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Denny Wolff is unequivocal about it.
“I never met Nancy Pelosi. I never talked to her.”
And the Democrat promises if elected to represent the 9th Congressional District, “I would not vote for Pelosi” as Speaker of the House.
Meeting with the Times Leader editorial board Wednesday, the former state agriculture secretary pointed out he served on the World Trade Organization’s Agriculture Technical Committee during both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and has always got along with conservatives, in part because he spent much of his life running a family dairy farm, and farmers are overwhelmingly conservative.
“I never met a liberal dairy farmer in my life,” he said, adding that serving in the U.S. Congress would not be about party. “It’s about the people of the 9th Congressional District.” He said he has agreed with some of the actions of President Donald Trump, including renegotiating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with terms potentially helpful to U.S. agriculture, and efforts to cut back “over-reaching regulations.” But he is willing to speak up when he disagrees.
In an Oct. 16 meeting with the editorial board, Meuser said he will support Trump’s agenda if elected.
Wolff, 67, said he dislikes negative campaigning, but insisted he was forced into it when Meuser’s first ads went negative, accusing him of being a puppet for Pelosi, a Democrat representing the San Francisco area since 1987.
On the issues
Wolff, whose farm is in Millville, Columbia County, outlined his position on multiple issues:
• On border security, Wolff said it is essential, but that building a costly wall as proposed by Trump is not the answer. He said advanced technology such as camera towers and ground sensors (detecting both people crossing on the ground and digging tunnels beneath) could be equally effective at much lower cost.
• On so-called sanctuary cities, Wolff said the real problem is resolving the issue of an estimated 12 million people in the country illegally, and that deporting all of them “is physically and financially impossible.” He believes a way to “bring them into the system” must be designed, possibly including background checks, fines and deportation of those who committed crimes. He stressed he wasn’t talking about granting “amnesty or even citizenship,” but rather about a visa or similar program giving them some legal status.
• On immigration, Wolff said his farm has never used migrant seasonal workers, but they are important in agriculture and in food processing, and that the current system — the H2A temporary agricultural visa program — is inadequate because it does not reliably provide workers when needed. He said a proposal to grant such visas good for several consecutive years would stabilize the supply of seasonal workers.
• On tariffs and trade, Wolff said some deals need to be renegotiated but Trump’s approach may be doing as much harm as good. He noted the Trans Pacific Partnership, which Trump pulled out of early in his tenure, actually would have helped reset trade deals with Canada and Mexico. He also said Trump’s widespread use of tariffs is the wrong way to go. “No one wins tariff wars.”
• On health care, Wolff said he opposes a single-payer system, and called the Affordable Care Act a good first step that could be improved. He said changes could be made either by repealing the law and replacing it with another, or by working to fix the law without repeal. He stressed, though, that under all circumstances insurance companies should be barred from denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions, a feature of the ACA that has become a top talking point for Democrats in the mid-term election. He mentioned a son born with a liver condition that required an early transplant and ongoing medical attention.
Wolff also decried the nation’s excessive debt and the increase of deficit spending under Trump, arguing the two parties must come together to reduce both. He said cyber-security is the most important issue in national security, noting it is becoming possible to hack even small things “from pacemakers to car starters.” And while he didn’t mention it until asked, he noted Camp Victory — set up near his farm to help children with special needs — hosts “1,700 kids each summer.” Wolff was the founder of the site.
Noting many candidates for the House of Representatives have been promising to break the gridlock in Washington by focusing on “policy, not party,” Wolff said one of his first actions if elected would be to reach out to the people.
The 9th District includes the western part of Luzerne County, parts of Berks and Northumberland counties, and all of Carbon, Columbia, Lebanon, Montour and Schuylkill.