Friday, November 25, 2005

State Senate 20th district

Who wants to be a state senator raise your hand? Two more candidates made it official that they are seeking to replace retiring Charles Lemmond
in the State Senate. As reported earlier Harrisburg insider Lisa Baker and chiropractor David Madeira have announced their intention to seek the Republican nomination for the seat.

One of the new candidates has a strong background in education and has experience dealing with property tax issues. From the TL:

Russell Bigus, a parochial school principal and president of the Dallas School Board, has entered the increasingly crowded Republican race for state Sen. Charles Lemmond’s seat in 2006. Bigus, a 34-year-old Dallas Township resident, works as principal of Regis Elementary School in Forty Fort. He has a master’s degree in biology from East Stroudsburg University, with a concentration in wildlife research.

If elected, Bigus said he would focus heavily on tackling property tax reform, quality deer population management, rising health care premiums and out-of-state garbage hauling through the area. He said he would never vote to accept a pay raise for his post while in office.

The other new candidate is Jackson Township Republican Ronald Chvotzkin. He is motivated by a frustration in dealing the mental health system. From the CV:

He decided to enter the race after experiencing problems finding help for his daughter, Heather, who has a mental illness and bulimia. If elected, Chvotzkin said he will work to pass laws protecting the rights of the mentally ill.

Chvotzkin vowed not to take a pay raise if elected and called himself a "people's candidate" There will be no back room deals or nepotism," he said. "The wealthy people have too much control and the poor are getting poorer and the middle class are feeling the squeeze. I'm running to help the people." Chvotzkin said he will maintain offices in every county of the 20th District and they will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He supports eliminating the property tax with a tax based on income and wants to restore funding to special education. In addition, Chvotzkin said he will work to create more high-paying jobs in the district and reduce health insurance premiums. "If school districts eliminate the middle man and purchase health insurance right from the source, they can save $300 to $400 a month per family," he said.

He wants to be an advocate for the mentally ill, bashes the rich, wants to move to a tax system based on income and increase funding for special education. Sounds like a Democrat to me. Hopefully a serious Democrat will get into this soon.

And we can expect at least one more person to throw their hat into the ring if this report in the TL tells us anything:

Republican Kingston Mayor Jim Haggerty is also interested but has not yet announced his plans.
Rob Jacobs, chairman of the Friends of Haggerty campaign committee, released a statement Monday saying Haggerty has received an "overwhelming" level of encouragement to run based on his "impressive record of accomplishment as a mayor. Mayor Haggerty is consulting with friends and supporters in serious consideration of a potential candidacy," the statement said.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jim Haggerty has to be smiling now that the school bored president of Dallas joined the race, this hurts baker in the back Mountian
Eventhough he works in haggertyy's back yard, All the West side comminuties look up to Kingston. Im sure this guy runs a good school, but haggerty runs a good government at low cost, while Im sure this guy has had no choice but to riase the tutition becuase thats the curent trend in Private education

Anonymous said...

Great blog I hope we can work to build a better health care system. Health insurance is a major aspect to many.

Gort said...

BC, Tell me more.I have a lot of ideas on healthcare and would like to hear yours. Leave them in the comments or toss me an email.

Anonymous said...

This Bigus had his share of jobs and isn't a PSEA certified teacher or principal. He can't account for declining enrollment in his current school, nor the school that closed prior to his present. He's not a team player and is easily influenced by payola or common thought. Good luck to us in PA if he wins.

Anonymous said...

Thank God the people spoke.
All the negative campaigning paid off for the Best Man for the job, The only Women !
Congratulations Lisa Baker.
You can still hold your head up high. To bad for Bigus and Haggerty, They can not say the same. Shame On Both Of You !!!
Thank You Mrs. Baker for being up front and honest and for not slinging mud, we all know you could have.