State of Pennsylvania secondary Archives: on Principles & Values
Val Arkoosh:
Determined to level the playing field for working families
We are at a critical moment from continuing to recover from a global pandemic that's cost hundreds of thousands of lives and hurt our economy, to how we confront systemic racism in our communities and institutions, or how we tackle the climate
crisis. President Biden needs another Senator from Pennsylvania to help move us forward-- someone determined to level the playing field for working families, lift up those who are struggling, and make our communities healthier. I'll be that voice.
Source: 2021 Pennsylvania Senate campaign website ValArkoosh.com
Jul 25, 2021
Jeff Bartos:
COVID: Provided forgivable loans to small businesses
In the 2018 campaign cycle, Jeff Bartos was the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor. Since 2018, Jeff has returned to running his businesses and creating family-sustaining jobs in Pennsylvania. More recently, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,
Jeff founded the Pennsylvania 30 Day Fund, a nonprofit providing forgivable loans to small businesses affected by COVID-19 and the related business shutdowns that have devastated Main Street small businesses.
Source: 2021 Pennsylvania Senate campaign website JeffBartos.com
Jul 5, 2021
Everett Stern:
Founded Tactical Rabbit, private intelligence agency
Everett Stern is the founder and Intelligence Director of Tactical Rabbit, a Private Intelligence Agency that provides clients with Legal, Business, and National Security Intelligence. The mission of Everett Stern's self-funded company, Tactical
Rabbit, is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and to protect America's interests against enemies both foreign and domestic. Tactical Rabbit's intelligence operations target terrorist organizations in all corners of the globe.
Source: 2021 Pennsylvania Senate campaign website EverettStern.com
Jun 20, 2021
Everett Stern:
I am a passionate believer in the First Amendment
I am a passionate believer in the First Amendment. Freedom of speech is a pillar of democracy. It is not the responsibility of government to pressure corporations like Facebook and Twitter to restrict the speech of those whose views they do not approve.
If speech is inflammatory, slanderous or does harm to others, there are laws that address those situations. The first step on the road to totalitarianism is placing limits on freedom of speech.
Source: 2021 Pennsylvania Senate campaign website EverettStern.com
Jun 20, 2021
Everett Stern:
Voted for Trump in 2020, but thinks his behavior "atrocious"
Regarding Trump, Stern understands that the former president remains a major force in the Republican Party but hopes to use conservative values as his "North Star." Though he believed in the policies of the Trump administration, Stern said, he
found the man's behavior "atrocious.""When people think 'conservative,' they think Jan. 6. They don't think what I'm talking about," Stern said. The U.S. "is really broken. The Republican Party is destroyed right now. And I am here to unify it."
Source: The Bradford Era on 2022 Pennsylvania Senate race
May 22, 2021
Joe Gale:
First Pennsylvania elected official to endorse Donald Trump
In 2016, I was honored to be the first elected official in Pennsylvania to endorse Donald Trump for President. Like me, I knew Donald Trump was a genuine conservative outsider who could win and shake up the system by disrupting the status quo.
Beyond his many accomplishments in the White House, Donald Trump's greatest contribution to our nation was his ability to defeat the GOP swamp and rebuild the Republican Party on the fertile soil of patriotic populism.
Source: 2021 Pennsylvania Gubernatorial campaign website JoeGale.com
May 11, 2021
Jeff Bartos:
People just need government to get out of the way
I haven't heard anybody say to me, "I want the government to do X--I really need this from the government." What I've heard is, "I just need the government to get out of my way, trust me to run my business, trust me to take care of my employees and my
family, trust me to be a good part of the community, just trust me and I will do right." Our campaign is going to be fighting for all Pennsylvanians to get the government out of the way so that they can live their lives.
Source: Jewish Insider on 2022 Pennsylvania Senate race
Mar 11, 2021
Everett Stern:
Protecting US is life's passion, central purpose of career
In 2011, Stern gained international notoriety when he brought to light the illegal efforts of his then-employer, HSBC Bank, to launder money and assist nations involved in supporting terrorism and drug trafficking.
