Poprik: Santarsiero wearing one too many hats; vote Matt McCullough

I read with interest the recent (Sept. 18) guest opinion by Steve Santarsiero, chairman of the Bucks County Democratic Committee. Or is it senator from Pennsylvania’s 10th Senate District?

It’s hard to tell these days which hat Steve is wearing. I’m sure many of my fellow residents of the 10th Senate District are also wondering who Steve is representing when he writes opinion pieces and who he is representing when he votes in Harrisburg. Is he representing the hard-working constituents of our district, regardless of their political affiliation, or the progressive left wing Democrat activists that elected him to his role as Democrat Party Boss in Bucks County?

Santarsiero sees no conflict of interest in serving as both state senator and party chair. Instead of talking about quality of life issues that Bucks County families are faced with, such as rising home heating costs, high food prices, historic inflation and keeping our schools open, Senator/Chairman Santarsiero obsesses over the internal affairs of the Republican Party. In his most recent guest opinion, Senator Santarsiero chided me for not mentioning our Republican candidates. However in that very same guest opinion he didn’t mention any positive qualities of his own Democrat candidates. We are proud to support our ticket.

We have Dr. Oz who has worked hard throughout his life to achieve the American Dream. He didn’t rely on his parents to pay his bills, or his sister to sell him a house for $1; Dr. Oz went to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the UPenn Wharton School of Business, and he started his family here in Pennsylvania. In fact, one of his daughters was born in Bucks County at Doylestown Hospital.

John Fetterman has a proven track record of being weak on crime. As chairman of the Board of Pardons, he voted for more commutations of life sentences for convicted murders than any of his predecessors. In the Senate, Dr. Oz will be a fighter for Pennsylvanians and a strong voice for law-and-order policies, which is why the Pennsylvania National Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Dr. Oz.

Another Republican candidate for statewide office, Senator Doug Mastriano, has spent much of the past two years focused on getting our kids back into classrooms and fighting the government overreach of Tom Wolf and Rachel Levine that shuttered hundreds of businesses here in Bucks County, some never to reopen. Josh Shapiro remained in lockstep with Governor Wolf and his Lieutenant Governor in shutting down our economy and our schools, causing immeasurable damage to our families, especially our children.

Since becoming chair of the Bucks County Democratic Committee, it has become increasingly clear that Chairman/Senator Santarsiero cannot separate his two roles. Instead of representing all of the people of his district in the state senate, Santarsiero is focused on launching petty political attacks. Perhaps Steve should follow the lead of his predecessor, Chairman John Cordisco, who did not hold elected office while serving as Democratic Committee Chair.

As a resident of the 10th Senatorial District, I challenge the senator to turn his focus on the issues that matter: inflation, public safety and keeping our kids in school, rather than wasting time playing partisan politics. I would ask my neighbors in the 10th Senatorial District to join me in voting for Matt McCullough as our voice in Harrisburg. Together we can make the decision for Chairman Santarsiero that he should have made himself.

Patricia Poprik is the chairwoman of the Bucks County Republican Committee.