Swiderski joins field seeking Carney seat

EXETER TWP. – Paul R. Swiderski, a self-employed accountant and small business consultant, has officially announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the U.S. 10th Congressional District.

Swiderski, 34, is one of four candidates vying for the nomination. The seat is held by first-term U.S. Rep. Chris Carney, D-Dimock Township.

Other candidates registered with the Federal Election Commission include Donald J. Ely, a retired high school teacher from Sunbury; Chris Hackett, owner of OneSource Staffing Solutions; and Dan Meuser, president and co-owner of Pride Mobility Products in Exeter.

Swiderski registered with the commission in October, but delayed launching his campaign. He and his wife recently had a baby and decided to wait until they became accustomed to the changes in their family life.

Swiderski said he had been “complaining for quite some time about the way things are run in the federal government. Some friends said to me, ‘Instead of just complaining, why don’t you do something about it?’ So I took them up on their offer.”

One of his complaints is that elected officials “generally don’t represent anyone except their own interests. … Politics as usual needs to end, and if we are going to make any changes, we need to begin electing (people) who truly care about the people they are supposed to represent and people who are serious about restoring America and fighting to protect traditional values,” he said.

Swiderski said millionaires “trying to buy their way into Congress,” large corporate executives and longtime politicians are “out of touch” with the majority of their constituents.

“They don’t live the same way as the voters in the district do. They don’t experience the same problems that most people in the district do. They certainly can’t relate to the voters and therefore cannot effectively represent the people,” he said.

Of all of the candidates running for the seat, Swiderski said he is the only who can relate to the people in the 10th District, their values and the issues impacting them. He said the demographics of the district indicate that most citizens there are middle-class, and he considers himself in the same economic level.

“I am merely a small business owner … who has the same concerns as most of the people in the district. The need for affordable quality health insurance, lower gas prices and home heating costs, lower taxes, and accountability in government top the list of concerns,” he said.

Married with three children, Swiderski is a graduate of the former Bishop Hoban High School and has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from King’s College. In his spare time, he enjoys hunting, fishing, camping, hiking and foraging.