DV Journal

There are currently 76 veterans serving in Congress, and one more hopes to join their ranks. Angry at the system and the politicians in Washington, Ashley Ehasz has decided to run against incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks/Montgomery) for the First Congressional District of Pennsylvania.

Growing up wasn’t easy for Ehasz and her family. Ehasz told Delaware Valley Journal she moved around a lot, and that instability drove her to join the military.

“Until I was about six, my mom and I lived in New Jersey, at times living in government housing,” Ehasz said. “Afterwards, we began moving around a lot in southeastern Pennsylvania, ultimately settling in Pen Argyl, where I graduated from Pen Argyl High School. Growing up with just my mom, without much stability, the best option I felt I had was to join the Army. I entered West Point in the summer of 2006 at the age of 17, after my parents signed an age waiver.”

While the instability of her childhood pushed Ehasz to first serve her country, it was the events of the protest at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 that launched Ehasz into the race against Fitzpatrick.

“As a veteran, I was deeply disturbed by the events of January 6,” Ehasz said, “and it’s from the inaction of politicians in Washington who allowed this divisiveness to fester when they should have been looking to solve problems.”

Fitzpatrick beat Democrat Christina Finello at 56.6 percent in the 2020 election. A former FBI agent, Fitzpatrick has been a member of Congress since 2016 when he replaced his brother, who was also a Republican.

Although Ehasz is running as a Democrat, her concerns aren’t limited to one political party. Her priority is to help the people of Bucks and Montgomery Counties and the rest of the United States.

“I’m not interested in partisan politics,” Ehasz said. “I am running to represent people’s priorities here in Bucks and Montgomery counties. People want their representative to come up with real solutions to how they can afford their rent, pay off their student loans, and what the plan is to build economic resilience from the threat of climate change.”

When asked for her opinions on Fitzpatrick’s policies, Ehasz said she was frustrated with how slow progress is moving toward legislation on abortion  rights.

“It’s outrageous to me, and to so many of the people I talk to every day, that in 2021 we are facing an existential threat to reproductive healthcare and the right to choose, and it’s politicians in Washington like Brian Fitzpatrick fanning the flames of anti-choice rhetoric,” she said.

In addition to her pro-choice position, Ehasz wants to bring relief to the people struggling in Bucks and Montgomery Counties.

“Whether you are a young professional just starting out, or an older adult looking towards retirement, you feel the strain on your wallet because politicians in Washington accomplish nothing,” Ehasz said. “For the first time in decades, students, workers, families, and retirees are worse off than the generation before us, unable to make a down payment, find work that offers a livable wage, or afford prescription drug prices.”

As a commissioned officer, Ehasz says she learned valuable leadership lessons which would translate into how she tackled issues in Congress.

“I graduated from West Point in 2010 and went on to complete flight school, where I learned to fly the AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter,” she said. “My first duty station was Fort Bliss, Texas, where I served as a platoon leader. From there I deployed to Kuwait and then Camp Taji, Iraq, under Operation Inherent Resolve. In 2016, after further leadership training, I was granted the greatest privilege of my career: Becoming a company commander. I assumed command of an aviation maintenance troop at Fort Riley, Kansas, and later was deployed to South Korea where I eventually took command of another troop in our unit. In 2018, after nearly nine years as a commissioned officer, I used the G.I. Bill to further my education, earning my master’s degree from the University of Oxford.”

Ehasz states in her campaign launch video she’s angry at a system that’s keeping families in Bucks and Montgomery Counties unable to reach higher goals for themselves.

“It’s time to send a representative to Washington who isn’t afraid to tackle the tough issues, who won’t shrink away from the anger Americans are feeling.”

Change is what Ehasz says she is fighting for, and she wants to make changes within Congress.

“I’m not a politician,” Ehasz states on her website. “I’m not going to Washington to cozy up to lobbyists — I am going to roll up my sleeves and solve problems. When it comes to affording things like a mortgage, health care, and student loans, I have skin in the game.”

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is bullish on her party’s chances both this year and in 2022.

Bucks County Republicans and Pennsylvania GOP Chairman Lawrence Tabas welcomed McDaniel to a get out the vote event at Bucks County Republican headquarters in Doylestown last week.

The current election “is helping us prepare for next year with our ground game,” McDaniel said. “It’s a test run, so it’s going to be critical with our turnout this November to measure and see how we’ll do in the midterms.”

In addition to congressional races and the governorship, Pennsylvania voters will be choosing a replacement for Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, who is not seeking another term. The GOP hopes to retake both the House and the Senate which Democrats now hold by narrow margins.

“What I’m seeing across the state and across the country is a huge enthusiasm for Republicans. With special elections this year, Republicans are outperforming the ticket from 2020 and Democrats are underperforming their ticket from 2020. And we’re hoping that will continue into this election,” said McDaniel.

“The midterms are always a referendum on the party that has the power,” she added. “That’s historically the way it is and the Democrats have the House and the Senate and the White House. As we are watching unemployment rise especially here in Pennsylvania, we’re watching more people leave the workforce, we’re watching the labor shortages, we’re watching inflation, energy prices going up, what’s happening at the border, all of that is a referendum on the Biden administration. And right now based on the polling that we’re seeing, the American people are not pleased.”

A recent poll average finds President Joe Biden with a 42 percent approval rating. It has fallen faster during his first nine months in office than any president in the modern era. But that doesn’t mean Republican candidates can coast and expect to win.

“I think my message to every Republican candidate is to know your district, know your community, invest in retail politicking, and don’t take anything for granted. And run on the issues that the people in your constituency believe in. And if you run your race and you really do that work, we’ll win,” she said.

One reason that former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election was he lost the support of suburban women. But McDaniel believes women are coming back to the GOP in droves due to Democratic policies.

