democracyFIRST Report Warns about Pennsylvania Candidates Who Pose the Greatest Threat to the Future of Free & Fair Elections 

New Report Ahead of Election Day Underscores Importance of County Commission Races and Identifies 18 Candidates as the Greatest Threats to the Future of Free & Fair Elections in Pennsylvania

Today, democracyFIRST released a new report identifying 18 countywide candidates on the ballot this November who pose the greatest threat to the future of free and fair elections in Pennsylvania.  The 2023 Pennsylvania Election Report: Candidates Who Pose the Greatest Threat to the Future of Free & Fair Elections Democracy, released ahead of the November 7th general election, gives a comprehensive overview of  18 candidates for county commission and county council on the ballot across 14 counties.  Through their public actions, voting records, and public statements demonstrate anti-democracy tendencies, a disregard for safeguarding free and fair elections, and have sown mistrust about the election process. In different ways, all 18 candidates have perpetuated the ‘Big Lie’ that the 2020 election was tainted by widespread fraud. 

The candidates profiled in the report include:

Councilmember Samuel Demarco III, Allegheny County; Commissioner Michael Rivera, Berks County; Commissioner Christian Leinbach, Berks County; Commissioner Doug McLinko, Bradford County; Commissioner Candidate Tim Winters, Clearfield County; Council Candidate Joy Schwartz, Delaware County; County Council President Brian Shank, Erie County; Commissioner Dave Lohr, Fayette County; Commissioner Scott Dunn, Fayette County; Commissioner Candidate Dean Horst, Franklin County; Commissioner Randolph Bunch, Fulton County; Commissioner Josh Parsons, Lancaster County; Commissioner Ray D’Agostino, Lancaster County; Commissioner Candidate Jacqueline Rivera, Lehigh County; Councilmember Stephen Urban, Luzerne County; Council Candidate Harry Haas, Luzerne County; Commissioner Candidate Larry Padora, Schuylkill County; and Commissioner Douglas Chew, Westmoreland County.

“The candidates singled out in our new report represent a clear and present danger to the future of free and fair elections in Pennsylvania and to our entire constitutional democracy. These elected officials and candidates have clear records of putting partisan politics and personal political gain ahead of protecting our democracy. On November 7th, voters have the opportunity  to hold these anti-democracy candidates accountable. Pennsylvanians deserve leaders from across the ideological spectrum,  who are committed to accepting and respecting election outcomes, even when they lose, will denounce political violence, and protect every eligible American citizen’s right to vote. ” said Jordan Wood, Executive Director of democracyFIRST.  

Over the course of several months, democracyFIRST established a cross-partisan, ideologically diverse, and pro-democracy coalition of candidates who made  the democracyFIRST Promise The Promise Campaign works to restore the political consensus for the standards, expectations, and norms for candidates seeking office. More than 100 candidates from 46 Pennsylvania counties have signed onto the Promise ahead of the November election.

See below for the full list of bi-partisan county-wide candidates in Pennsylvania who made the democracyFIRST Promise or click here.

1. Adams County: Marty Qually
2. Allegheny County: Sara Innamorato (County Executive); Joe Rockey (County Executive); Dan Grzybek (County Council, District 5)
3. Armstrong County: John Strate; Pat Fabian 
4. Beaver County: Tony Amadio 
5. Bedford County: Deb Baughman
6. Berks County: Jess Royer; Dante Santoni, Jr.; Winston Diloné (Treasurer)
7. Blair County: Laura Burke; David Kessling; Carol Taylor
8. Bradford County:
9. Bucks County: Gene DiGirolamo; Diane Ellis-Marseglia; Bob Harvie; Pamela van Blunk; 
10. Butler County: Kevin Boozel
11. Cambria County:
12. Cameron County:
13. Carbon County: Rocky Ahner
14. Centre County: Amber Concepcion; Mark Higgins; Marie Librizzi
15. Chester County: Josh Maxwell; Marian Moskowitz; Eric Roe; David Sommers
16. Clarion County: Braxton White
17. Clearfield County: Dennis Biancuzz; David Glass 
18. Clinton County: Angela Harding
19. Columbia County: Patricia Lawton
20. Crawford County: Christopher Seeley
21. Cumberland County: Gary Eichelberger; Jean Foschi; John Matthew Smith 
22. Dauphin County: Justin Douglas; George Hartwick; Mike Pries
23. Delaware County: Elaine Paul Schaefer; Christine Reuther; Monica Taylor
24. Elk County:
25. Erie County: Rock Copland (District 3); Lorraine Dolan (District 7); Chris Drexel (District 5); Terry Scutella (District 2); 
26. Fayette County: Vincent Vicites
27. Forest County:
28. Franklin County: Cameron Schroy
29. Fulton County:
30. Greene County:
31. Huntingdon County:
32. Indiana County: Sherene Hess; Aaron Lehman 
33. Jefferson County:
34. Juniata County:
35. Lackawanna County: Chris Chermak; Bill Gaughan; Matt McGloin
36. Lancaster County: Bob Hollister; Alice Yoder
37. Lawrence County: Loretta Spielvogel
38. Lebanon County: Michael Schroeder
39. Lehigh County: Sheila Alvarado; Dan Hartzell; Jon Irons; April Riddick
40. Luzerne County: Joanna Bryn Smith; Thomas Dombroski; Patricia Krushnowski; Michelle Rothenbecker; Jimmy Sabatino; Brittany Stephenson; Maryann Velez
41. Lycoming County: Denitra Moffett
42. McKean County:
43. Mercer County: James McLusky
44. Mifflin County:
45. Monroe County: Katie Best; John Christy; Sharon Laverdure
46. Montgomery County: Tom Dibello; Neil Makhija; Jamila Winder
47. Montour County:
48. Northampton County: Kelly Keegan; Ken Kraft; Jeff Warren
49. Northumberland County:
50. Perry County:
51. Philadelphia County: Seth Bluestein (City Commission)
52. Pike County: 
53. Potter County:
54. Schuylkill County: Gary Hess
55. Snyder County:
56. Somerset County: Brian Fochtman; Irvin Kimmel; Pamela Tokar-Ickes
57. Sullivan County: Scott Myers
58. Susquehanna County:
59. Tioga County:
60. Union County:
61. Venango County: Albert “Chip” Abramovic
62. Warren County:
63. Washington County: Electra Janis; Larry Maggi; 
64. Wayne County:
65. Westmoreland County: Lisa Gephart; Ted Kopas
66. Wyoming County:
67. York County: Keena Minifield

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