Oct 30, 2014 4 min read

The race for the 46th District state House seat has been a nasty fight between an incumbent who attacked constituents using anonymous online postings last year and his challenger who’s now accused of fudging his residency status.

State Rep. Jesse White was under fire the past 18 months after his online personas were revealed in May 2013 and became a prime target for Republicans who want to pick up his seat. However, the four-term incumbent Democrat from Cecil said he learned from his mistakes and is prepared to move forward.

“I handled it wrong, but I haven’t done that since. I’ve learned quite a bit,” White said. “Obviously, it’s been a difficult couple of years, but it’s also been really educational.”

That situation opened a political opportunity for small-business owner Jason Ortitay, who said his late grandfather inspired him to make a difference. But he’s also faced questions in recent days about whether he ever lived in a Burgettstown home he used as his address to register to vote last year before moving to his current residence in South Fayette.

“There is no residency issue,” Ortitay said. “I met the requirements. I was moving around.”

Besides the questions swirling around both candidates, each has differing ideas on what they can do to improve state government.

White painted himself as a watchdog over the Marcellus Shale industry and state environmental regulators. He is a strong proponent of a severance tax on natural gas production in addition to the local impact fee, while also pushing for the total ban of open-air water impoundments that experienced problems in this area.

“I’ve used my experience as a lawyer to see these problems and try to fix them,” White said.

Ortitay disagrees on a potential severance tax, saying he is worried enacting it will cause local communities that host drilling to lose impact fee money that helps fund a variety of municipal projects.

“I want the money to stay locally to impact the communities that are impacted by the drilling,” Ortitay said.

Ortitay, who started Jason’s Cheesecake Co., which helps nonprofits and school groups fundraise for projects, wants to use his experience as a small-business owner to help other start-ups. However, he doesn’t want money coming from Harrisburg, but instead wants to build support from community groups that function similarly to “angel” investors to fund start-ups.

“I’d be a new voice,” Ortitay said. “Being a small-business owner, I recognize how important it is to stand up for these small towns.”

One of White’s ideas is to give college tuition waivers to the children of volunteer firefighters. He said that would reward the public servants and help students get a college education. He also wants to use potential severance tax money to boost funding for public education.

“It’s important someone with experience is there to make sure we’re making the right decision and make sure that our neck of the woods isn’t hurt with the (budget) cuts that are sure to come,” White said.

The newly configured 46th District includes Burgettstown, Canton, Cecil, McDonald, Midway, Mt. Pleasant, Robinson and Smith in Washington County, and Bridgeville, Collier, Heidelberg, Oakdale and South Fayette in Allegheny County.

Ortitay wants to be a new voice for the new district.

“It’s my turn to stand up and do something,” Ortitay said. “That’s why I jumped into the race. I just want to help people.”

White said he’s fighting for a second chance with his constituents.

“If re-elected, I’m going to hit a reset button and treat them with respect and courtesy, as long as they return the favor,” White said of his critics. “But I’m not just going to sit back and take their abuse.