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Former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta is seriously considering a run for Pennsylvania governor.

Barletta states one of the reasons he’s considering a run is that Gov. Tom Wolf didn’t handle the pandemic properly. Barletta, as mayor of Hazleton, couldn’t resolve issues in his own small hometown. What makes him think he could handle a global pandemic in our state?

Other reasons why Barletta should never be governor:

I grew up in Hazleton. What Lou Barletta did as mayor of Hazleton was disgraceful, hurtful and racist. He authored the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, which imposed a $1,000-per-day fine on landlords renting to undocumented immigrants (or illegal aliens as Barletta likes to refer to them), revoked for five years the business license of any employer who hired one and declared English to be Hazleton’s official language. City employees were forbidden to translate documents into another language without official authorization. A Federal court declared the act unconstitutional and threw it out. Cash-strapped Hazleton had to pay court costs of $1.45 million.

More disturbing facts about Barletta:

Presently, Barletta sits on the National Board of Advisors of FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform), and declared his support for ACT for America, both designated hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

As a Congressperson Barletta supported drastic cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, programs upon which millions of Pennsylvanians depend. He voted against the Affordable Care Act which presently provides health coverage to hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians.

He thinks climate change is a hoax, is against a woman’s right to choose and got an “A” rating from the NRA.

Pennsylvanians already loudly told Barletta we don’t want his extreme views in Pennsylvania when he lost the 2018 Senate race in a landslide to Bob Casey. What in the world makes him think we want him for our next governor?

Claire Gawinowicz

Oreland