PA Primary Results: Environmental Justice Candidates Move Forward
On May 19th, primary voters in PA advanced strong candidates for the General Elections in November - those who have a record of supporting environmental causes.
Chris Rabb - US House candidate for PA-3 District
Rabb won against Legacy candidate Shariff Street and political beginner Dr, Ala Stanford. Shariff is part of a family political organization that is part of the City of Philadelphia political establishment - but he was nonetheless ineffective in bringing out the 145,000 non-voting registered Democrats in the district. We can do better. Overall, thirty percent of registered voters voted in the Democratic primary (this is still better than the 2022 national average of 22 % in all primaries in all states.)
If you voted in the primary your vote therefore counted big time. Rabb voters carried the weight for those who did not vote! Voting in primaries is a “super leverage” event for those who participate. So in this race for US House of Representatives, with no Republican in opposition, each vote for Rabb is essentially equivalent to 4.5 Registered Democrats or (assuming no independent emerges) like 7.4 Registered Voters.
Other primary races we noticed:
Sierra McNeil: Running for State Rep for 195th Legislative District, in North Philadelphia
“Sierra McNeil, a social worker who ran with the backing of the Working Families Party, ousted incumbent Rep. Keith Harris.. McNeil is a Strawberry Mansion resident and Temple alumna, and her platform is focused in part on improving public transit, violence prevention, energy affordability and public education.”
Chris Johnson Running for State Rep for 200th Legislative District, in Mount Airy and Germantown
Mr Johnson, a first time candidate, beat two other candidates (with 61.47% of votes cast) to step into the vacancy Rep. Chris Rabb will leave in the PA House. Johnson has a masters in public administration from Penn and has worked in various public policy positions for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s Philadelphia office, and prior to that with Rep. Joanna McClinton, now PA House Speaker. He’s 33 and has a progressive agenda with a focus on public education.
Bob Harvie, Running for US House of Representatives, PA 1st District
In the Bucks County Democratic primary, Bob Harvie defeated Lucia Simonelli. He is a Bucks County Commissioner. He will run against the incumbent Republican, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the November general election. Harvie is a former Bucks County Technical High School history teacher and former planning commissioner. Unfortunately, his campaign web site is silent on his overall environmental views. He favors road infrastructure improvements, with a brief nod to public transit and carbon reduction.
Mary Gay Scanlon Incumbent, Running for US House of Representatives, PA 5th District
Scanlon ran unopposed in her primary. She will face Republican Nick Manganaro, a former investment banker and risk quant, self-described “conservative republican’, who was also unopposed. Scanlon’s environmental record is strong: supporting transitioning to 100% clean energy by 2050, banning fracking, eliminating oil subsidies and rejoining the Paris Climate Accord. She also successfully pushed for increased protection against flooding and sea-level rise along the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers
Josh Shapiro, Incumbent, Running for Governor of Pennsylvania
“He’s the best we have, running for Governor”, was this author’s conclusion of Shapiro’s unopposed primary victory. Shapiro has been a bit too shrewd in seeking to appease the unappeasable fracking interests in Pennsylvania. He failed to bring the Commonwealth into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (REGI) although this opportunity to reduce PA’s carbon footprint was an open door in front of him. CNEP will push for more serious carbon reduction efforts against his policy of treading the middle way.