I’m distantly related to Rep. Heffley. My cousin Ted explained it to me one time; I think Heffley’s mom and I are second cousins. Mr. Heffley has a nice family; I try never to insult him personally, and criticize only his political activities. Having said that, I think he has been a terrible state representative for the citizens of our district.
He’s been in office for a little more than a year. In that time he has supported a measure to privatize state liquor stores, a move that will cost the state money in the future, cause 5000 people to lose their jobs, destroy neighborhoods, and increase crime and alcoholism.
He supports a school voucher program that will harm public schools, he supports legislation that will suppress the vote, he voted for a blatant gerrymander to strengthen his voter base, he has scapegoated immigrants, and his environmental record on fracking is a travesty. There’s more, but I try to keep these posts short.
The best time to beat a legislator is at the end of his or her first term. After that the advantages of incumbency--the pork barrel grants and the financial support from special interests--almost assure reelection. In addition, Rep. Heffley won in a non-presidential election when Democrats stay home. In 2012 Democrats will be turning out to vote for the President and Sen. Casey, and that helps other Democratic candidates at the bottom of the ticket.
Here is the problem. November is less than a year away, and no challenger has stepped forward. What we need is a young, preferably married, preferably female, intelligent, articulate, candidate who has a lot of money and is willing to work very hard. Also acceptable is an older, single, male, intelligent, articulate candidate who is willing to work very hard. Get your resume in now.
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