Duke for state rep

Democratic voters in the 117th District, please write in Mark Barrett for State Representative on Tuesday, April 24th!

Due to the Supreme Court ruling regarding the redistricting plans that shifted the boundaries back to their 2001 borders so close to the petition due-date, Mark didn't have enough time to collect the amount of signatures needed for ballot access, despite an amazing push in the final days. He is leading a true grassroots campaign to get on the November ballot to represent the voters in the 117th! You may know him from radio call-in shows as "Duke from Dallas". He will have all party resources available for his run.

An accomplished software developer, Mark will stand up to corporate lobbyists and the gas industry in Harrisburg, and be a stalwart and responsible leader for clean, safe drinking water and he will work to end loopholes that allow corporations to essentially do as they please with no oversight. He understands that when our students are doing well, our state is doing well, and while Tom  Corbett aims to destroy our educational system by cutting it down to the bone, Mark will restore funding to our public schools. If you feel that Karen Boback has been unresponsive to citizens, running unopposed will make her even less so.  She needs to be held accountable for her abysmal, Corbett-enabling record in Harrisburg.

Her recent vote to allow Republicans in Harrisburg to supersede local zoning laws allows the gas industry to override the will of the people in communities across Pennsylvania for the sake of profit; that's just one of many issues where Rep. Boback has sided with special interests over the people she was elected to represent. She voted for Tom Corbett's disastrous budget two years in a row, crippling public education and further burdening local taxpayers. Essential PA services, like Adult Basic heath care & Medicaid, that help everyday Pennsylvanians, have been sacrificed on the altar of "deficit reduction" in order to give more tax breaks for corporations. Unbelievably, Boback even proposed raising taxes on seniors and low income families through new taxes on food, clothing, and retirement income, in order to eliminate taxes for wealthy property owners!

We deserve better, and Mark is the right man for the job. Six years of Karen Boback is enough. So this Tuesday, please write in Mark Barrett for State Representative - he won't work for the gas industry, but he will work for YOU!

Casey Evans

2nd District Chairman

Dallas

Duke from Dallas for State Represenative

 From his Facebook page


Politicians Shouldn't Run Unopposed-
Write-in "Mark Barrett" PA Rep 117th on the Dem Ballot.
Heard on local talk radio, ”Duke from Dallas” will work to protect your Property Values from Natural Gas Corporations that threaten Communities with Heavy Industrial Facilities & Compressor Stations from the Big Government “Act 13” that eliminates traditional “Local Zoning Rights” and quality of life.

Duke tried to get on the primary ballot but got a late start circulating petitions and came up short. He needs at least 300 write-ins to win the Democratic nomination. I'm sure that Republican State Rep  Karen Boback will also mount a write-in effort trying to secure both nominations.

Gene greets Mitt

From the inbox

Morning Gort,

Attached is the picture of me confronting Romney on Thursday at the Romney event in the 11th District. With a firm handshake and with direct eye contact he was shocked when I said, " Governor Romney, I am Gene Stilp, a Democratic candidate in this 11th district, I want you to know that I am totally opposed to the Republican budget that you support." His eyes got wide and he withdrew. Thanks Gene

Stilp and his pink pig greet Romney

“He’s going to talk about energy today and I’m trying to give the other side, of protecting our most valuable resource here, water,” Stilp said. “He wants to take away all regulation, and also he wants to extend the huge tax breaks that we already give to the gas industry.”...Duke Barrett of Dallas Township, a member of the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, questioned whether Romney’s support of domestic drilling really offers the energy independence for America he purports it will.
“Any energy policy that allows exports on the world market to make profit is not patriotic and certainly does not give us energy independence,” Barrett said.

PA State Represenative candidates in Luzerne County

The candidate roster can found at the PA Department of State.

Mike Carroll (D-118) and Karen Boback (R-117) will not have an opponent in the upcoming primary and general elections. Like most political junkies I hate uncontested elections because the people should always have a choice plus you never know if the incumbent might have something blow up on them. It looks looks like Duke started too late to get the 300 signatures needed in the 117th.

The big news is assistant Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Frank McCabe is running in the Democratic primary trying to unseat my 3rd favorite State Rep Phyllis Mundy in the 120th HD.
A resident of the district said "Nice, a stealth undercover petition signing. He must know people to get all of those signatures with no one spilling the beans. Now its getting fun." I don't think that Mundy hasn't has had a primary challenger since she won the election in 1990 taking the seat from Republican incumbent Scott Dietterick who was found guilty of insurance fraud just before the election. The Yonk will correct me if I'm wrong. What Democrat could have a beef with Phyllis? Young Republican Aaron Kaufer is the GOP candidate.



The other matchups include Ransom Young (D) taking on freshman Tarah Toohil (R) in the Hazleton area 116th HD. Rick Arnold (R) has a rematch with Gerald Mullery (D) in the 119th. Pete Mailloux (R) is taking on incumbent Eddie Day Pashinski (D) in the 121st HD for now but all this could change depending on the mapmakers response to the Supreme Court.

Duke from Dallas for State Represenative

Yesterday I got an email from a reluctant Democratic Committeeman from Nanticoke about another subject that included this tidbit
"Duke from Dallas is running for something or other, I didn't quite catch what - against Karen Boback, maybe? He just got drafted for it shortly before the meeting."




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That got my wheels turning so I asked Duke if he was running but he didn't give me a straight answer so I asked the 2nd District Chairman who gave me an Apparatchik type answer "I have no comment at this time. Please expect an official Democratic Party press release regarding the 117th State Representative seat following the submission of the nominating petitions."


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Surfing around social media (Facebook) it was easy to confirm that he is circulating petitions.
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From Duke's page
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my PA Rep Karen Boback voted to put the value of my residence & quality of our neighborhoods a FISCAL RISK. Dallas Twp spent about $150,000 & 2 years' work on Zoning only to have Rep Boback turn her back on LOCAL DEMOCRACY. If she doesn't read or can't understand the bills she votes on that let Foreign & out of state CORPORATIONS trump local citizens' rights to clean air & water it might be time for a CHANGE
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Home Rule Disaster: Pennsylvania Residents May Be Forced to Live Within 300 Feet of A Frack Well Pa
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Below we see Karen Boback discussing the impact of fracking on the dairy industry with a constituent.
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