U.S. Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) is considered by some political observers to be one of the most vulnerable members of Congress this November. Representing part of the Lehigh Valley, her district was given an R+2 ranking by Cook Political Report on its partisan voting index. Open Secrets ranked Wild’s 2022 reelection campaign as the sixth most expensive in the nation with $34.5 million.
Spending has been much less this year, so far. But a new ad boosting Wild’s candidacy got under the skin of the president of the Le-Hampton Lodge 35 Fraternal Order of Police.
The problem? The ad, touting Wild as tough on crime and illegal immigration is narrated by someone identified as “Officer Jeff Potts.”
But Jeff Potts isn’t an officer.
And the ‘police officer’ patch he wore in the ad can be bought online for $4.95.
“[He’s] impersonating a police officer in my jurisdiction!” an irate Lodge 35 President Gene Hatcher told DVJournal.
While the ad, paid for by the Democratic Party-affiliated nonprofit House Majority Forward, claims Potts is currently an “officer,” Potts told Patch.com he started working as an Emmaus auxiliary police officer in 2009. Lehigh County records show he last worked for the town in 2019. He made $17.95 an hour and almost $27 in overtime that year.
Emmaus Police Chief Jason Apgar did not return a call asking for comment on whether Potts was still an auxiliary cop.
Hatcher said auxiliary officers ride bikes in parks and control who can rent a park pavilion. If an issue pops up in the park, Hatcher said auxiliary police call sworn officers.
When Potts wasn’t patrolling parks, he was a general manager for Compass Group North America, a food service company. It did not answer an email on whether Potts still worked there.
Hatcher said the ad made him extremely frustrated because it took away from the job his union members do daily. “The guy has no clue, he’s never done that in his life,” he said.
The Le-Hampton Lodge 35 Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed Wild’s Republican opponent, Ryan Mackenzie, in the November election. Mackenzie called the TV ad “just another ‘deceptive tactic’” from Wild and her supporters.
Police chiefs and police union representatives in Delaware Valley were disturbed by the ad.
“We have a policy where we don’t allow our police officers to endorse anyone,” said Abington Police Chief Pat Malloy. The policy is to make sure that police maintain community trust.
Abington Township Police Association President Tom Nyman told DVJournal the commercial “is damaging to the integrity of law enforcement professionals.”
“This would likely appear to be the crime of impersonating a police officer, or at best just another case of stolen valor for political gain,” Nyman added.
Hatcher demurred when asked if he thought Potts should be cited for impersonating a police officer. He called it “somebody else’s concern.”
One thing Hatcher wants is for Wild and Potts to show remorse. “They should both acknowledge what they did and apologize to the voters of the district as well as all the hardworking police officers that she attempted to deceive the public with,” he said.
Also calling for an apology was National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella. He said Wild’s allies hired a fake cop to “lie to Pennsylvania voters” because they knew Wild’s policies were too extreme.
Wild has been involved in several controversies over the past two election cycles, including questioning the intelligence of her Carbon County constituents. Republican Donald Trump carried the county twice, inspiring Wild to say, “I’m not quite sure what was in their heads because the people of Carbon County are exactly the kind of people who should not be voting for a Donald Trump, but I guess I might have to school them on that a little bit.”
Wild also said Carbon County voters “drank the Trump Kool-Aid.”
Her campaign did not return an email asking for comment. House Majority Forward PAC also did not comment on the commercial and whether it would be pulled.
