Reschenthaler best choice in the 37th
When Matt Smith resigned his seat in the 37th state Senate district in 2015 to take a job as president of Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, the contest to replace him was, to use the technical term, a humdinger.
About $2 million was spent between Democratic candidate Heather Arnet, the CEO of the Women and Girls Foundation, and Guy Reschenthaler, a Jefferson Hills district judge. Despite the fireworks and the campaign’s acrimonious tone, Reschenthaler ended up securing a comfortable victory and has served out the remainder of Smith’s term.
Now he is running for a full, four-year term in a vastly more muted contest. This time, Reschenthaler’s Democratic opponent is Edward Eichenlaub, a caseworker at Allegheny County Jail who has run a bare-bones campaign against what he said are vested interests in state and national politics. While Eichenlaub is earnest and demonstrates a solid grasp of state-level issues, we believe Reschenthaler should have the opportunity to serve a full four-year term.
He is only 33 years old and still learning the ropes, but Reschenthaler has the potential to be a productive and effective legislator. Over the last year, he shepherded a bill through the state Senate that reforms the commonwealth’s rules when it comes to travel insurance, and had a hand in a truancy reform measure earlier this year. Reschenthaler understands the importance of reforming the pension system for state employees, the need to get state government out of the liquor business and the reality of online gaming and the need to regulate it and reap some much-needed revenue. He also correctly dismisses the notion property taxes can be entirely eliminated and sales taxes can be increased, noting that such a move would hit low-income residents the hardest.
During his campaign against Arnet, Reschenthaler was painted as a tea party extremist. We see no evidence of that, and look forward to watching Reschenthaler grow in the job.
The 37th state Senate district includes Peters Township in Washington County, along with such Allegheny County communities as Bethel Park, Bridgeville, Mt. Lebanon, North Fayette, South Fayette and Upper St. Clair.