PennLive’s fall 2022 voters’ guide: Lieutenant Governor

The candidates below are running for Pennsylvania lieutenant governor and are in the order as presented on the ballot. In addition to general questions, the candidates were invited to provide links to their stance on abortion. Those links, when available, are provided below.

Rep. Austin Davis, D-Allegheny County, is the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor.

Austin Davis

Party: Democrat

County: Allegheny

Occupation: State Representative

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh

Qualifications: Austin Davis is currently a PA State Representative where he serves as Chair of the Allegheny County House Democratic Delegation and Vice Chair of the House Democratic Policy Committee. Previously, Austin served as Senior Advisor to Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald for 6 years.

Contact: www.shapirodavis.org | www.facebook.com/AustinDavisPA | twitter.com/AustinDavisPA

What issue(s) would you prioritize, and how would you work with others in government to get legislation passed and signed into law?

The issues I plan to prioritize as Lt. Governor are working to create family-sustaining jobs, building ladders of opportunity for folks to help them succeed, and ensuring every child receives a quality education, regardless of their zip code. I have a track record of getting things done as a State Representative, and I will continue to use my platform as Lt. Governor to push these issues forward.

What changes, if any, would you support making to Pennsylvania’s voting laws?

The right to vote is sacred, held by all Pennsylvanians, and I will always work to strengthen that right for every member of our Commonwealth. I believe expanding access to democracy is always the right thing to do and I would support measures such as automatic voter registration to do this.

Article 1, Section 27 of the Pa. constitution guarantees the rights to clean air, pure water, and the preservation of the environment. What actions would you take to protect these rights?

Every Pennsylvanian deserves the right to clean air, pure water, and a good environment. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case in many instances across the Commonwealth. I believe in holding bad actors who pollute our communities accountable and I have a track record of doing so as State Representative. However, in order to further protect these constitutional rights, we must reinvest in our Department of Environmental Protection, which has been gutted over the past several decades. We must strengthen their ability to enforce existing laws, as well as increase their funding which will allow them to do a more efficient and effective job at protecting Pennsylvania’s environment.

There are several pieces of gun legislation being considered on comprehensive background checks, red flag laws, and firearm safety training. What is your position on these measures?

Gun violence has become all too common across the country, including right here in Pennsylvania. I support common sense gun reforms, such as the ones listed above, in order to better protect our communities. I also support the idea of classifying gun violence as a public health issue, which would allow for more resources to be used to combat it. In fact, as senior advisor to Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, I helped to create the Office of Violence Prevention within the Department of Health to do just that.

Carrie DelRosso beat eight candidates to win the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor. Submitted photo

Carrie Lewis DelRosso

Party: Republican

County: Allegheny

Occupation: Member of State House of Representatives

Education: University of Pittsburgh

Qualifications: Oakmont Council Member 2018-2020; State House Member 2021

Contact: www.CarrieForPA.com | facebook.com/carrieforpa | twitter.com/carrieforpa

What issue(s) would you prioritize, and how would you work with others in government to get legislation passed and signed into law?

  • Lower CNIT- Push for PA to more attractive state to manufacture and produce
  • Provide a better return on investment with k-12 education
  • Fully fund law enforcement
  • Fully fund infrastructure
  • Secure Elections
  • Promote Ag Growth
  • What changes, if any, would you support making to Pennsylvania’s voting laws?
  • Voter ID
  • Provide a more efficient system for early/absentee voting and deadlines
  • Voter Confidence -ballot security

Article 1, Section 27 of the Pa. constitution guarantees the rights to clean air, pure water, and the preservation of the environment. What actions would you take to protect these rights?

Promote energy growth and independence in PA while always mindful of our environment.

There are several pieces of gun legislation being considered on comprehensive background checks, red flag laws, and firearm safety training. What is your position on these measures?

