delaware County Community College.

On the thorny issue of abortion, Ms. Piazza is a moderate.

” In 2022, there were over 34,000 abortions performed in Pennsylvania, practical compassionate people, whether pro-life or pro-choice should be able to agree we should be doing more to help women grappling with this decision,” she said. “We should be looking for ways to reduce the number of abortions through increased preventative care.”

Ms. O’Mara apparently believes abortion should be allowed for any reason at any time, and tax-funded as well.

Ms. Piazza says the best piece of Legislation passed in the last four years was Act 1 of 2023 which eliminated all costs associated with breast MRIs, ultrasounds, genetic testing and counseling for high-risk individuals insured in Pennsylvania.

Lastly, we should mention her dachshund puppy, Baxter.

Decision Time In The 165th

Kathryn Buckley Wants Sane Immigration; Good Jobs For All

By Bob Small

Pennsylvania’s 168^th State House District is Edgmont, Newtown, and Radnor and the 3rd and 4th districts of Middletown along with the 3rd Division of the 2nd Distrct.

Lisa Borowski (D) has held the seat since 2022 and is the first female to hold it. Republicans Tom Killion and Matthew J. Ryan had held this seat for almost 50 years,

Ms. Borowski began her political career in 2011 with election to the Radnor School Board then moved on to the Radnor Board of Commissioners. She is married to Mark R. Borowski and they have two children.

She has worked as a communications professional for both the Einstein and Mercy Health Systems. She also worked for the Philadelphia Police Foundation as a Board Operations Manager.

Facing her this year is Kathryn Buckley, an engineer with her family’s Buckley and Company. She holds BS degrees from Drexel University in civil engineering, and commerce and engineering.

Her goals include job creation with better paying jobs; improving schools; public safety, and protecting senior citizens.

She is especially against Delco remaining a sanctuary county

“Overall, the employment of illegal aliens can erode the hard-won gains of union workers, perpetuating a cycle of economic insecurity and unfair labor practices,” she said.

Kathryn Buckley Wants Sane Immigration; Good Jobs For All

Jeff Jones Wants Change And Improvement In Upper Darby

By Bob Small

Pennsylvania House District 163 consists of the 1st and 2nd districts of Upper Darby, along with parts of the 3rd and 5th; , the 3rd, 4th and 5th wards of Darby Township; and Aldan, Clifton Heights and Collingdale boroughs.

The incumbent is Heather Boyd who had been chief of staff for state Rep. Leanne Kruger and a senior advisor to Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon.

She also founded the Delaware County Chapter of NOW and served seven years as chairwoman of the Upper Darby Democratic Committe.

She is married to Sean Mcintosh and they have four boys. Ms. Boyd has an MA degrees in art history from the University of Michigan and History of American Civilization from the University of Delaware.

Her GOP challenger Jeff Jones, who grew up in Camden, N.J. and became a senior manager of asset management, development and personal training; the vice chairman of Upper Darby Weed and Seed; and numerous other charities and enterprises.

A prime goal is to improve the quality of life in his district.

He is married and has five children. He is a Current Upper Darby GOP 3rd District Committee Leader and Committeeman of Upper Darby 3rd District 1st Precinct.

Jeff Jones Wants Change And Improvement In Upper Darby

Gabby Mendez Gets Day Of Action

By Bob Small

Pennsylvania House District 162 is most of Ridley, the 1st and 2nd wards of Darby Township and the boroughs of Folcroft, Glenolden, Norwood, Prospect Park, Ridley Park, Rutledge and Sharon Hill.

It’s been generally Republican but Democrat David Deloso holds it now.

Deloso was business agent for Teamsters Local 107 for a decade before taking office.

He is a graduate of Academy Park High School and attended Mansfield University.

He is married with children.

Seeking to unseat him is Gabriella Mendez a graduate of Interboro High School to West Chester University where she majored in political science and minored in Spanish.

When she was 14 her mother died of ovarian cancer a. How her family and friends handled it taught her “the value of resilience and community,” she said.

“I believe in people over politics and refuse to conform to the typical mold of political candidates,” she said.

