DV Journal

Neil Young, a father and social studies teacher in the Great Valley School District, believes America is headed in the wrong direction and knew he had to do something about it.

So Young, who never ran for elected office before, threw his hat into the ring for Congress to represent Chester and part of Berks Counties.

Young, a Republican, is concerned about education, the border, energy, and the economy. He is challenging incumbent Democrat Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, who portrays herself as a moderate.

“She votes with Harris-Biden 99.1 percent of the time,” said Young.

Dr. Raffi Terzian, chair of the Chester County Republican Committee, said, “Neil Young is a great husband and father, as well as a dedicated lifelong educator. His authenticity, earnestness, and strong work ethic shine through in all he does. Actively involved in his community, Neil is deeply committed to enhancing the lives of everyone in the 6th Congressional District.”

“Our current representative is not effectively serving us, as she prioritizes divisive and partisan interests over the needs of her constituents,” Terzian said. “As a member of Congress, Neil will undoubtedly work tirelessly to steer our community and nation toward a brighter future.”

The district is rated D+4, although Republican voter registration activist Scott Presler has put it on his list to flip. Presler recently announced voter registrations in Bucks County flipped to Republican and Luzerne County is close to changing.

The Young family

“I think more teachers involved in politics would offer a better solution than life-long politicians,” said Young. “A lot of teachers would make great public servants.”

In Chester County, school districts spend more than $20,000 per year per pupil,  but “less than half of them read, write, or do math at grade level. To me, that’s not a good return on anyone’s investment.” Depending on the study, U.S. students rank from 18th to 30th in the world.

“I don’t want to do away with public schools, but I think public schools can be improved if they compete [with alternatives],” he said. “I think a lot of parents could find better options that fit their child’s learning [style].”

Houlahan touts the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. However, “we have only one dedicated STEM high school in all Chester County with 300 kids a year getting in,” he said.

Regarding the borders, Young said, “Almost anybody can look around and say this is a broken system. We’re seeing an influx of illegal immigration that we’ve never seen before. And we’ve got to fix that. It’s not sustainable.”

“You know, we’re restricting our energy output,” Young said. “What the current administration did on Day One. They opened the border and restricted energy output by not renewing leases and canceling pipelines.”

Those actions are helping to fuel inflation, he said.

“It’s one of the biggest drivers of inflation and increases in the cost of living,” said Young. “It’s unsustainable, particularly for lower and middle-class people living paycheck to paycheck.”

Vice President Kamala Harris said the border is secure. “You know that is not true,” said Young.

He said Houlahan voted against House Bill 2, which could have secured the border. It would have reinstituted the remain-in-Mexico policy, among other provisions. She also voted against six other border security bills [Res 1065, HR 7511, 957, 5283, 5525 and Res. 461], Young said.

Young said Houlahan’s votes are “against American energy independence are votes against national security.”

On April 4, 2023, Houlahan voted against keeping Title IX for girls in sports [HR724]. That law protects girls in education and sports. Still, the Biden-Harris administration has changed the law to force students to use certain pronouns, affirm queer theory, and not allow sex-segregated spaces. Moms for Liberty obtained an injunction to stop the changes in schools their children attend.

Guy Ciarracchi, a political commentator, ran against Houlahan in 2022.

“Critics focus on Neil being a first-time candidate—what he doesn’t know. But what Neil Young does know as a history teacher, wrestling coach, and dad is that America is in trouble because Democrat politicians are making bad decisions. What he knows is that we might be the generation that leaves our children worse off. And, he has commonsense solutions to make things better.”

Young grew up in Coatesville and Downingtown. He went to college at West Chester University.

“Everything good in my life happened here in Chester County,” said Young.

His wife, Jill, teaches art at High Point Baptist Academy in Berkes County, where their two youngest children, 13 and 11, are students. His oldest son is 20 and attends Williamson College of Trade in Media. His second son is 19 and at Liberty University.

