Aug 22, 2022 4 min read

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Editor’s note: This story was updated on Monday, Aug. 22 to clarify that Charity Grimm Krupa will not run for common pleas judge in Fayette County if she is elected to represent the 51st Legislative District. 

The Fayette County Republican Committee named Smithfield attorney Charity Grimm Krupa as the party’s replacement nominee for state Rep. Matthew Dowling’s seat on the Nov. 8 ballot.

“I was very honored and pleasantly surprised that I was chosen,” Grimm Krupa said Friday. “This was something that I never really considered, but God works in mysterious ways.”

Grimm Krupa, a former Albert Gallatin School Board member, said she was considering running for Fayette County judge in the 2023 election. However, she said, she is now excited for the opportunity to show the residents of the 51st Legislative District her commitment to representing them.

If elected to the legislative seat, “I have committed to the party that I will not run for judge,” Grimm Krupa said.

“When Dowling made the decision to take his name off the ballot, I was very concerned about who would represent the Fayette County Republican Party. This has caused some division in the party, and I hope the party will unify moving into the general election,” she said.

Dowling, R-Uniontown, asked to remove his name from the ballot after he was charged with driving under the influence in a South Union Township crash that occurred on June 4. The two-term lawmaker said he wanted to leave office at the end of this term because he has faced addiction problems and wanted to focus on his recovery.

At that time, Dowling said he supported Grimm Krupa to replace him on the ballot.

“Charity is not a career politician,” he previously said. “She believes that normal people should take time to serve their community and then return to their personal lives. She is a supporter of the right to keep and bear arms and is adamantly pro-life. She is dedicated to holding the line on taxes and spending.”

William Kozlovich, past chairman of the Fayette County Republican Party, said Grimm Krupa beat out Ryan Porupski for the nomination by a 2-to-1 vote margin. Porupski, a Smithfield farmer, unsuccessfully challenged Dowling in the primary.

Grimm Krupa said 18 committee members voted, and she received 12 votes to Porupski’s 6 votes.

“I want to be available to the constituents in our area,” she said. “There are brilliant people in the district, and I look forward to hearing their opinions about the issues going on in Harrisburg.”

Michelle Mowry, president of the Fayette County Republican Committee, declined to comment on the selection and referred questions to county GOP committee members in the 51st District.

However, Mowry said any qualified district resident interested in the nomination was invited to submit an application.

Those who expressed interest took part in a question-and-answer session with the selection committee. Votes were done by secret ballot, she said, and counted by an attorney and two representatives from the state House Republican Campaign Committee.

Five candidates expressed interest in the position. In addition to Grimm Krupa and Porupski, Kozlovich said the three other candidates were Gary Gearing, Kenni Morgan and Scott Scully.

Kozlovich said 19 committee members were eligible to vote, and 18 of them attended Thursday’s meeting. The meeting was scheduled after a Commonwealth Court judge entered an order granting Dowling’s request to be removed from the ballot.

His request, made to the state Department of State in early July, was stalled after the DOS filed suit against Fayette, Berks and Lancaster counties over their refusals to count mail-in ballots in which the voter did not write the date on the outer envelope.

Until those mail-in votes are counted, the state has contended it cannot fully certify statewide election results. That suit has yet to be resolved, prompting Dowling to petition the court individually to remove his name from the ballot.

Kozlovich said he supports Grimm Krupa as the party’s candidate.

“She was very well liked and very well represented. I think she is the best person for the job,” he said.

Grimm Krupa will face Democrat Richard Ringer in the November general election.