500 gather in Murrysville to hear Casey challengers
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Republican candidates for U.S. Senate, left to right, Sam Rohrer, Marc Scaringi, Steve Welch, Tim Burns, Tom Smith, and John Kensinger, attend a forum held at Franklin Regional Middle School in Murrysville Friday night.
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The cold of winter did not stop Republicans in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties from breaking ground Friday night in the race for one of Pennsylvania's seats in the U.S. Senate.
More than 500 people gathered in the Franklin Regional Middle School auditorium to hear their party's candidates and cast votes in a straw poll for the man they would like to challenge Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in November.
The forum was organized by the Murrysville-Export Republican Committee after Jill Cooper, the group's chairwoman, realized she -- and many voters -- needed to know more about their candidates.
"I've met four of the candidates running, and I'm not sure who I'm going to vote for," Ms. Cooper said. "It's a critical election, and I want to be educated when I vote. I don't want to be told who I should vote for. I want to make up my own mind."
Those appearing at the forum were former state Rep. Sam Rohrer of Berks County; lawyer Marc Scaringi, a Murrysville native; Steve Welch, a businessman from Chester County; Tim Burns, a businessman from Washington County; Tom Smith, who worked in the coal industry and lives on a farm in Armstrong County; and John Kensinger, a pharmacist from Bedford County.
David Christian, a Philadelphia businessman, was unable to attend the event, and Robert Mansfield, also of Philadelphia, has dropped out of the race to compete for a House seat.
Each of the men was given two minutes to speak on a number of issues and, speaking as Republicans to Republicans, expressed similar stances on a number of issues, including energy policy, corporate tax rates, labor laws, abortion, gun rights, America's role in the world, term limits and recess appointments.
"Everybody sort of believes similar things, but I think we saw some nuances in how the candidates might perform in a debate against Casey," Ms. Cooper said after the forum. "You can't ignore that. We need a candidate of convictions who can convince the voters."
Mr. Casey wasn't the only target of the candidates' criticisms. Nearly every volley launched at him also blasted President Barack Obama.
"He is challenging the Congress," Mr. Rohrer said of the president. "It's the responsibility of Congress to challenge him back."
"I don't believe this president cares anything about the Constitution," said Mr. Burns.
"The government is the problem," said Mr. Scaringi. "We have to get government out of the way. Government destroys jobs."
Mr. Smith, the oldest of the candidates, said his primary motivation for running was "guilt" because his generation had made people more dependent upon government than on themselves.
"It's almost like things are out of control," he said.
Mr. Kensinger said he would reduce the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 17.5 percent or less.
"Instead of using the tax code and regulation to punish people, the government should give a 5 percent tax cut" for complying with regulations, he said.
The overflow crowd was free to applaud and did so on numerous occasions.
"It goes to show that our party is energized and we take it seriously," Ms. Cooper said. "The presidential debates have caught people up in it, and they want to get involved."
One of the few moments of confrontation occurred when Mr. Burns challenged Mr. Welch for having changed his party affiliation and voting for Mr. Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary. Mr. Welch acknowledged the switch and said, "I was 28 years old, and I made a mistake. ... I was wrong to do so. I believe in redemption. And for the last three years, I have worked my butt off for the Republican Party."
"For the record, I do forgive you," Mr. Burns said. "I'm just not sure I trust you to be our senator."
The results of the straw poll are expected to be released today.
First Published January 21, 2012 12:00 am
