Cross-posted from dKos
We are up to 4 declared Democratic candidates in the hunt for the soon-to-be open 5th district seat. 2 of these candidates have declared in the last week, and I will rehash some of what I’ve written on the other 2 candidates as well, so that it is all in one place.
The latest person to enter the race (and the only female of all 12 candidates for the seat) is Lycoming College education professor, Darcy Gustafson. The CDT has coverage of the race and Gustafson’s announcement:
Patton Township Democrat and Lycoming College education professor Darcy Gustafson said Saturday she is circulating nomination petitions for the 5th congressional district seat and “testing the waters” before committing to the race.
“I would like to be the best candidate I can be,” she said from Pittsburgh, where she has enrolled in a course for political candidates. “If I’m not the winner in the primary, I want to be the best help I can be to whoever wins.”
At the end of last week, Kossack FISG brought us the press release announcing Mark McCracken’s entry into the race. McCracken is currently serving his second term as Clearfield County Commisioner. He was re-elected in 2007 with the most votes of the 4 candidates running. The other 2 spots went to Republicans. He serves on numerous county and regional boards and such, which you can see in his press release. Before being elected County Commissioner, he served 10 years on the Clearfield Area School Board. Clearfield County is a large, mostly rural county of roughly 83,000 people, and includes the city of Dubois. More about him from his press release:
Before entering politics, Mr. McCracken worked in the computer and information technology field from 1983 to 1988 with North American Refractories Engineering Department in Curwensville, PA and served as Director of Information Technology for Clearfield County Government from 1988 to 2004.
In announcing his candidacy McCracken said “I believe I have the experience necessary to serve this vast rural district in north central Pennsylvania. As county commissioner, everyday I deal directly with important issues facing all counties in the district including economic development and job creation, balancing budgets, controlling health care costs and dealing with constituent issues. I also work on a regular basis with officials from all levels of government including the state and federal.”
. . snip . .
Mr. McCracken also serves as chairman of the Northern Counties Heath Insurance Purchasing Cooperative Board. This board was organized in 2005 through the efforts of Commissioner McCracken working with commissioners in Clinton and McKean counties to form a multi-county health insurance purchasing co-op and create a self insured pool account. Participation in the co-op is up to 9 county governments and member counties are bringing health insurance costs under control which is saving tax dollars.
Here is what I’ve written on the other 2 candidates previously:
3-term Lock Haven Mayor Richard Vilello, a building inspector, ran unopposed in the 2007 and 2003 elections for mayor. He was appointed in 2007 by Rendell as one of 3 co-chairs of The Governors Advisory Council on Rural Affairs, and also served on that body at least in some capacity going back to 2004. In addition, Vilello serves as the Central District Officer for the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities. I haven’t found anything about his stances on the issues specifically. In his announcement, he played up infrastructure issues:
“I think it’s time to send someone with local experience and quit wasting money,” he said. “Every day in the paper you read about millions and billions of dollars for this and that project, for fixing infrastructure all around the world, and we’re not fixing our own infrastructure.
“The local schools get stuck with No Child Left Behind, and the people who pass laws have never been in a school except when they sat behind a desk.
“The health care system is a mess and rural health care always gets the short end of the stick,” he added.
Journalist and 2-tour Iraq vet, Bill Cahir, has made some worrisome statements about “energy independence” and Iraq.
Like Peterson, Cahir said he also is an advocate of alternative energy sources.
“We need to invest more resources in domestic oil exploration. I also am a big supporter of nuclear power as a means of generating electricity,” he said.
Anyone who knows anything about Peterson knows that to say he was an “advocate of alternative energy sources” is a sick joke. Drilling and digging anywhere and everywhere – that’s what Peterson supported. I’m hoping Cahir was only trying to speak well of the retiring Peterson in this instance – and that he simply didn’t mention real alternative energies that he also supports.
On to Iraq:
“The Democrats in Congress don’t have the votes to override the president on this issue. But we have to look at the fact that we now have a number of things going our way in Iraq,” he said. “The surge (in U.S. military personnel) is going to run its course by July. The next president and the next congress will inherit Operation Iraqi Freedom.”
“As a two-tour veteran, I think I have ideas on where to go next with that mission. As a Marine reservist, I’m not going to criticize the commander-in-chief — I support the mission.
“We need to capitalize on the security gains we’ve made (in Iraq), rather than any kind of a rapid withdrawal. We need to honor the alliances we’ve developed with the Sunni sheiks who are supporting us, and take a look at what the sensible policies are right now,” Cahir said.
But there are some definite positives to Cahir as well:
Besides his military experience, Cahir enters the race with the most knowledge and experience on Capitol Hill of any of the candidates who have announced or who are considering the seat.
Before his career in journalism, which included writing for the Lebanon Daily News, Hanover Evening Sun, York Dispatch and newspapers in New Jersey and New York, Cahir worked as a staff assistant to Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee from 1990 to 1993, and as a staff assistant on health care issues for former U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford, D-Pa., from August 1993 until he left office in January 1995.
He was part of Sen. Edward Kennedy’s, D-Mass., labor and economic policy team that helped pass the Family and Medical Leave Act and other laws.
And finally, to make a long diary even longer, Cahir, McCracken and Vilello have been making the rounds at county Democratic meetings. The CDT covers the Centre County meeting that happened Saturday:
A two-tour Iraq War veteran, Cahir (pronounced care) said the United States can’t quit Iraq overnight and leave the security of U.S. allies such as Saudi Arabia, Israel and Lebanon in jeopardy. He said a bipartisan plan should be forged to get out without abandoning U.S. allies. “We can’t just kick over the apple cart and walk away from them,” he said. “I don’t think we should stay — we do have to map a way out.”
. . snip . .
He agreed with Cahir on Iraq. “You can’t just cut and run,” McCracken said. “You can’t let that whole region fall apart over there.”
Lock Haven Mayor Vilello said that since he became mayor of the old industrial city in 2000 he has helped to steer it through a $6 million downtown beautification project and to establish a summer concert series with a good and growing reputation.
Lock Haven University is the fastest growing of the 14 state universities, he said, the airport that Piper abandoned is home to 55 small businesses and the company First Quality Tissue has invested $550 million to put the city’s old papermill industrial site back into the economy.
He said rural health care is a major concern. “We have to invest in rural health care because we can’t drive 60 miles to State College when there’s a big emergency,” he said.
