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WILKES-BARRE — Two things are certain in the race for the Republican nomination in the 17th Congressional District — the winner will be 50 years old and from Northampton County.
The GOP candidates, Glenn Geissinger, of Plainfield Township, and Matt Connolly, of Bethlehem Twp., are running for the chance to unseat Democratic incumbent Matt Cartwright, of Moosic, who is running unopposed in the April 26 Pennsylvania Primary.
Connolly ran in 2014 for the Republican nomination, losing to Dr. David “Doc” Moylan, who lost to Cartwright in the general election.
Connolly is running because he doesn’t like the changes he has seen in the country in recent years.
Geissinger is in the race because he doesn’t feel all the people of the 17th Congressional District have been properly represented.
“Government is too intrusive,” Connolly said. “There are too many regulations/taxes that are driving jobs overseas, while wages in the U.S. have not increased.”
He said President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act — which Connolly referred to as “Obamacare” — has caused many people to work two jobs and does not give people a choice of health care.
“Someone’s got to change this,” he said. “This can’t be allowed to stand.”
Geissinger’s main concerns are national security, economic opportunity and accountability of elected officials.
“I’ve seen the deterioration of the economy and the loss of jobs,” Geissinger said. “And I’m concerned about the rise of violent crime, especially those that are drug-related.”
The candidates offered comments on the issues they feel face the 17th district.
Connolly on the issues
• Energy: “The U.S. has the ability to become completely energy independent, and the citizens would benefit greatly – lower gas prices, cheaper electricity and heating costs. The Keystone XL Pipeline should have been approved years ago.”
• Welfare: “Human dignity is being eroded by the promotion and increased dependency on government handouts. This is no accident – it is a vote-buying operation. We must reverse this trend and make work a requirement to receive benefits.”
• Taxes and regulation: “The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the world, yet the highest debt. Factories are leaving the country because of this and the regulatory environment that makes compliance virtually impossible.”
• Big government: “The intrusion of government in our lives has never been higher. The founding fathers were very concerned about this, yet those in power have used executive orders and appointments to circumvent the democratic process. This is perhaps the most troubling trend of all. We must take steps to expose the damage and return freedom and liberty to all Americans before it’s too late.”
• Manufacturing: “Our industrial base of manufacturing and mining is leaving. The 17th district is geographically in good position to be an inland port. We have easy routes for truck traffic to major cities. We need an intermodal hub in the district.”
• Drugs: “We have a serious and growing opioid problem nationwide. The federal government has used pain as a vital sign — doctors write scripts for things they wouldn’t in prior years. People get addicted and many die.”
Geissinger on the issues
• National security: “We must properly fund our military and provide them with the best training and weapons available to ensure that those who protect our freedom and safety are, in turn, kept as safe as possible. We must do all that we can to ensure that no person enters this country without being properly screened and vetted.”
• Radical Islam: “The fight to contain and destroy radical Islam must be a priority of our military, our intelligence community and our partner nations throughout the world. We must work towards forming a coordinated world-wide effort to remove the threat of radical Islam from our civilizations and way of life. The tragedies seen in Paris, San Bernardino, Tunisia and Brussels prove that we cannot negotiate with terrorists and we must eradicate this scourge.”
• Economic opportunity: “We must remove the crushing burden of over-regulation and heavy taxation from not only our district, but for all districts in this great nation. The bureaucratic and regulatory environment seen in government today is crushing small businesses and destroying industries.”
• Jobs: “We must focus on real jobs and growth and eliminate runaway taxation and regulation. This task is heavy, but by focusing on reducing corporate tax rates, repealing and replacing Obamacare and reigning in the EPA, we can begin to utilize our energy resources and manufacturing capabilities to build real and lasting jobs. We can work to partner with the private industry to repair and rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and provide support for a 21st century business environment.”
• Pro-life: He is pro-life.
• Gun control: He supports the Second Amendment of the Constitution.
The 17th district includes all of Schuylkill County and parts of Carbon, Luzerne, Lackawanna, Monroe and Northampton counties.
