Candidates making the rounds across Pennsylvania

WILKES-BARRE — With all the campaigns heating up across Pennsylvania, here are a few items candidates are saying about their stance on issues and about their opponents.

Dr. Oz meets with

veterans in Duryea

Dr. Mehmet Oz, Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, made multiple campaign stops in northeastern Pennsylvania last week.

In Schuylkill County, Dr. Oz visited Robin’s Diner for breakfast and toured Yuengling Brewery with owner Dick Yeungling.

Dr. Oz also held a Fighting for Our Heroes Roundtable with Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity and local veterans in Luzerne County.

“Pennsylvanians in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties are ready to send someone to Washington who listens to their ideas and who will speak with a bold voice for Pennsylvania jobs and values,” Oz said. “I am the only candidate in this race meeting Pennsylvanians where they are and taking on the big issues like skyrocketing inflation on groceries and gas, rising crime on our streets, failing schools, and getting our brave veterans the care they deserve. Our leaders must do a better job, and I promise to lead the charge in the U.S. Senate.”

NRSC looks at Fetterman’s record of

voting to free convicted murderers

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) this week said Democratic senatorial candidate John Fetterman has said he ran for lieutenant governor solely to lead the Board of Pardons.

The NRSC said Fetterman specifically called to end life sentences for second-degree murderers.

According to the NRSC, as reported by Washington Free Beacon, last year Fetterman was the only member to vote to commute the sentence of Wayne Covington. The NRSC said Covington was sentenced to life in prison after he shot and killed an 18-year-old for money to buy heroin and PA’s Democrat Senate candidate wanted him to walk free.

The NRSC said this isn’t the first time — saying Fetterman is often the sole Pennsylvania Board of Pardons member to vote for freeing murderers.

The NRSC said Pennsylvanians aren’t the only ones worried — 13 local sheriffs wrote Fetterman a letter conveying concern about his soft-on-crime policy positions and how they would add to the already rising crime rates in Pennsylvania.

NRSC Spokeswoman Lizzie Litzow said this:

“How can Pennsylvanians feel safe under the leadership of John Fetterman if he consistently votes to release convicted murderers into their communities. He is simply too dangerous for Pennsylvania and his record shows it. Local sheriffs are speaking up, but John Fetterman couldn’t care less about the safety of Pennsylvania communities when it runs counter to his liberal agenda.”

Small businesses endorse Bognet

in 8th Congressional District race

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, has endorsed Jim Bognet for election to the United States House of Representatives to represent Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District.

The endorsement was announced at a campaign event held at NFIB member business Garrety Manufacturing in Wilkes-Barre.

“Jim Bognet has a proven history of supporting small and independent businesses,” said Greg Moreland, NFIB Pennsylvania State Director. “He grew up working in his family’s small business and understands the issues important to small business owners. Jim Bognet has committed to supporting pro-small business policies and fighting against legislation that increases business taxes, regulations, and red tape. We are confident that he is a strong small business candidate, and we look forward to working with him.”

“We are proud to endorse Jim Bognet today,” said Sharon Sussin, NFIB Senior National Political Director. “He understands the challenges of running a small business and will be a small business champion in Congress.”

The endorsement is issued from NFIB FedPAC, NFIB’s political action committee. NFIB FedPAC is funded by voluntary contributions by NFIB members over and above their membership dues. Decisions made by the NFIB FedPAC are managed by a member-driven grassroots evaluation.

DCCC says Bognet

opposes lower prices

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this week said the House passed the Inflation Reduction Act, broadly popular legislation that will lower the cost of prescription drugs, health insurance, and everyday energy costs — all while reducing the deficit and carbon emissions, by making the wealthiest corporations finally pay their fair share.

Despite Americans supporting every component of this bill, the DCCC said Republicans chose politics and voted against legislation that will benefit American families.

Here is what the DCCC says Republican candidate in the 8th Congressional District Jim Bognet opposes:

• Allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and caps out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs at $2000 per year.

• Lowering health care premiums by $800 per year for 13 million Americans covered under the Affordable Care Act.

• Reducing the deficit by more than $300 billion which will help tackle inflation and lower costs for families.

• Taking the most aggressive action in history to combat the climate change crisis, reducing carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030.

• Lowering energy costs, increases cleaner production, strengthens our energy security, and creates jobs manufacturing solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles in America.

• Establishing a minimum corporate tax so the wealthiest corporations finally pay their fair share and doesn’t raise taxes on those making under $400,000 a year.

DCCC, DSCC intervene against GOP

efforts to restrict vote by mail in Pa.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) are intervening against a Republican lawsuit in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania to invalidate Act 77, which provides Pennsylvanians the right to vote by mail.

Since Act 77’s enactment, millions of Pennsylvanians of both parties have cast mail ballots. For example, during the 2020 general election, 2.6 million of the 6.8 million Pennsylvanians who voted did so via mail and absentee ballot.

Republicans’ legal argument uses recent rulings by both federal and state courts that undated mail-in ballots must be counted as a pretext to challenge the entirety of Act 77.

From Tim Persico, DCCC Executive Director:

“Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth vote by mail, and their freedom to participate in our democracy should be protected. But Pennsylvania’s MAGA Republicans are hellbent on making it harder for people to vote because they know they’re offering voters a bad deal. Democrats are going to protect the right to vote for all and we’ll defeat this attempt to limit Pennsylvanian’s freedom in court.”

From Christie Roberts, DSCC Executive Director:

“In Pennsylvania voting by mail is hugely popular amongst voters of every political party and it was enshrined into law through a bipartisan super-majority. There is no valid reason to restrict this right of Pennsylvanians to easily participate in our democracy, and we will fight back against Republicans’ campaign of voter suppression with every tool at our disposal – including defeating them in court.”