State Senate update

We now have a 6th candidate seeking the Republican nomination to succeed Charlie Lemmond in the 20th Senatorial District of Pennsylvania. Joining front runners Kingston Mayor Jim Haggerty and Harrisburg veteran Lisa Baker is Karen Boback, a teacher from Tunkhannock. She has an impressive resume:

As a wife, mother, teacher, professor, church lecturer and active community member, Dr. Karen Boback acknowledges she wears many hats. Boback has been a teacher in the Tunkhannock Area School District for 33 years. She also holds an elected position as Harveys Lake's inspector of elections. She has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in administration and organizational leadership and holds a post doctorate degree in technology from College Misericordia.

As far as as a platform she says all the right things.

"Agriculture is the number one industry in Pennsylvania. We need better laws and regulations to protect our farmers and improve prices," she said. Boback also strongly supports health care and property tax reform. She said the health care system in the state is "broken" and she wants to do more than support reform. "I want to be a part of the reform," Boback said. "It's time for new blood and fresh ideas to continue change in the legislature. Let it begin with me. Your concerns are my platform, and when I win, you win."

Everyone is for property tax reform but the devil is in the details as recent sessions of the legislature have shown. Improve prices for farmers? I thought the market was supposed to set a price for any product and other than health and safety the government should stay out of the way. I do agree that health care is broken and look forward to hearing her solution to the problem.

The other Republicans who announced plans to run for the seat: Russell Bigus, Dallas Township, Ronald Chvotzkin, Jackson Township and Dallas chiropractor David Madeira. The one Democrat that has been mentioned, Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepnak, is playing Hamlet on the Susquehanna and has not made a decision to run or not.