Nov 4, 2024 By Brad Hundt 3 min read

All 538 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for grabs in Tuesday’s election, and with Republicans’ current majority at a knife-edge three seats, which party will control the House is about as much of a toss-up as who will win the presidential contest.

Locally, U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, is seeking to retain his seat in the 14th Congressional District.

In 2018, when Reschenthaler became the GOP nominee for a seat in a heavily Republican district, he won with almost 58% of the vote against Democrat Bibiana Boerio. In 2020, his margin increased to 64% against another Democrat, Bill Marx. In 2022, Reschenthaler faced no Democratic opponent.

In this election cycle, though, Democrats have put up a candidate who, like Reschenthaler, is a military veteran. Chris Dziaidos, a resident of South Strabane, served in the U.S. Army during the Iraq war and was a policy analyst at the Pentagon.

Dzaidos has argued that voters are broadly unhappy with the way Congress has functioned and that he would represent “more of a calm, cool approach for the government.” If elected, he says he will support reproductive rights, advocate for veterans and seniors and keep America at the forefront of technological advances.

In the three terms Reschenthaler has been on Capitol Hill, the U.S. Navy veteran who also served in Iraq, has been a loyal foot soldier for the Republican agenda, supporting most of what President Trump put forward in the latter half of his term, and opposing most of President Biden’s initiatives over the last four years. He is the chief deputy whip in the House, is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and is vice chairman of the House Committee on Rules.

Reschenthaler’s congressional website lists his priorities as limiting government, combatting China, lowering taxes, reforming the criminal justice system, supporting veterans and helping seniors.

The 14th Congressional District includes all of Washington, Greene and Fayette counties and most of Westmoreland, Somerset and Indiana counties.

The Observer-Reporter and the Herald-Standard sent two identical questions to the Reschenthaler and the Dziados campaigns. The Reschenthaler campaign did not respond. The following are the responses from Dziados:

What is the most pressing issue facing the 14th Congressional District?

“Affordability. Inflation compounded by corporate greed has made life harder for many Pennsylvanians. These issues however, are merely the cherry on top of 40 years of failed economic policy punishing the middle class. Median U.S. wages have barely kept pace with inflation over the past half-century, despite a doubling of real GDP per capita over the same period. This means that working Americans are not benefiting from American prosperity. If elected, I will work to put an end to the 40-year-long attack on working families through the implementation of more equitable tax policies that support working families, reduce childhood poverty, and spur economic growth.”

Given how closely divided the next Congress is expected to be, what will you do to work across the aisle to get things done?

“The division in Congress is self-made because we’ve bought into the mentality that if the other side is for something, we have to be against it, and vice-versa. This mentality leaves no room for negotiation to advance policy for the betterment of all citizens. If elected, I’d work to find areas of common ground to build trust, so when bigger issues require negotiation, my counterparts know that I’m operating in good faith.”