Special election on St. Patrick’s Day: the spending of the green in 58th Legislative
Barbara S. Miller/Observer-Reporter
Robert Prah Jr. of Fellsburg, Rostraver Township, in this file photo from January
Eric Davanzo
Ken Bach
Mention St. Patrick’s Day to the average person and what comes to mind? Perhaps shamrocks, leprechauns and green beer.
For most people this year, going to the polls is not on the list, even if they live in the 58th Legislative District, which stretches from Jeannette to Monessen in Westmoreland County.
And Despite Westmoreland’s commissioners declaring a disaster emergency during a Saturday morning press conference, officials said Tuesday’s special election will proceed.
Registered voters in 66 precincts comprising all or parts of 16 municipalities in Westmoreland County can head to the polls March 17 for a special election to fill the unexpired term of Justin Walsh, who was elected to a judgeship last November.
Polls will be open that day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
It’s a three-way contest among Democrat Robert Prah Jr.; Republican Eric Davanzo; and Libertarian Ken Bach, who, as a Democrat, made a bid for his party’s support but was spurned and changed his registration, working to gather hundreds of signatures to put him on the ballot.
The candidates spoke of curtailing campaigning in light of the emergency.
“We are definitely in uncharted territory, so safety and caution should be paramount for all of us on the campaign trail, and is at the forefront of our thought process and strategy through this weekend, especially in light of (Saturday) morning’s disaster emergency declaration for Westmoreland County,” Prah wrote in response to an email.
“We have suspended all direct voter contact and conversational canvassing operations to minimize risks associated with COVID-19, and have transitioned our campaign operations to focus on remote methods of direct voter contact and getting out the vote.”
His Republican opponent had a similar reaction.
“Luckily for us, we’ve done a lot of work and have been out and about,” Davanzo said Saturday morning.
“We knocked on 4,500 doors through (Friday)” continued Davanzo, who attended an event Friday night at the Rostraver Central fire department.
He said he expected to be shifting to “phone banking, text and social media, stuff like that.”
Will voters encounter his supporters seeking their vote at the polls?
“As of right now we are waiting to hear from other officials,” Davanzo said. “That will probably be a game time decision.”
Bach could not be reached immediately for comment Saturday afternoon.
Speaker of the House Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) announced special elections in three legislative districts, including the 58th, will be held Tuesday as scheduled.
Efforts to practice “social distancing and increased disinfecting in public spaces” will be in place on election day, Turzai said in a news release.
“When you consider that absentee ballots have already been applied for and returned, these elections are already underway.”
Changing the date, he said, could have increased confusion for voters and disenfranchise absentee voters, including members of the military, who would have to re-apply for absentee status.
As of 6 p.m. Saturday, there were no reports of the new coronavirus being identified in Westmoreland County.
The special election this year happens to coincide with St. Patrick’s Day, and Westmoreland County’s Director of Elections predicts turnout may hover around 17% on the 17th, which is Tuesday of this week.
And Director of Elections Beth Lechman made the prediction on Monday, just before a cascade of events focused much of the nation’s attention on the coronavirus.
Lechman pointed to the 2016 57th Legislative District special election that had a 16.6% turnout as a possible template for the upcoming contest.
“This election has different demographics, but it seems to have the same requests for absentee” ballots, she wrote in an email.
But because the totals are “very similar,” she predicted a possible turnout of somewhere between 16 and 18% before the World Health Organization labeled the new coronavirus a “pandemic” and President Donald Trump declared on Friday the nationwide emergency.
Asked Monday if voters or others have expressed concerns about using touch-screen machines and scanners that are making their debut during a time when contagious disease is on the minds of so many, Lechman replied, “I’ve not received any calls at this time with a concern.
“I would recommend that if a voter has a concern that they bring their own hand sanitizer and use it after using the voting equipment. The thermal paper is sensitive so using it before may leave a mark on the paper.”
A poll worker trainee this week in Washington County tested the touch-screen while wearing a latex glove and the test vote registered without any problem, said Melanie Ostrander, elections director.
