PA SENATE

There are 50 Senate seats of which 25 are up in this election.  Of these, 13 incumbents had no opponent.  There are three open seats because of retirements: Pat Vance (R-Cumberland) and John Wozniak (D- Cambria) and one, Lloyd Smucker (R-Lancaster), the Republican nominee in the 16^th congressional district, the one being vacated by Rep. Joe Pitts.  Incumbents are bolded.

District            Counties                     Who                            Party               Occupation

5                      Phila.                           Ross Feinberg              R                      no info available

5                                                          John Sabatina D                                 PA Representative

9                      Delaware                     Tom Killion                 R                      insurance producer

9                                                          Marty Molloy               D                     nonprofit group

13                    Lancaster                     Scott Martin                 R                      county commissioner

13                                                        Greg Paulson               D         legislative aide to Dem. Rep.

15                    Dauphin, Perry             John DiSanto                R                      developer

15                                                        Rob Teplitz                  D                     attorney

17        Delaware, Montgomery             Brian Gondeck             R                      attorney

17                                                        Daylin Leach               D                     attorney

19                    Chester                        Jack London                 R                      insurance producer

19                                                        Andy Dinniman           D                     legislator

25        Jefferson, Clearfield, etc.          Joe Scarnati                R                      local official

25                                                        Jerri Buchanan             D                     information unavailable

31        Cumberland, York                    Mike Regan                  R                      legislator

31                                                        John Bosha                  D                     pharmacist

35        Bedford, Cambria                     Wayne Langerholc       R          assistant district attorney

35                                                        Ed Cernic                     D                     county controller

37        Washington, Allegheny Guy Reschenthaler                 R                      district judge

37                                                        Ed Eichenlaub              D         environmental health specialist

41        Indiana, Butler, Armstrong        Don White                   R                      insurance producer

41                                                        Tony DeLoreto             D                     restaurant owner

49                    Erie                              Daniel Laughlin             R                      home builder

49                                                        Sean Wiley                   D         health system foundation          

The only working farmer running is Senate Agriculture & Rural Affairs Chair Elder Vogel (R-Beaver).  A Senate candidate with a farming background is Lancaster County Democrat Greg Poulson running for the open seat vacated by Senator Lloyd Smucker who gave up his Senate seat to run for Congress.  Poulson says that his father was an organic farmer.  As a Representative, Senator Sabatina served as Minority Chair of the House Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee.

Senate Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee members running for re-election are Majority Chair Elder Vogel, Minority Chair Judy Schwank (D-Berks), Dave Argall (R-Schuylkill), Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) – He is Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources & Energy Committee –, Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland), Andy Dinniman (D-Chester), and Rob Teplitz (D-Dauphin/Perry).

 PA HOUSE

There are 203 House seats and all are up for election each two years.  98 seats are uncontested.  Those on the House Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee who are unopposed include:  Majority Chair Martin Causer (R-McKean), Minority Chair Mike Carroll (D-Luzerne), are unopposed.  The only Representative with a working farm operation is Rep. Mark Keller (R-Perry) who is also unopposed.  Incumbents are bolded.  Contested races include:

District                        Counties         Who                            Party               Stated Occupation

199                  Cumberland                 Stephen Bloom             R                      attorney

199                                                      Jill Sunday Bartoli        D                     info not available

164                  Delaware                     Inderjit Bains               R                      auto repair shop owner

164                                                      Margo Davidson         D                     non profit

102                  Lebanon                       Russ Diamond             R                      business owner

102                                                      Jake Long                    D                     volunteer advocate

194                  Phila./Montgomery       Bill Pounds                  R                      non-profit

194                                                      Pam DeLissio              D                     legislator

137                  Northampton                Joe Emrick                  R                      teacher

137                                                      David Mattei                D                     insurance agent

89                    Franklin                       Rob Kauffman            R                      legislator

89                                                        Christine Tolbert          D                     retired teacher

114                  Lackawanna                 Cheryl Scandale-Murnin  R                   adjunct faculty

114                                                      Sid Michaels Kavulich  D                    communications spec.

13                    Chester/Lancaster         John Lawrence           R                      legislator

13                                                        Nancy Dean                 D                     info not available

40        Washington/Allegheny             John Maher                R                      accountant

40                                                        Andrew Zahalsky         D                     oncologist

51                    Fayette Somerset          Tim Mahoney             D                     legislator

51                                                        Matthew Dowling         R                      non-profit

133                  Lehigh                         Daniel McNeill             D                     retired

133                                                      David Molony              R                      acupuncturist

109                  Columbia                     Dave Millard               R                      legislator

109                                                      Eddie Sanders III          D                     landscaper

91                    Adams                         Dan Moul                    R                      legislator

91                                                        Denise Weldon-Siviy    D                     professional writer

99                    Lancaster                     David Zimmerman      R                      legislator

99                                                        Duane Groff                 D                     info not available

NOTE: Rep. Maher formerly chaired the House Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee.

NATIONAL RACES AND AGRICULTURE

Hillary Clinton: “Too many rural communities aren’t reaping the rewards of our nation’s economic success—despite their critical role in our economy. Unemployment and poverty rates present a real challenge to these communities while accessible health care and education are too often out of reach”.  https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/rural-communities/

• Create a national infrastructure bank to improve rural transportation and broadband access and grow the rural economy by expanding access to capital; expand the New Markets Tax Credit to encourage investments to prevent communities from spiraling downward after a major economic shift or plant closing.
• Increase funding to support the next generation of farmers and ranchers in local food markets and regional food systems; create a focused safety net to help family farms get through challenging times.
• Assisting farms that conserve and improve natural resources; strengthen the Renewable Fuel Standard and double loans that help support the bio-based economy.
• Health: Support for rural telemedicine and Medicaid expansion
• Democratic Platform also includes support for Regional Conservation Partnership Program, support for commodity price support safety net.

Donald Trump:  There is no specific agriculture/rural issues tab on the campaign website but he has taken public positions on issues that impacting the agricultural economy.  https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions

• Trade: Opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership which many ag associations support as opening trade opportunities; renegotiate NAFTA
• Opposes Waters of the United States (WOTUS)
• Pro energy development with natural gas and coal
• Scaling back “years of disastrous regulations unilaterally imposed by our out of control bureaucracy” and imposing a moratorium on most new regulations
• Continue ethanol and biofuel blending subsidies
• Republican Platform also includes supporting a market-oriented commodity price safety net, separating SNAP (food stamps) from the Farm Bill and removing it from the USDA, and support of Crop Insurance

Jill Stein:  Avoid chronic diseases by investing in local, fresh, organic food systems; ensure that consumers have better information about food – country of origin, GMO content, toxic chemical ingredients; ban pesticides that threaten survival of pollinators; moratorium on GMOs and pesticides until they are proven safe; support organic and regenerative agriculture, and sustainable forestry. http://www.jill2016.com/

Gary Johnson:  Neither his website or the Libertarian Party Platform have a stated position on agriculture but the Libertarian Party 2016 Platform addresses property rights:  “Respect for property rights is fundamental to maintaining a free and prosperous society. It follows that the freedom to contract to obtain, retain, profit from, manage, or dispose of one’s property must also be upheld. Libertarians would free property owners from government restrictions on their rights to control and enjoy their property, as long as their choices do not harm or infringe on the rights of others. Eminent domain, civil asset forfeiture, governmental limits on profits, governmental production mandates, and governmental controls on prices of goods and services (including wages, rents, and interest) are abridgements of such fundamental rights.”