Candidates find common ground in debate
The six candidates battling for three of the state races in Washington County turned in a rather low-key debate Thursday night with many of them agreeing on a variety of issues and only a couple of minor skirmishes.
The debate organized by the League of Women Voters of Washington County at Canon-McMillan High School lasted less than two hours and broached issues such as student loan debt, minimum wage, gun control, medical marijuana and Marcellus Shale drilling.
The biggest tiff came when state Rep. Jesse White accused Jason Ortitay, his Republican opponent in the 46th state House District, of circulating misleading campaign literature that erroneously claimed White previously voted to increase the state income tax.
“Your campaign fabricated that,” White said, demanding Ortitay retract the claim.
A few of the scores of people who attended also heckled White as he gave his closing address, prompting even Ortitay to ask his supporters to allow his opponent to speak.
State Sen. Tim Solobay and Camera Bartolotta, who is the Republican challenging the first-term incumbent in the 46th Senate District, carried on the most spirited debate in which they sparred on minimum wage and potential implementation of a severance tax on Marcellus Shale production. Bartolotta, who owns Duke of Oil in Monongahela, said an increase in the minimum wage would hurt small businesses.
“There are not a lot of people across the country trying to support a family on it,” she said. “Minimum wage is a training wage and when you increase it too much … you will shut down so many businesses across the country that it will take forever for the economy to bounce back.”
Solobay disagreed, saying he thinks there should be some sort of increase to the state minimum wage to pull low-income working families out of poverty. He did not elaborate on what the hourly figure should be.
“People cannot afford to raise a family or have the amenities because they’re out working,” Solobay said.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Brandon Neuman and his Republican opponent for the 48th state House District, Sonia Stopperich, had a mostly amicable back-and-forth dialogue, disagreeing on minimum wage and the death penalty, which Neuman said is too expensive and needs to be altered.
In fact, all of the candidates found common ground on many issues and rarely distinguished their platforms from each other despite a few nuances to fall in line with their party affiliations. All six candidates said they strongly support the rights of gun owners, keeping local government overseeing zoning of Marcellus Shale drilling, legalizing medical marijuana, stopping any state income tax increases and protecting drilling impact fee money for local communities.
White did complain about one of Ortitay’s supporters recording the event, which was prohibited by debate organizers. He also chastised his opponent on his campaign’s literature attacking the four-term incumbent.
“I think how one campaigns will demonstrate the character about how one will act while in office,” White said.
Ortitay, who lives in South Fayette and operates Jason’s Cheesecake Company, did not respond to those charges, and instead said he wanted to improve the economic environment in the district.
“I’d like to see this place continue to grow,” Ortitay said of potential business developments. “I’m here, first and foremost, to serve the people.”
Bartolotta said it was time for a change from Solobay, who severed in the state House for more than a decade before being elected senator in 2010.
“If you’re happy with everything along the way with jobs and the economy, then just stay on the same road because my opponent has been doing that for the past 15 years,” Bartolotta said.
Solobay tried to display his time in office as good for his constituents.
“My entire adult life has been that of public service,” he said. “I’m very proud of what we’ve done, being out there to help people.”
Stopperich, who is a nurse at Canonsburg Hospital and North Strabane supervisor, said she was prepared to bring her experience in the health care field to Harrisburg.
“There are a lot of health care issues affecting a lot of people,” Stopperich said. “I think it just makes sense to put someone in there with a health care background.”
Neuman, a second-term incumbent from North Strabane, said he wants to continue working in Harrisburg to protect taxpayer funds.
“I want to make sure that government dollars that are being spent are not used fraudulently,” Neuman said. “We need to make sure that every dollar you send is used for the proper purposes.”
The mid-term general election is Nov. 4.