On a day Democratic news filled the Nest, let’s finish tonight with the Republican Party.
Finally, a debate with the GOP candidates vying for the 13th state Senatorial District nomination has been set. The Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce & Industry will host Steve McDonald, Paul Thibault and Lloyd Smucker at the Elks Club in Lancaster at 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. April 16. The fourth Republican candidate, Bill Neff, has apparently declined to participate.
This is the first and thus far only debate organized (League of Humane Voters, where area yah?) for this race. Longtime readers know I find debates enlightening and illustrative of just how candidates perform under pressure, think on their feet, defend their platform and put on display the kind of leaders they will be. Anyone attending, I would encourage them to not only watch the candidate who’s answering the question, but watch the other two to see how they react. It can be telling.
While the spotlight has swivelled these last three weeks away from the 13th and onto the presidential primary, this race will have a great, maybe greater, impact on those who live there. The person you elect will be responsible for voting on a number of issues - property taxes, health care, funding infrastructure improvements - which have a consequential effect on our lives, and there will be organizations, local governments and businesses looking to this future senator for help from state government (and I know that can be a polarizing issue).
That’s why I think debates matter. You get a chance to see how candidates of different backgrounds, political ideology and perhaps dislike of one another interact. It’s a preview of how candidates perform in the chambers of the Pennsylvania Senate.
