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Zucco wants to serve community

Lisa Zucco
Dem says district needs advocate for state funds

CRANBERRY TWP — Lisa Zucco isn’t interested in the prestige and honor that goes along with being a state representative.

Rather, she sees the opportunity to represent the 12th District in the state House of Representatives as more of a civil responsibility, a chance to give back to a community that has given so much to her family.

Zucco, a Democrat, will face off against incumbent Republican Daryl Metcalfe in the election on Nov. 4.

A newcomer to politics, Zucco, 44, is a technical writer for an architecture and engineering firm in Seven Fields.

She’s lived in Cranberry Township for almost a decade with her husband and two children.

It was one of those children, 11-year-old Bella, who actually inspired Zucco to run for public office.

It was last year when the young girl decided she didn’t want gifts or money for her 10th birthday. Rather, she wanted friends and family to donate to a new playground being built in Community Park.

She ended up raising more than $600 for the project and helped cut the ribbon when the park opened.

“It was only a drop in the bucket compared to the total cost of the playground, but I was touched by her sacrifice and commitment to the community,” Zucco said.

“I’m trying to raise my children to be stewards of the community, and I can’t think of anything more important that being involved in the community where you live.”

Zucco said she quickly understood what it would take to take the seat away from Metcalfe, who has been in office since 1999 and who has soundly defeated every opponent he’s faced in elections since then.

This wasn’t a choice she made on a whim, Zucco said, and she is “in it to win it.”

“This isn’t a hobby,” she said. “I already have a full-time job. This isn’t the whim of some person who’s just looking to do something new. This is me wanting to get involved in my community.”

Perhaps the biggest difference between herself and her opponent, Zucco said, is that Metcalfe often brings a confrontational tone when working with local and other state officials.

He refuses to advocate for state grants and other funds for local projects, she said, which means the area is losing money that could go to help build roads and other infrastructure projects.

“Obstructionism and rhetoric are not good public policy, not good governance,” she said. “We need someone in office who is willing to work with others, not fight with them. We need someone who is constructive, not destructive.”

Improving local infrastructure and roads are a top priority for Zucco, and she said constituents in the 12th District can no longer afford to miss out on state money because Metcalfe won’t go after it.

“We need someone who will fight for our fair share from the state,” she said.

Zucco, whose two children are in the Seneca Valley School District, added that education funding is another priority on her list if voters send her to Harrisburg.

Zucco said she remains optimistic about the election on Tuesday. She looks forward to the chance of representing a community that means so much to her and her family.

“I feel very positive about my campaign, and we’re working as hard as we can,” she said.

The 12th District covers Adams, Clinton, Cranberry, Forward, Middlesex and Penn townships as well as Callery, Mars, Seven Fields and Valencia.

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