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Lawrence Tabas introduces judicial candidates Judge Drew Crompton, candidate for Commonwealth Court; Judge Kevin Brobson, candidate for Pennsylvania Supreme Court; Megan Sullivan, candidate for Superior Court, and Stacy Wallace, candidate for Commonwealth Court.

“We’re seeing women come back for a variety of reasons,” she noted. “A lot of it is having to do with the failed leadership of the Biden administration. We’re seeing gas prices go up. As moms, we understand what that means. I get that as a mom. We’re seeing our groceries cost more. We’re seeing everything cost more. And we know that inflation is affecting our families, and the border, national security and I think what’s happening in the schools, when you see in Virginia, a Democrat candidate say that parents have no right to have a say in their children’s education, that’s really resonating with women and moms across the country, especially in the suburbs. I know I’m one of them.  And what we’re seeing is a huge influx of people running for school board and it’s bringing women back to the Republican Party.”

Republican judicial candidates also attended the Doylestown event and were introduced to the party faithful.

The state Supreme Court, which now has a 5-2 Democrat majority, made several rulings regarding mail-in ballots in 2020 that some Republicans believe helped swing the presidential election to Joe Biden.

“I think that’s why these court races are very important,” said McDaniel. “Court races are critical because you can have a legislative session, one bad court ruling can overturn what happened legislatively. And a lot of times court races and judicial races are not given the attention they deserve, especially compared to the impact they can have on a state and no state understands that better than Pennsylvania. So every race is important. Obviously, these are the focus right now and the RNC is building a ground game to help the whole ticket.”

Commonwealth Court President Judge Kevin Brobson (R) and Superior Court Judge Maria McLaughlin are vying for the seat now held by Thomas Saylor (R). Under state law, Saylor must retire because he turns 75 this year.

McDaniel, a Michigan resident, has two children, one a junior in high school and one who just left for college.

“They were both pandemic kids. She was a pandemic senior,” said McDaniel. “It’s so hard and she did not get a senior year like so many kids. We really watched our kids struggle. We’re all navigating it. But I certainly do not think I should not have a say in my kids’ education. And my voice matters, just like every other parent across this country.”

McDaniel, 48, has been the National Committee Chair since 2017 and enjoys the job.

“I love traveling the country and meeting people, being in Bucks County today and meeting your county Chair Pat Poprik, seeing her and how hard she works. Everywhere I go, I get to meet amazing people. I love that. It’s also the thing that’s the hardest, traveling and being away from my family. I love seeing the whole great nation that we live in and the variety and the difference in every single state,” McDaniel said.

A Havertown caller into my radio show said it best discussing the disconnect between working class Philadelphians and their suburban, upper-middle class expatriate peers.

“There’s no greater tyrant than the white, suburban soccer mom. They move out of the cities, and as long as they’ve got bike paths, Whole Foods, and SUVs — everyone else can burn in Hell.”

As a suburban Chester county resident, I had a hard time disputing his blunt point.

How else can you explain the complacency among many in Pennsylvania today? A governor who has the economy in a headlock, limiting the movements and activities of every citizen young and old.

He shows no sign of restoring normalcy or constitutional liberties because, you see, “it’s too risky.” He’s moved the objective from flattening the curve and keeping our hospitals from being overwhelmed to “eradicating the virus” or waiting for a vaccine.

Those goals cannot be achieved. There can be no eradication of a virus. It will mutate as the flu does every season, or it will fizzle out as SARS did years ago. But Gov. Wolf can’t control that outcome. A vaccine might never be developed. They haven’t found one for HIV, for example.

Still, my suburban neighbors seem largely unmoved. Why? Because they don’t feel the pain or the hurt of a lockdown. Oh, sure, maybe they’re scared of getting sick, or maybe they’re afraid of their elderly loved ones getting sick. I worry about that, too.

But that’s a well-off, suburban person’s worry because they have nothing else to worry about.

So many of these people have jobs already based out of their homes. Six-figure incomes tied to some large corporate entity that still operating as they always have. One parent brings home the handsome direct deposit while the stay-at-home parent posts on social media about every day being a holiday now that the “kiddos” are home full time.

Their biggest challenge is making sure everyone else is doing their part in the Starbucks drive through by wearing masks and thoroughly cleaning the cart handles while they scout home décor at Target.

It is a blissful ignorance with no concern of what life is like for the waiter or waitress, the bartender or the busboy, the small retail owner, the dairy farmer or even the middle class guy whose company didn’t let him go but severely cut his hours and wages.

These are working-class people who aren’t “poor” per se, but they’re broken hearted.

They’re losing their dignity, their security and their independence as they wait on the phone for the unemployment office to process their weekly handout. Or worse, there’s not even a handout. Just belt tightening and praying they can hang on.

There’s a big divide in our city suburbs. It’s not just about haves and have-nots or the employed versus the unemployed.

It’s about a culture of working class versus working comfortable. A proud south-Philly-turned-suburban friend who’s been in politics all his life spoke of the disconnected suburbanite this way.

The suburbs used to pull us together — a mix of urban and rural. You either hunted or knew someone who did. You either grew up in a Philly neighborhood or you knew someone who did. A short drive and you were in the countryside or downtown.

But now they’ve become their own enclave, seeing themselves as superior to the rural communities and having a mix of benign neglect or liberal guilt for the poor in the city. They are the people who allow politicians like Wolf to tear us apart.

These detached, graduate school, educated elites who have a disdain for the very society and culture that allowed them to succeed and thrive in the first place. They used to be the glue that joined communities together. Now they are the aloof.

They’re not political. They just don’t care. They don’t have to. They’re the perfect citizens for a tyrant who wants to maintain full control.

By the time it upsets them, it’ll be far too late.