Stern's work resulted in the bank being fined a record of almost two billion dollars. "Protecting and defending the interests of the
United States of America is my life's passion and the central purpose of my career," Stern said. "The people of Pennsylvania deserve a leader who will fight for them against the most powerful special interests,
the most entrenched politicians, and a corrupt system whose leaders have forgotten that they answer to the people," Stern said. "There's never been a time when bold, unafraid new leadership has been more badly needed."
Source: Magic Valley Times-News on 2022 Pennsylvania Senate race
Feb 25, 2021
Tom Wolf:
What do people need to be able to build a brighter future?
One of the first things I did was try to get to know the Capitol and the people who worked there. One of those faces belonged to a conservative Republican, sent here by rural voters from a remote area of the Commonwealth. We both came to the job of
public service trying to answer the same questions.What do people need to be able to build a brighter future here in Pennsylvania? What are the barriers that get in their way? And what can we do to help remove those barriers?
Source: 2021 State of the State Address to Pennsylvania legislature
Feb 3, 2021
John Fetterman:
Mentored young boy whose parents had died of AIDS
At 23, John joined up with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. John threw himself into the program, mentoring his 'little'--an 8-year-old boy who had lost his father to AIDS and whose mother was battling the disease. Before she passed away, John promised
that he would continue to look out for her son and make sure that he graduated college. Fifteen years later, John and his 'little' had both held up their ends of the bargain, with his little's graduation from Washington and Jefferson College.
Source: 2022 Pennsylvania Senate campaign website JohnFetterman.com
Jan 21, 2021
John Fetterman:
Doesn't live in Lt. Gov.'s mansion; but opened pool to kids
John and Gisele have chosen not to settle in the Lt. Governor's Mansion, instead opening up the pool in the official residence to children who typically wouldn't have access to one.
They live with their three children Karl, 11, Gracie, 9, and August, 6, in a restored car dealership in Braddock with the family dog, Levi.
Source: 2022 Pennsylvania Senate campaign website JohnFetterman.com
Jan 21, 2021
Pat Toomey:
Choice between radical left wing and Trump, not referendum
We looked at a choice that we had between an ever more radicalized left-wing Democratic Party and a man who's very, very flawed, but with whom we actually had very substantive success in the early parts of his administration, with a
record-performing economy, with peace agreements in the Middle East, with restoring the strength of our military and all kinds of judicial confirmations. It wasn't a referendum on Donald Trump. It was a choice.
Source: CNN State of the Union on 2022 Pennsylvania Senate race
Jan 10, 2021
Joe Gale:
Saddened that Columbus Day was canceled as county holiday
Adding insult to injury, the Democrat Commissioners are not only looting our wallets, but upending our way of life. Despite my objections, it saddens me to announce that the Democrat Commissioners recently canceled
Columbus Day as an official county holiday. Although Democrats are responsible for raising taxes and erasing traditions, we must never forget that generations of weak and lazy Republican Party leadership paved the way.
Source: Philly Voice on 2022 Pennsylvania Gubernatorial race
Dec 15, 2020
Malcolm Kenyatta:
Liberty and justice not currently attainable for all
Liberty and justice for all, Kenyatta said, is not currently attainable for all communities. "As somebody who inhabits all of these intersections, growing up in an incredibly poor neighborhood to a working poor family, as one of only two openly
LGBTQ members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the only one that's a person of color, I see all the different ways that frankly our systems are broken."
Source: LGBTQ Nation News on 2022 Pennsylvania Senate race
Jun 28, 2020
Bob Casey:
Dubbed "Sleeping Bob" for anti-Trump obstructionism
Republican Lou Barletta isn't shying away from his bond with Mr. Trump, who campaigned for him in northeastern Pennsylvania this month. He is criticizing Mr. Casey as an obstructionist, pointing to the incumbent's pledge to block Mr. Trump's Supreme
Court nominee before the president even announced his choice of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh.At the campaign rally this month, Mr. Trump told voters that Mr. Casey has opposed every one of his proposals to toughen immigration policy and border security.
