Last year, the state supreme court of Pennsylvania struck down the 2011 Republican gerrymander on Congressional districts, and early this year, approved a much fairer (and saner) map for these districts. Here in the Siberia of Pennsylvania, the principal consequence is that Erie Country, previously split between two districts (PA-03 and PA-05), is now entire again in the new PA-16. PA-16 overlaps mostly with previous PA-03, and the current Republican Congressman who holds that seat, Mike Kelly, is running for re-election in new PA-16.
As is true of most GOP Congressmen, Mike Kelly is awful. He is the enemy of the poor, the ill, women, racial minorities, the LGBT community. the foreign-born, you know, the standard stuff of the GOP. However, he has managed to excel in his pandering and fear mongering. During his first term in Congress, in order to boost his anti-abortion cred, he co-sponsored a bill designed to make abortion illegal in the case of gender selection—that is, for example, aborting a girl because you want a boy. He then had the temerity to claim that the defeat of this bill was “a sad day for girls and women.” In the fall of 2014, as Ebola was raging through west Africa, Kelly was among the louder voices in government fear-mongering by raising the prospect that ISIS could weaponize Ebola and cause an epidemic of the disease here in the US. He is ranked among Trump’s 8 favorite Congressmen. Since 2011, he has held only one open town hall meeting (in 2015 on the topic of veterans’ affairs), despite having promised to hold such meetings regularly. If that weren’t enough, please note that the Congressman to whom Maxine Waters was responding with her righteous wrath in Vetwife’s diary yesterday was none other than Mike Kelly. An even longer litany of Kelly’s outrageous statements can be found here in gharlane’s comment in the same diary. It would be a great blessing for the district, the state, and the nation if it were possible to defeat Kelly this year and replace him with a sane Democrat who will work for the interests of the people.
Unfortunately, that’s kind of a tall order. According to the Cook Political Report, in changing from old PA-03 to new PA-16, the district has moved from R+11 to R+8. While Trump won old PA-03 by 26.1 %, in the new PA-16, his win narrows to 19.9 % Yes, there’s a shift toward Democrats, but a Democrat winning in a R+8 district is not an easy lift, at least not in a typical year. But of course, this is not a typical year. In the wake of Conor Lamb’s victory in old PA-18 (which is rated R+11), there is real hope for a “blue wave” this year that will relieve the GOP of their majority in the House (and, we hope, the Senate as well). But for that to happen in PA-16, everything has to go right. We Democrats have to pick the right candidate, and that candidate has to have sufficient support from Washington in order to acquire the funding needed to support his candidacy. (I’m not being sexist here; the candidates are all men this time.)
So what follows below the fold is a rundown of the three Democratic candidates who are on the ballot for PA-16 in 2018. I have my own preferences, but please let me know who you prefer. (There’s a poll at the end of the diary.) I apologize in advance for the length.
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The three candidates running for the Democratic nomination are, in alphabetical order, Ron DiNicola, Dr. Robert Multari, and Chris Rieger. The information provided below is based on information from the candidates’ websites, press reports, and observing the candidates in public forums.
In the interest of saving space, here are the issues on which all of the candidates agree. They all agree that recreational use of marijuana should be legalized. They all agree that members of the LGBTQ+ community should be able to serve in the military. They all agree that free public higher education should be available to everyone.
Ron DiNicola
Ron DiNicola, 61, is a lawyer in private practice in Erie, PA. He’s a native of Erie. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from Harvard, and his law degree from Georgetown. He served in the Marines for two years before going to Harvard. He was a boxer in his youth, and one of his claims to fame is that he was Mohammed Ali’s attorney. He is a former Chief Solicitor for the County of Erie (PA).
This is actually DiNicola’s second run for Congress. His first run was in 1996, against Republican Phil Engish, who was in his first re-election bid. DiNicola lost by just 2 points.
Unfortunately, DiNicola missed the candidate forum that I was able to attend. The only time I’ve seen him in action as a public speaker was at the Spring Dinner of the Democratic Party of Erie County. In my judgement, his performance was a little strange. He threw in a variety of historical allusions (such as Commodore Perry’s victory on Lake Erie during the War of 1812), presumably as oratorical flourish, but for me, it seemed awkward and out of place. If he ends up as the nominee, I hope his oratory improves.
His principal issue is the economy. Erie and the larger region of western Pennsylvania have suffered decline over several decades. He promises to bring new economic vitality to the region, and to support the education that workers in the new economy need in order to compete. Regarding healthcare, he wants affordable availability for all Americans, but he as yet remains agnostic regarding a single-payer system. Likewise, he hasn’t made up his mind about how the federal government should handle sanctuary cities. He supports some kind of gun control, but I can’t find any specific proposals he’s made on that issue.
I have to say that DiNicola’s website is quite disappointing. There is no section devoted to his positions on the issues. He entered the race later than the other candidates, waiting to see how the gerrymandering case would pan out; he decided to run when he saw that, in its new district, Erie County would be reunited. DiNicola is something of a celebrity in Erie, and I think he’s coasting on that celebrity for the primary. I’d prefer a little more content, actually.
