Democratic candidates for federal, state office meet voters
CRANBERRY TWP — Reproductive rights took center stage at a Butler County Democratic Committee meeting — along with other issues including Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, union protections and education funding — as three Democratic candidates running for state and federal offices shared their priorities with voters at Cranberry Community Park on Wednesday, June 26.
Democratic candidates Preston Nouri, Kate Lennen and Robert Vigue face Republican incumbents in the upcoming general election. Nouri, who was born in Erie, will challenge Rep. Mike Kelly R-16 as he runs for U.S. House of Representatives. Lennen, an attorney from Beaver County, will run for state Senate against Elder Vogel in District 47. Robert Vigue, an Air Force veteran and Valencia’s borough president, will be on the ballot for state House District 12 against Stephanie Scialabba.
One recurring topic voiced by all three candidates as well as voters Wednesday evening was reproductive freedom.
“The one issue that goes from the top to the bottom is a woman’s right to choose,” Vigue told voters.
“The big thing for me is women’s reproductive freedom,” Lennen said before addressing the crowd. “I’ve been fighting for this stuff since I was in college. And it’s going by the wayside.”
“I am a woman, I value women and I respect women’s ability to make their own (choices),” she told voters. “There was only one man in the room when I made my babies. When I go see my doctor, there’s only one other person in the room. There is no room — no space — in either of those places for pencil pushers from Harrisburg.”
Nouri shared that his mother had experienced an ectopic pregnancy, a nonviable pregnancy that can be life-threatening for the mother if carried to term.
He told voters he would work to “enshrine Roe” if elected.
“We need people to understand that reproductive rights are human rights, that health care is health care,” he said.
Nouri, as well as Lennen and Vigue, also discussed minimum wage in the state, and touching on protections for labor unions around Western Pennsylvania.
“People in Pennsylvania are only making $7.25 an hour,” Lennen said. “And that’s why your kids are going to Ohio or New York, where the minimum wage is a heck of a lot more than $7.25. If you send me to Harrisburg, I will vote to raise the minimum wage to a livable wage.”
Responsible gun control and public education funding for rural and poor school districts were also topics Lennen touched on.
“I understand the constitution and I respect it,” she said in terms of gun laws. “But I also know the fear that parents have when they drop their kids off at school. That should not be. School should be a sanctuary for children.”
If elected, she said she would work to introduce bills to restrict gun access for certain people, such as domestic abusers.
Vigue also spoke about transportation and traffic problems along Route 19.
“Because of the growth, it’s just getting so busy,” Vigue said. “I’m advocating to get a transportation system in place — public transportation.”
Carmella Greacen, 80, and her partner, Paul Allen, said they moved to Cranberry from California in 2020. This was their first time attending a Democratic gathering in Butler County, Greacen said, having previously attended a Republican gathering last year.
Greacen, who first voted in 1968, before the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe vs. Wade, said she was primarily concerned with maintaining women’s reproductive freedom.
For Democrats statewide, local and state elections are just as important as the presidential race, voters said Wednesday, including the race to flip control of the state Senate, which has a Republican majority. Local government issues, such as book bans, which Greacen mentioned as a concern, are also at stake as people vote.
“What I do affects people here much more on a local level than anything else,” Lennen said.