Changes in state election laws that created the “no-excuse” absentee ballot take effect in conjunction with the April 28 primary, so they did not apply to the March 17 special election.
All three candidates in the St. Patrick’s Day sweepstakes in the 58th Legislative District have a Smithton connection. Republican Davanzo and Libertarian Bach have Smithton addresses, and although Prah lives in Rostraver Township, he’s a former mayor and councilman of Smithton Borough.
Prah, a combat veteran of the Iraq War, was prepared to challenge Walsh had the legislator not been elected to the Court of Common Pleas, and last year he said he began knocking on doors, canvassing, campaigning and cleaning up post-flood in West Jeanette, and hauling tires from the Youghiogheny River.
“I have wide background of experience in higher education, firefighting and as a major in the Army Reserves, so that, coupled with my time in the community and the American Legion, the VFW and other organizations is encompassing of a lot of people in this district. I come from a labor house, so that’s a lot of this district.”
Davanzo, in a news release, said, “My family and I join residents across the district in thanking Justin Walsh for his strong conservative leadership here at home and in Harrisburg.
“I pledge to use my proven experience and deep conservative convictions to fight for the issues and priorities that matter most to local families: promoting family-sustaining jobs, cutting wasteful state spending, holding the line on taxes, ensuring a quality and affordable education for our children, and protecting our constitutional rights and pro-life values.”
Bach, a Yough School director, is a member of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association property reform task force.
“The issue is coming up with something that everybody can live with, something the majority can agree with,” he said.
That might be an increase in income tax or an increase in the sales tax, according to Bach, who favors allowing enough property tax levy to remain to pay off debt.
Whether or not the significance of a special election has registered with voters, it certainly has attracted greenbacks, especially on the Democratic side, where Prah’s committee reported $282,982 worth of in-kind contributions from the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee and the state Democratic Party.
“Friends of Robert Prah Jr.” reported expenditures of only $6,042 through March 2 from available funds totaling $35,469.
The House Democratic Campaign Committee made more than $200,000 worth of in-kind contributions for which a purpose was not listed on the form submitted.
In-kind contributions of $53,536 from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party were noted as being used for design, production, mailing, postage and staff time.
Filing a total of $5,566 as an independent expenditure was the “For Our Future” Action Fund with addresses in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., for phone banking services and canvassing on Prah’s behalf in early March.
Friends of Eric Davanzo raised $12,825 and spent $4,284 as of the March 2 reporting deadline.
He reported in-kind contributions of $53,406, most of it from the Pennsylvania House Republican Campaign Committee. A $45,000 expenditure covered time bought on cable television and approximately $7,000 was used to pay for video and photo shoots and post cards.
“We have no report from Bach, and he has no committee registered,” wrote Department of State Director of Communications and Press Wanda Murren in an email.
The district includes the cities of Jeannette and Monessen; the boroughs of Adamsburg, Arona, Madison, Mt. Pleasant, North Belle Vernon, Penn, Smithton, Sutersville and West Newton; parts of East Huntingdon and Hempfield townships; and all of Rostraver, Sewickley and South Huntingdon townships.
Video of how to use new machines on www.co.westmoreland.,pa.us/.
Just in case the luck of the Irish forsakes a candidate on St. Patrick’s Day, both major-party hopefuls have filed for the full, two-year term that begins in January 2021. Prah is running unopposed on the Democratic ballot in the April 28 primary, and Davanzo is the sole candidate on the primary Republican ticket. Third-party candidates and independents have until Aug. 3 to file for the Nov. 3 general election.
58th Legislative District
A special election is being held March 17 to fill a vacant seat in Westmoreland County’s 58th Legislative District for the remainder of the year.
The base salary for a state legislator is approximately $90,300.
Democrat
Name: Robert Prah Jr.
Age: 37
Residence: Rostraver Township
Occupation: On leave as Cal U. director of military and veterans affairs
Republican
Name: Eric Davanzo
Age: 43
Residence: South Huntingdon Township
Occupation: Union carpenter who became a superintendent
Libertarian
Name: Ken Bach
Age: 52
Residence: Smithton
Occupation: Owner of Bach Auto, Smithton