Robert Multari
Robert Multari, 67, is a physician from Farrell in Mercer County, right against the Pennsylvania-Ohio border. He grew up in poverty, and after becoming a physician, he returned to his hometown to practice medicine in this distressed community. He earned his D. O. at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He states that a majority of his practice consists of patients on Medicare and Medicaid.
Not surprisingly, healthcare is one of the centerpieces of his campaign. Multari, however, does not support a single-payer system. He believes that both Medicare and Medicaid are too cost-conscious, and much of the cost is lost to bureaucracy. He proposes “creating competition among providers and insurers, reducing bureaucracy, and returning to the fee for service model.” While he supports the inclusion of birth control in all health plans, he is anti-choice. (Both of the other candidates are pro-choice.)
Another centerpiece is his jobs program. Eventually, he wants the region to be a source for renewable energy technology. He mentions GM’s goal of eliminating the internal combustion engine in favor of all-electric cars; he would like western Pennsylvania to be the source for the batteries that will run those cars. On the way to that goal, he supports “safe” fracking to bridge the gap between fossil fuels and renewables. However, he also talks about bringing back the steel industry. (cough)
On the brutal conditions of inequality, particularly in the City of Erie, Multari brings up equal access to first-class education, and encouraging employers to diversify their workforce. He recognizes the need for common-sense gun control, and that such controls need to be uniform, nationwide. He does not support sanctuary cities, but on the other hand, neither does he support the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have been here long-term and who behave lawfully.
Multari describes himself as the “dark horse” candidate, and he appears to be the most conservative of the three. The fact that he’s anti-choice is enough to remove him from further consideration, for myself. However, the last Democrat to hold the Congressional seat in this region, Kathy Dahlkemper, is also anti-choice. I can’t say for certain, but it may be that only an anti-choice Democrat is capable of winning in this part of Pennsylvania.
Multari’s website is here. Frankly, his website is the most policy-specific of the three.
Chris Rieger
Chris Rieger, 33, is a lawyer who lives in Cranberry Township in Butler County. He earned his Bachelors degree at the University of Pittsburgh, and his law degree at Duquesne. He has a small law firm on the South Side of Pittsburgh concentrating on debt relief, landlord-tenant matters, and consumer protection, for working people.
At the top of Rieger’s “priorities” list is Medicare-for-all, a single-payer, government run system that can provide access to healthcare for everyone in the country. He views healthcare as a fundamental right. He is pro-choice and believes that birth control should be included in government funded healthcare plans.
Next on the list is to guarantee a living wage so that everyone who works a full-time job will be able to pay the bills. Rieger believes a broad infrastructure bill would help to raise many people in the region out of poverty. He seeks to support policies that produce sustainable good-paying jobs in the region.
Third, he supports efforts to overturn the Citizens United decision to reduce the influence of money in politics.
In addition, he wants to see the implementation of common-sense gun control designed to prevent the school massacres that have become almost common. He recognizes the need to work with and listen to people in poor minority communities in order to alleviate inequality. He supports sanctuary cities as well as a permanent DREAM Act.
Of the three candidates, Rieger is the one most clearly progressive in his stances. His website can be found here.
Money
Now to address the elephant in the room. DiNicola, with his high profile and connections, currently has raised the largest war chest of the three Democrats of about $236,000, with about $214,000 cash on hand; about 60 % of that is self-funded. Multari has raised just shy of $40,000, with about $9,000 cash on hand, 89 % self-financed. Rieger brings up the rear with nearly $22,000 raised, $11,000 cash on hand, and no self financing.
Surely, fundraising ability is going to be an important measure of campaign viability. The DNC and other Democratic campaigns funders are going to want to see a candidate who is able to raise significant amounts of money on their own before dumping large amounts of cash on their campaign. On this point, DiNicola has an advantage.
To keep things in perspective, Kelly has a $1.3 million war chest, which dwarfs even DiNicola’s substantial campaign funds.
Purely as a candidate, I like Rieger best, but it’s not at all clear that the DNC will view his campaign as credible unless he starts pulling in some real cash. He has been working very hard, traveling throughout the district. He has come to Erie multiple times and attended every candidate forum we’ve had here, as well as participating in other events. If he wins the primary and can unite the local party behind him, he may be able to turn around his fundraising and pull it off. However, I have to admit that DiNicola has the advantage in this respect, and he would be a perfectly acceptable candidate. Hell, a person chosen at random has a good chance of being preferable to Mike Kelly.
I’ve included a poll at the bottom of the diary. Please weigh in with your vote, and share your thoughts in the comments. And if you feel the urge to help out any of the candidates, just click on the link to their websites where you will find the opportunity to contribute.
And now, to the comments!
Top Comments (May 11, 2018):
From your humble diarist:
This important comment, posted by Jersey Jon, spawned a lively thread regarding the dangers of the open anti-semitism and virulent racism as Nazis and the KKK crawl out from under their rocks. From Dartagnan’s recommended post on how the leading Republican candidate for the US Senate in California is essentially a Nazi.
Top Mojo (May 10, 2018):
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Top Photos (May 10, 2018):
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