“My wife and I struggled for a while with infertility,” said Young. “Our first child was born through IVF [in vitro fertilization]. We adopted our second child from Ethiopia. Then our younger two came naturally, and we decided long ago that we’re going to have however many we have, and we’re going to care for them.”

Young traveled repeatedly to Afghanistan to train teachers there how to teach. More teachers were needed to teach “the large influx of girls.”

“There was tremendous progress being made,” he said. Then, the Biden-Harris administration decided to withdraw.

“We didn’t break Afghanistan,” Young said. “We didn’t go in to colonize or take over. I think that’s what makes the United States unique. We went to help people and we stuck around and poured money into the economy of Afghanistan.”

“For me, it’s more personal and more tragic to see [what happened] because of political expediency,” he said. “We put a lot of lives at risk. I think it’s important that our politicians know that.”

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While the U.S. Senate race is still too close to call and most of the primary battles across the Delaware Valley were settled Tuesday night, the GOP race in the Sixth Congressional District remains undecided.

Former Chester County Chamber of Commerce CEO Guy Ciarrocchi appears to have won the chance to take on incumbent U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan in the Chester/Berks district. But he hadn’t declared victory as of Wednesday afternoon. Two of his opponents, Regina Mauro and Ron Vogel, have already conceded his victory.

According to the Secretary of State’s website, Chiarrocchi had 23,116 votes, Steve Fanelli has 20,890, Vogel was at 15,396 votes and Maura had 10,336.

In Bucks County, Alex Entin lost his race to incumbent Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks/Montgomery). Fitzpatrick will face Democrat Ashley Ehasz in November.

In Montgomery County for the 4th Congressional District, GOP business executive Christian Nascimento defeated small business owner Daniel Burton Jr. Nascimento will try to unseat Democrat incumbent Democrat Rep. Madeleine Dean in the fall.

And in Delaware County, Republican David Galluch ran unopposed to challenge incumbent Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon.

In the statewide race for lieutenant governor, state Rep. Carrie DelRosso, beat nine others to become the Republican candidate for that office.

“I am honored that Pennsylvania Republicans have nominated me to carry the banner of common-sense conservatism in this year’s election,” said DelRosso. “I’m deeply grateful to my supporters and I have grown a deep respect for the others who added so much to the public dialogue in their own campaigns for lieutenant governor. We are always stronger when we have many voices in the room and I learned much from the other hopefuls and thank them for their commitment to a stronger commonwealth.”

Across the aisle, state Rep. Austin Davis prevailed over two others in the Democrats’ lieutenant governor primary. Cash-flush Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is running for governor and had no primary opponent,  campaigned for Davis, running TV ads and even fielding a billboard truck that drove around West Chester earlier this week.

In the 24th state Senate District Republican Rep. Pennycuick bested David Moyer in the primary. Pennycuick was endorsed by retiring state Sen. Bob Mensch (R-Berks/Bucks/Montgomery). Pennycuick will face Democrat Jill Dennin, who defeated Emmanuel Wilkerson, in the fall. Dennin is a former substitute teacher and community volunteer.

“Thank you to everyone who voted in the primary yesterday,” Jill Dennin posted on Facebook. “My team and I are energized and there is a lot of work to be done between now and November. With so much at stake, we will need everyone’s help to reach all our voters.”

Pennycuick said, “I can’t thank the army of volunteers and supporters who backed my campaign through this primary election enough.  We enjoyed a big win yesterday. I was encouraged by the enthusiasm and energy of the voters. It is clear people are sick of the disastrous economic policies causing runaway inflation and skyrocketing grocery bills and gas prices, and I look forward to taking my message of commonsense economic, fiscal, and education policies to the entire electorate.”

In the 8th state Senate District, incumbent Anthony Hardy Williams (D-Delaware/Philadelphia) beat back a challenge from teacher Paul Prescod. No Republican is running in that district.

Bucks County Republican voters chose small business owner Bernie Sauer of Newtown Borough over marketing professional Jennifer Spillane in the GOP race in the 31st state House District. Sauer faces incumbent Democratic Rep. Perry Warren in the general election.

