Toomey brings campaign to Sarris
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey made a stop Tuesday at Sarris Candies in Canonsburg, where he took a tour of the facilities and spoke with the employees.
Bill Sarris, right, owner of Sarris Candies in Canonsburg, gives U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey a tour of the facilities and production line as Tammy Arblaster makes chocolate-covered pretzels Tuesday.
Bill Sarris, right, owner of Sarris Candies in Canonsburg, gives U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey a tour of the facilities and production line as Tammy Arblaster makes chocolate-covered pretzels Tuesday.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey added a sugar coating to his usual economic message Tuesday, telling candymakers American companies overpay for the essential ingredient in sweets.
Referring to the U.S. sugar program, which sets a minimum price for sugar and puts restrictions on its import, he told workers the federal legislation, which he said favors domestic sugar producers at others’ expense, was the type of economic policy he opposed.
“I hate it when the government picks winners and losers,” said the Allentown Republican.
He spoke to employees during a stop at Sarris Candies Inc. in Canonsburg, where about 200 people work. His visit included a tour conducted by company president Bill Sarris and short visits with workers on the candy production lines.
The campaign stop was the third of the day in the region. A week out from the Nov. 8 election, in which he faces Democratic candidate Katie McGinty in a bid for a second term, Toomey also made appearances in Pittsburgh and Butler County.
A Franklin & Marshall College poll released earlier in the day had Toomey trailing the former state secretary of environmental protection by 43 percent to 33 percent. It showed 22 percent of voters undecided, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.
Toomey said most polls have the race “basically tied within the margin of error.”
Toomey sought to contrast himself with his opponent, whom he accused of being responsible for policies that harmed the coal industry.
The McGinty campaign said in an emailed statement the Democrat, if elected, will work “to create jobs and fight for Pennsylvania businesses and families. She’s focused on strengthening our workforce, improving our economy and putting American workers first.”
Mirroring themes of campaign advertisements that aired on TV and radio and appeared online, Toomey said he opposed a nuclear agreement the Obama administration recently reached with Iran and criticized “sanctuary city” policies some local governments use to protect undocumented immigrants from prosecution.
Toomey’s criticism of the federal sugar program resonated with Sarris, a Democrat who said he supports the GOP senator.
“We’re competing against other countries where sugar is 15 cents (a pound), and we’re paying 39 cents.”