He also came up with a nickname for the low-key Mr. Casey. "Sleeping Bob," Mr. Trump announced to the crowd. "That's it--Sleeping Bob. "I hear that Bob Casey is afraid to debate Lou Barletta," Mr. Trump told the crowd. "Is the president of the
United States allowed to come into the debate forum? Is he allowed to sit in the front row watching Lou Barletta destroy Bob Casey? That will be great entertainment." He called Mr. Barletta "a star."
Source: Washington Times on 2018 Pennsylvania Senate race
Aug 20, 2018
Ken Krawchuk:
God by any name should not be government supported
Q: Do you support or oppose the statement, "Keep God in the public sphere"?
A: Not sure what you mean by "keep".ÿ Allah, Zeus, Yahweh, Gaia, etc. should not be government supported.
Source: OnTheIssues interview: 2018 Pennsylvania Governor candidate
May 18, 2018
John Fetterman:
Beat establishment incumbent as Bernie Sanders progressive
Last week, John Fetterman was the mayor of a 2,000-person western Pennsylvania Rust Belt town, running in a hotly contested primary for statewide office. Today he's the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor.Fetterman, 48, is unmistakable:
6-foot-8, with a goatee and tattoos. And he dealt incumbent Democrat Lt. Gov. Mike Stack, an established name in Pennsylvania Democratic Party politics, a major upset. He also happens to have the backing of Bernie Sanders.
Fetterman drew 40% of the
vote to clinch the nomination, emerging from a crowded field of four Democrats who were challenging Stack. The incumbent lieutenant governor has been mired in several scandals over excessive spending and mistreatment of staff.
Fetterman is now
Wolf's running mate, and the two will face Republican state Sen. Scott Wagner and real estate executive Jeff Bartos in November. But as stylistically different as Fetterman is to his running mate, there's not a lot of daylight between the two on policy.
Source: Vox.com on 2018 Pennsylvania gubernatorial race
May 16, 2018
Scott Wagner:
Pastors call on Wagner to apologize to Jewish philanthropist
Religious leaders are calling on state Sen. Scott Wagner, a Republican candidate for governor, to apologize for recently calling Holocaust survivor and wealthy businessman George Soros "a Hungarian Jew." Wagner then questions how Soros could
fund liberal causes considering how he was persecuted in his old country and found success when he immigrated to the United States. Soros must hate America if he is against the free-market system that made him wealthy, Wagner says in the video.
Source: The Morning Call on 2018 Pennsylvania Governor race
Aug 25, 2017
Tom Wolf:
Schools that teach; jobs that pay; government that works
Some of the things I have talked about since I started running for governor two years ago: they boil down to three big themes that I hope will define my time in office:- Schools that teach: because for our children to succeed tomorrow, every child
must have access to a great education, and teachers must have the resources they need to deliver a great education;
-
Jobs that pay: because for our economy to begin humming again, we need to be good partners with the private sector, enabling it to grow and create good jobs that will strengthen our middle-class families; and
- Government that works:
because for our state to be great again, we need a government that is more efficient and less wasteful. One that restores faith in the fundamental notion that our democracy still works.
Source: State of the State address to 2015 Pennsylvania Legislature
Mar 3, 2015
Arlen Specter:
Switched from GOP to Democrat, then lost Democratic primary
Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania's longest-serving senator, lost his bid to run for re-election as a Democrat to Rep. Joe Sestak. After serving in the Senate for nearly 30 years as a Republican, Specter switched to the Democratic party in order to
salvage his career. He won the support of the Democratic establishment--including Gov. Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who worked on his behalf to mobilize voters in Philadelphia, a critical part of the state for Specter. President
Obama also supported Specter, but he never joined him on the campaign trail.While the Democratic establishment worked to elect Specter, Sestak seized on the 80-year-old senator's party switch to portray Specter as self-interested. He ran a bruising
political ad that showed Specter with then-President George W. Bush.
Specter's loss is the latest sign of an anti-incumbent attitude among voters across the country, as also evidenced by the defeat of Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV).
Source: CBS News on 2010 Pennsylvania Senate race
May 19, 2010
Page last updated: Oct 12, 2021