She is having a day of action, Tuesday, Oct. 26, with much of it occuring during Folcroft Community Day, on Delmar Drive, noon to 6 p.m.; and a special rally at 2 p.m. at the Ridley High School parking lot, 901 Morton Ave.

Gabby has been endorsed by the Delaware County Young Republicans and Philly’s Log Cabin Young Republicans

For a profile, see Gabriella Mendez: Young and Eager to Serve Her .

Gabby Mendez Gets Day Of Action

Woman Takes On Ancient Legislator In 166th

By Bob Small

In the venerable (1801) British House of Commons, the title Father of the House is bestowed on the member with the most continuous service. Many of them are kicked upstairs to the House of Lords with its 805 members.

Only China has a larger congress, by the way.

Sadly, we have no equivalent place to send “career” legislators.

Greg Vitali (D-166) was first elected in 1993. There are, at least 19 past and present House members who have had longer terms.

Two of them are from Delaware County being Republicans Matthew J. Ryan and Nicholas A. Miccozzie.

The 166th District includes parts of Haverford and Radnor in Delaware County and Lower Merion in Montco.

Vitali’s predecessor was Stephen Friend who served from 1976-1992.

Vitali received his law degree from Villanova in 1981 and practiced for a decade. He lists his occupation as “legislator” on his website.

We wonder if our Founding Fathers meant this to be an occupation.

He has a long-time marriage to his wife Lynn.

The Republican opposition is Kay Dugery She describes herself as an executive recruiting consultant with an MBA from Villanova.

Mrs. Dugery started out as a Judge of Elections. She has worked with the Interfaith Hospitality network, and homeless causes.

She and her husband Peter have three children, three cats, and two dogs.

Final Free And Equal Debate Is Oct. 23

By Bob Small

The fourth and final Free and Equal Presidential Debate is 8 p.m., Oct. 23. .

This one will be less than two weeks before Nov. 5 Election Day. The co-hosts will be Free and Equal Co-founder Christina Tobin and former US Comptroller General David M. Walker.

The participants, as in the last one, are Libertarian Chase Oliver, Green Party Dr. Jill Stein, and Constitution Party Randall Terry. Both Oliver and Stein are on the Pennsylvania Ballot, while Terry was “lawfared” off it.

Other Constitution Party candidates remain however and can be found here

Walker served as U.S. Comptroller (1998-2008). He was founder and of Comeback America Initiative (CAO).

He said debtors’ prisons are basically back.

He is the author of Comeback America: Turning the Country Around

This forum will be presented live on You tube. Their broadcasting partners are C-Span, rumble and Scripps news and, presumably, the forum will be on these outlets. This will be a theater of ideas and, if like the last one, highly entertaining.

Craig Williams Runs To Retain Seat

By Bob Small

Delaware County has 11 members of the Pennsylvania House and all but one –Craig Williams (R-160) — are Democrat Seven are female, three are male.

All are up for re-election

Running unopposed are PA 159 Carol Kazeem (D-159), Gina H. Curry (D-164), Regina D. Young (D-185) and Joanna E. McClinton (D-191).

Williams 160th District consists of parts of Chester and Delaware counties. It has been held by Republicans since 1979.

Williams has held holds the office since 2020. He won re-election in 2022 beating Catherin Spahr with 52.4 percent of the vote.

Williams received his JD degree from the University of Florida,and has an L.L.M. From Columbia University School of Law. He was a USMC 2^nd lieutenant during the Persian Gulf War.

He has been a assistant US Attorney. He has run for US Congress (2008) but lost to the Admiral (Joe Sestak). More recently he lost rather resoundingly to Dave Sunday for the attorney general nomination. He lives in Glen Mills with his wife Jennifer, and their four children.

His opponent is Democrat Elizabeth Moro who has been endorsed by Gov. Shapiro. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Western Michigan University with degrees in political science, political policy, and women’s sudies. She lives in Chadds Ford, Pa with her husband Vince, where they raise sheep and bees. They have four adult children.

She is the author of The Civil Grace Project and a co-founder of Neighbors For Crebilly

See also Elizabeth Moro.