Protect our 2nd Amendment; right to people to bear arms

Tim McMaster

Party: Libertarian

County: York

Occupation: IT Analyst / Farmer

Education: Central Penn College (MCSE, CCNA)

Qualifications: Business owner, Citizen

Contact: tim4pa.com | www.facebook.com/McMasterLtGov2022 | twitter.com/Tim4PA

Link to position on abortion: www.facebook.com/McMasterLtGov2022/posts/pfbid02H9Fq8B3HvomDMoejx2AcuuFuhUvvmbLtuAa2xrGepM9BxTH2a2V9sZvqq27hsftCl

What issue(s) would you prioritize, and how would you work with others in government to get legislation passed and signed into law?

I would work with willing members of the PA General Assembly to find ways to reduce, on a path to the total elimination of the onerous and destructive property tax. The very first way that I see to do this is to reduce excessive spending in the local school districts and focus on educating to the student, and not to the tests.

What changes, if any, would you support making to Pennsylvania’s voting laws?

Voting is a sacred right that all citizens enjoy and a privilege that we should all exercise. However, to maintain the confidence of voters and the integrity of the system, some robust measures to ensure that sanctity must be employed. Universal mail-in balloting is a very bad idea in theory and nearly impossible to secure in practice. In this current age, some simple, yet effective means of verification must be employed.

Article 1, Section 27 of the Pa. constitution guarantees the rights to clean air, pure water, and the preservation of the environment. What actions would you take to protect these rights?

My first step would be to hold polluters personally responsible for their pollution. No more decades-long ‘arbitration’ cases and then a fine to the ‘Super Fund’ as a way out. If you or your entity have personally violated the property (or health and well-being) of others, you should be held to account. No exceptions or government ‘favors’ for large donors or allies.

There are several pieces of gun legislation being considered on comprehensive background checks, red flag laws, and firearm safety training. What is your position on these measures?

The PA Constitution is quite clear and unambiguous on this matter. It states in Article 1, Section 21: ‚ÄúThe right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.‚Äù”

Michael Bagdes-Canning

Party: Green

County: Butler

Occupation: Retired teacher, community organizer (volunteer) with Marcellus Outreach Butler, Better Path Coalition, Beyond Extreme Energy, grant committee for Direct Support Fund and Frontline Community Fund

Education: BS, Education, Slippery Rock University. MS, Education, Clarion University

Qualifications: 33 years in elected office (Cherry Valley Borough, Council and Mayor), union leader, community organizer, serve on the board of several community organizations, founder of local, statewide and national organizations.

Contact: greenslate2022.com | www.facebook.com/mikebagdescanning | www.twitter.com/BagdesCanning

Link to position on abortion: www.greenslate2022.com/platform

What issue(s) would you prioritize, and how would you work with others in government to get legislation passed and signed into law?

I call on Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021 or equivalent legislation. A woman’s right to control her body is nonnegotiable and it is essential that the option of a safe, legal abortion remain available.

I support a comprehensive gift ban, an end to the per diem, campaign finance reform, an end to outside jobs for our full-time legislators, and an end to partisan gerrymandering.

We are facing the existential crisis of climate catastrophe. We must take immediate action to protect this and future generations.

Access to universal, comprehensive, national single-payer health plan is a priority. Healthcare is a human right.

Criminal justice, immigrants, and tax reform are also issues I would like to tackle immediately.

What changes, if any, would you support making to Pennsylvania’s voting laws?

As noted above, I would work to end partisan gerrymandering.

Establish guarantees that every citizen’s vote counts, and that all U.S. voting systems — including electronic ones — are verifiable, transparent and accurate.

I am also for the elimination all ballot access laws and rules that discriminate against smaller parties and independents, and otherwise place undue burden on the right of citizens to run for office.

We must enact proportional representation voting systems for legislative seats on municipal, county, state and federal levels.

Provide full public financing of federal, state and local elections, including free and equal radio and television time on the public airwaves for all ballot-qualified candidates and parties.

Article 1, Section 27 of the Pa. constitution guarantees the rights to clean air, pure water, and the preservation of the environment. What actions would you take to protect these rights?