And in Delaware County, Democratic voters picked challenger Carol Kazeem, a community organizer backed by Working Families PA, over incumbent state Rep. Brian Kirkland in the 159th House District.  Kazeem will square off against Republican Ruth Moton in the fall.

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Republican Regina Mauro is running in the May 17 primary against three men. But she says she believes she is the best person running and will go on to knock off Democratic incumbent Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan in November. Houlahan (D-Chester/Berks) has been named one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the country and is being targeted by the Republican National Committee.

Mauro prides herself on being politically aware. That motivated her, in part, to seek the Republican nomination in the 6th Congressional District.

“I’ve always been very, very engaged and informed for years,” she said. “That’s how I was brought up.”

This isn’t Mauro’s first try for elective office. The Devon resident lost a bid for Chester County Controller last fall.

A lifelong Republican, Mauro sees a need to boost the number of conservative women in Congress. Her three opponents in the GOP primary race are men.

“I was concerned because I didn’t see any women candidates,” she said. “(The Republicans) definitely have an abundance of very qualified women.  So, seeing that and recognizing it was very important that we do have one in the race, I did my due diligence and I decided that I was ready for it.

“I’m also very concerned that the most underrepresented group in Congress is conservative women. Conservative women comprise just seven percent of Congress. All else being equal, you have to increase the representation of conservative women in Congress.

“I knew that I was equipped to be able to step in and not just be able to compete against the incumbent, but that I would be a very effective member of Congress.”

The daughter of Cuban immigrants, Mauro is passionate about education issues.

“Education is huge for me,” she said. “I grew up in a household where education was king. It was paramount. I’m really concerned that there is an inequality of quality in instruction in the 6th District.”

Mauro says adequate funding for education is an issue in some school districts but “that is not a universal problem.” She compared the academic performance of two school districts — which she did not name — located within the 6th District within approximately 20 miles of each other.

“When I looked at these two school districts, one spent slightly more on instruction and services than the other,” she said. “However, the one that’s spent slightly more performed at the bottom 20 percent academically in reading writing, and mathematics. The other performed in the upper 20 percent. So, that tells you there is a deficiency there.”

Mauro says she believes children should be able to attend the school that best meets their needs and bring their parents’ tax dollars with them.

“I do believe that tax dollars should follow the child,” she said, “and not be attached to the school they’re zoned for. That’s only step one; giving the parent the option of taking that money and transferring it to another school of their choice.

“In the meantime, we cannot abandon our local schools. At the end of the day, these local schools are part of the community. They’re a lot more accessible to the family and if given a choice, I think most parents, if the school was up to the standard they need for their child, would leave the kid there. So, while they have the option, we have to make sure that we bring those schools up to standard so those families can actually go back to that school.”

At a time when American politics is deeply divided, Mauro cites the need to get people of divergent political views to simply talk to each other.

“The first thing we have to do is lower the temperature,” she said. “We have to find things we have in common. We have more in common than not. But we have become so tribal. Everybody is so in their tribe, in their corner that we’re not talking to each other.

“We need to stop this. Most of us, Democrats and Republicans, are sort of in the middle. We need to stop grouping people by single ideas.”

Asked about her reaction to January 6 both before and after the events that occurred at the U.S. Capitol, she said,  “It was horrible that some lunatics, some were excited. Some were just following, whatever the participation. They absolutely felt it was okay to go (into the Capitol). Not all of them did obviously, you’ve seen plenty of videos where people are walking in like a tourist in line.

“But there are those who actually broke in. And that’s insanity to me,” she said. “What I regretted was the media portrayed everybody who attended that rally as being insurrectionists.”

Mauro was asked if she believed the result of the 2020 presidential election was legitimate.

“Do I think there was manipulation? Yes,” she said. “Do I think that was what caused the final result? Partly. Do I think this is new? No. There has been manipulation of elections forever.”

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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.”