119th House District- The rematch

Jerry Mullery with Aaron Kaufman at the Spring 2012 Blogfest

Republican (?) Justin Behrens took on incumbent  Democrat Jerry Mullery  in 2016 and lost.

MULLERY, GERALD J(DEM)               56.24%     Votes: 13,760

BEHRENS, JUSTIN VALERA(REP)      43.76%     Votes: 10,707

Both are running again and have golf tournaments coming up. 

Come out to support Justin Behrens for State Representative in the 119th District in this special event recognizing our Veterans!


                                                               

I'm not sure what golf has to do with veterans but that is his angle.                                     

Not to be outdone Mullery has his own fundraiser on the links

Rep. Gerald J. Mullery Golf Tournament

On Friday, September 15, 2017, Citizens for Mullery is hosting a golf tournament fundraiser at Valley Country Club in Sugarloaf, PA. The tournament promises to be a fun event and a wonderful opportunity to play one of the regions finest courses, all while supporting a true advocate for the citizens of the 119th Legislative District, State Representative Gerald J. Mullery

 

Petition Day is Tuesday

The last day to file nominating petitions is Tuesday according to the PA Department of State.
 I'm a bit out of touch on these things but to my knowledge only 2 state reps in Luzerne County  will have a challenger. Justin Behrens (R) in the 119th will take on Gerald Mullery(D) and Bob McDonald(D) is running against Aaron Kaufer(R) in the 120th. Please update me if you know of any others.

Justin Behrens takes a pass

In the race to succeed John Yudichak in the 119th State House seat we are down to 3 Democrats and 1 Republican. The GOP hopeful is Rick Arnold and the Dems are Bob Morgan, Gary Zingaretti and Jerry Mullery.

Justin Behrens decided to end his bid and sent along this well thought out explaination.





Over the past couple weeks, while working diligently working to obtain signatures in order to placed on the ballot for State Representative of the 119th District, I have come to realize the severity of a much bigger issue, political mistrust. This was evident by acts of angry door slamming, hostile conversations, and lack of interest in becoming registered voters. The voice of the 119th District is clear, whomever is elected into this office will need to carefully listen to the people they serve in order to gain back public trust.
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This is why I have decided to pull my name from ballot and dedicate my next couple years understanding the issues of the people and getting to know them. Serving in the United States Army to defend this constitution and this country with honor, pride and integrity was something that I took seriously. Now, I am going to serve the people of this community with the same values. I want to get a better feel for the people of this district and work on building my grass roots campaign.
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I thank all those that supported me and assisted in obtaining signatures, we will be doing this again in the future. I will consider running for public office again keeping to my promise of running without any money from political action committees. Instead, my campaign will run from the bottom up by volunteer supporters with the focus on grass roots interactions. Inspired by Rep Yudichak who was able to knock on the door of each voter twice during his first campaign for the district, I hope to be visiting each doorstep multiple times in the upcoming years.
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I will continue to address ending regressive taxation, such as property tax, so that we can ease the undue burden that has been placed on working families. With progressive taxation we can fund our public schools properly, empowering the next generation of leaders.
I will support for legislation that will empower communities to choose a system of governance that would include checks and balances. I believe public money should not be given to private schools. Our public school teachers are heroes and there is not a better investment a society can make than to support their efforts.
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Together, with supporters, I will also endeavor to bring about quick meaningful healthcare reform at the state level. I am open to working with any solution that will increase access and quality for everyone.
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Finally, I do not consider myself a politician, but rather a statesman. I will continue to build the voice of the people and encourage candidates that are running to speak that voice, which I so passionately helped defend while serving in the United States Army. I will continue to have my website up running at www.friends4justinbehrens.com where I will dialogue and work with the people addressing their needs and concerns. Honor, Pride, and Integrity back in Harrisburg and this great Nation.

Another 119th state rep candidate

A fourth Democrat has thrown his hat into ring to succeed John Yudichak who is running for the state senate. Justin Behrens is an Iraq war vet from Mountaintop.

TL: “I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to serve our community and what we can achieve together.” said Behrens.
“I served my country with pride, honor and integrity. I will serve the 119th District upholding those same values along with vision, leadership and compassion.”

Gary Zingaretti and Jerry Mullery have previously announced that they are running for the seat and Bob Morgan is circulating petitions for the Democratic nomination.

The lone Republican so far is Rick Arnold. I miss attributed a quote yesterday by Arnold to Zingaretti.

Arnold said

"In my mind, I have more opposition now in the primary than I will in November," he said, adding "we'll pretend like we're running a primary right through May."

My apologies to both gentleman and thanks to the reader who corrected me.