Open seat in 14th Congressional District will bring new representative
Residents of parts of Washington and Greene counties will have been represented by three members of Congress in 15 months by the time the first week of January 2019 rolls around. Here’s how the scenario took shape:
U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, who represented the 18th District, resigned in disgrace October 2017 in the wake of an adulterous relationship. He was succeeded by Conor Lamb after a special election in March, but due to redistricting ordered by the state Supreme Court, Lamb chose to run for a full term in the newly drawn 17th District, which includes his home community of Mt. Lebanon, but none of Washington or Greene counties.
Candidates on the Nov. 6 ballot in the also newly drawn 14th Congressional District, which includes all of Washington, Greene and Fayette counties and part of Westmoreland County, are running for a two-year term that begins Jan. 3, 2019.
The winner of the contest between Bibiana Boerio, a Democrat, and Guy Reschenthaler, a Republican, will be seated with the 116th Congress.
It’s little wonder that some among the electorate are confused. One voter wondered if redistricting meant she should be going to a different polling place. The answer? Only go elsewhere if the elections office has informed you by letter that your polling place has been changed.
Another inquiry to the Washington County elections office came from a voter who, after seeing televised commercials for or against Lamb, wondered if Lamb’s name would be on his ballot. The answer? No, neither Lamb nor U.S. Rep Keith Rothfus, opponents in the new 17th District, are running here.
There’s no prohibition against running for Congress in Pennsylvania in a district where one does not reside, but Reschenthaler has changed both his legal residence and voting address since the May primary.
The former resident of Jefferson Hills, Allegheny County, moved away from the 18th District, where Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle is the incumbent.
As of this fall, Reschenthaler lives in Peters Township, where both the 37th State Senatorial District, which he represents, and the 14th Congressional District overlap.
Over the past few months, Reschenthaler purchased a condominium in Peters, according to a deed recorded at Courthouse Square, and he also registered to vote in Washington County.
Boerio has been a resident of the 14th District since before tossing her hat in the political arena. She bested three hopefuls to become the Democratic nominee in the May primary.
Ballotpedia, the online encyclopedia of American politics, lists the district as solidly Republican, even more so than in 2016 when those within its boundaries overwhelmingly chose Donald Trump for president.
“We should give no one a free ride, particularly in an open seat,” Boerio said last week in an interview at the Observer-Reporter.
Since he first ran for state Senate in 2015, Reschenthaler has consistently declined to answer questions posed by the League of Women Voters of Washington County’s voters’ guide.
“I can’t remember a particular questionnaire. I get so many of them,” he said last week in a phone interview. “I have a record of public service and a voting record. I have a history of advocating for victims.”
While in the Senate, Reschenthaler pointed to his vote to require those who are under permanent protection-from-abuse orders to surrender firearms to someone other than a family member; and his support of “Marsy’s Law,” which would amend the state Constitution to identify the rights of victims in the criminal justice system.
Reschenthaler also sponsored a bill known as the Municipal Sanctuary and Federal Enforcement Act (SAFE), which the senator explained was designed to prevent municipalities and counties from designating themselves as sanctuary cities “to thwart federal efforts to combat illegal immigration.”
Under the bill, any law enforcement agency, municipality or county that refuses to enforce a constitutional order would not be eligible for state grants for law enforcement, including the purchase of equipment or vehicles or participation in the sale of state surplus property.
The state House declined to act on the sanctuary cities bill earlier this month before it went into recess. Legislators are not scheduled to convene until a week after the election.
“Our immigration system is completely broken in the United States,” Reschenthaler said Monday in an interview with the Observer-Reporter. He would like to see it be based on skills that are in need and called for an end to so-called “chain migration” that covers the “second cousin twice removed.”
On immigration, Boerio said, “I do not believe in open borders. I do not believe we should shut down ICE (the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency). There’s nothing that says effective and efficient enforcement can’t also be humane.”
She sees health care as the most important issue in the district because that’s what people are asking about “in the context of an economic issue.”
Boerio described what she called the Trump administration’s “sabotage” of the Affordable Care Act by shortening the enrollment period, and cutting back both the marketing campaign and the number of navigators who could aid those enrolling online.
Congress repealed the “Obamacare” individual mandate for 2019 and the penalty that accompanied it, so lack of broad participation in an insurance pool typically results in higher premiums for those who remain.
“I will vote to repeal and replace,” Reschenthaler said, stressing the use of health savings accounts with a tax incentive while making sure that those with pre-existing conditions are covered by a government-subsidized high-risk pool.
While the president and members of the Trump family stumped in the 18th District before the special election in which state Rep. Rick Saccone ran against Lamb, Air Force One has not flown in for similar events for Reschenthaler.
The GOP candidate for PA-14 was, however, introduced at a Trump rally in Wheeling, W.Va., where Republican Patrick Morrisey hopes to defeat incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin.
Asked if he knew of any presidential appearances in the offing, Reschenthaler said, “I’m not aware of anything. I’d welcome him to come any time.”
DEMOCRAT
Name: Bibiana Boerio
Age: 64
Residence: Unity Township, Westmoreland County
Education: Bachelor of Science, Seton Hill College; University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Business
Occupation: Retired from Ford Motor Co. as managing director of Jaguar Cars Ltd.; former chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak in Washington, D.C.
REPUBLICAN
Name: Guy Reschenthaler
Age: 35
Residence: Peters Township
Education: Graduate of Penn State, Behrend College, and Duquesne University Law School.
Occupation: State senator, 37th District