Blue Wave

By Kolby Cowher, Staff Writer
October 31, 2018

The midterm elections are imminent and a Blue Wave is preparing to flood Pennsylvania politics.  Not just in Washington, but in the PA State Legislature as well.

The 44th District will be a close one as Democrat Michele Knoll, a former educator and school board member will try to seize the seat for her party against Republican candidate and small business owner Valerie Gaydos as incumbent Mark Mustio decided not to run this cycle.

Another race that might flip Democratic is in the 46th Legislative District as the voter turnout in the primaries blew the GOP out of the water and there is roughly 4,000 more registered Democrats in the district. Incumbent Republican Jason Ortitay will face off against Byron Timmins. Timmins was recruited out of Miami University by Kaufmann’s Department Store. While there he was part of their buying program.  Byron says he will fight to keep jobs here and he will fight to bring new jobs here.

In the 48th, incumbent Republican Timothy O’Neal, formerly served as an army ranger in Afghanistan and he will face off against Democrat Clark Mitchell who is now an attorney in Washington County. Mitchell plans to fight in Harrisburg for affordable access to health care for all families, veterans, and senior citizens. and this is another district that contains 4,000 more registered blue voters. If the voter turnout is strong for the Democrats, then the Democrats will win yet another district.

In the 74th District the Democrats should definitely have the edge as they have roughly 8,000 more registered voters than the GOP. There is no excuse for the -Democrats to lose this election. This election will pit Democratic pastor Dan Williams against incumbent Republican Amber Turner. Williams, a Biblical Seminarian of Geneva College, has led the Willia Mae Williams Memorial Scholarship Fund, awarding merit scholarships to young people based on academic achievements for many years.

The 146th District is going to be close. The Democrats have a mere 69 more registered voters than the GOP so this election can go either way. Joseph Ciresi,  Director of Sales and Promotions at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, will face incumbent Republican Thomas Quigley. Quigley previously beat Ceresi back in 2016 in a close race wherein he won by 2.7%. If the Democrats come out and vote in this district it could and should easily flip blue.

Democrats need to come out this election cycle in order to take some districts back. We need to prevent the Republicans from obtaining a super majority in the PA House. The only way to make this possible is if blue electors come out and vote on November 6th.