We need to act on climate YESTERDAY. Since we didn’t, we must act aggressively NOW.

We must work to stop burning fossil fuels, eliminate greenhouse admissions by 95% by 2050, end all fossil subsidies and redirect any research dollars to resiliency research.

We must ensure that workers and communities are offered a just transition as we move away from fossil fuels.

We also must demand that corporations that have spent decades poisoning our air, water, and soil clean up their messes.

We must make people harmed by ecological devastation be made whole.

We must adopt a policy that rescinds the right of serial offenders of environmental laws to do business in the state.

We must build resiliency on a local and state level.

There are several pieces of gun legislation being considered on comprehensive background checks, red flag laws, and firearm safety training. What is your position on these measures?

All of these pieces of legislation treat the symptoms, not the disease. Gun violence is a systemic problem with multiple roots and needs to be treated by “”fixing”” those roots. A lack of political will to make a change and an underinvestment in prevention is huge.

All people should have access to quality health care including mental health, healthy communities, quality education, jobs, and treatment for trauma.

In addition, we need sensible gun laws, accountability for gun companies, mandatory training for gun owners, support for high quality gun violence research, and accountability for law enforcement officers and private security.

Finally, we must treat gun violence as the public health emergency. This is more than the 2nd Amendment.

Nicole Shultz

Party: Keystone

County: York

Occupation: Self Employed

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Small Business Administration and Entrepreneurship

Qualifications: Auditor Windsor Twp., Small business owner,

Contact: www.Nicoleshultz.com | www.Facebook.com/ShultzforPALtGov | www.Twitter.com/NicoleShultzforPA

Link to position on abortion: www.NicoleShultz.com

What issue(s) would you prioritize, and how would you work with others in government to get legislation passed and signed into law?

Misappropriation of our state’s tax revenue is one of the most important problems we face. Redirected funds end up staling out important state-wide projects with little to no transparency for Pennsylvania’s constituents to know where their money is actually being spent. As a moderate third party, I am uniquely positioned to work with anyone in government to find actual solutions without being beholden to guard a party line

What changes, if any, would you support making to Pennsylvania’s voting laws?

Open primaries and equalization of ballot access rules across all candidates would be a good start. Up to twenty-five million dollars of Pennsylvania’s tax monies are spent on primary season alone. The number of Pennsylvania voters that are registered as a third party, independent, or other is at 1.2 million and growing; leaving a large number of citizens without a voice until election day while they contribute to footing the bill. And many of their best-qualified choices may never even make the ballot.

Article 1, Section 27 of the Pa. constitution guarantees the rights to clean air, pure water, and the preservation of the environment. What actions would you take to protect these rights?

As an example, fracking in Pennsylvania provides jobs to over 20,000 Pennsylvanians and brings in revenue of over 500,000,000 dollars. There is no doubt that industry is an important part of our economy. However, the rush to grow it has led to an oversight of the environmental impact to surrounding communities. I would like to see emphasis put into predicting the ramifications of business practices that could negatively impact the environment, guidelines put in place to prevent that from happening, and stricter penalties for failing to meet those guidelines. The goal is to create incentives that would make it profitable for business to be conducted in our state, but in a safe manner that doesn’t leave us resourceless in the future.

There are several pieces of gun legislation being considered on comprehensive background checks, red flag laws, and firearm safety training. What is your position on these measures?

I believe red flag laws could be easily manipulated to wrongfully strip law-abiding citizens of their rights. And any time individual’s rights are involved, we should tread carefully. Any laws put in place to limit inalienable rights should be as limited as possible. Background checks, in this regard, are more acceptable as they are less prone to being used in malice. Firearm Safety courses could go a long way in dispelling the fear and misunderstandings surrounding gun debates. If implemented correctly I see that as a positive. Ultimately all of these things dance around the issue that no one seems to want to name. We desperately need to address mental health issues and how they relate to gun related crimes.”

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