In the 49th District, re-elect Pete Daley
What else is there to say about Pete Daley?
The representative from Pennsylvania’s 49th Legislative District has been on the ballot since 1982, and he has been reliably re-elected every time he has faced voters, with few speed bumps along the way. Before the Democrat went to Harrisburg, he was the mayor of California Borough, having taken on that role at age 22.
Perhaps no other figure in our coverage area is as much a known quantity as Daley. Arguably, he could be given the dreaded “career politician” label. But we believe that Daley’s long tenure as a state representative gives him a sure-footedness and knowledge of the lawmaking process that has made him an effective voice for the residents of his district. We believe that, once again, voters in the 49th District should re-elect Daley next Tuesday.
The 64-year-old says his “fingerprints are all over the county,” citing the Mon-Fayette Expressway, enterprise zones that he helped create and expand, and the PACE prescription assistance program, which offers low-cost prescriptions to Pennsylvania adults aged 65 or older. Calling Pennsylvania the most politicized state in the union, Daley believes lawmakers need to “grow up and work together,” a sentiment that has our wholehearted support.
His opponent, Republican Bud Cook, is a colorful figure – literally. He sports a lime green jacket which does, no doubt, make him stand out in a crowd. A onetime Democrat who claims that the party abandoned him and not the other way around, Cook is a marketer whose ideas for the 49th Legislative District revolve around making the Mon Valley a tourist destination. Though he is well-meaning, those functions can and should be carried out by the county’s tourism office. Otherwise, Cook’s résumé is rather thin, with his sole experience in elected office having been a stint on the Buckhannon, W.Va., city council 20 years ago, and his knowledge on some issues is limited.
The 49th district includes Carroll, Fallowfield, North Bethlehem, West Bethlehem and West Pike Run townships, along with the city of Monongahela and the boroughs of Allenport, Beallsville, Bentleyville, California, Charleroi, Coal Center, Cokeburg, Deemston, Donora, Dunlevy, Elco, Ellsworth, Long Branch, Marianna, New Eagle, North Charleroi, Roscoe, Speers, Stockdale, Twilight and West Brownsville.