GOP candidates tout ‘better ideas’ at annual Lincoln Day gathering

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Jake Corman speaks briefly at the Republican Lincoln Day dinner on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022 at the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport. Corman who is running for Pennsylvania governor was one of many candidates who spoke of their aspirations to fellow Republicans.
“We can do better.”
That was the theme at the 27th annual Lincoln Day Dinner of the Lycoming County Republican Committee on Saturday evening.
The event was held at the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport. It brought together many of the candidates and hot-button topics surfaced, such as defeating Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro, the attorney general, and critical national and statewide issues such as improving the economy, restoring energy independence, and lowering income and business taxes.
A call to arms
“We are here to rally the troops and take back the governor, U.S. Senate and lieutenant governor’s seats,” Vincent Matteo, committee chairman and a former president and CEO of the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce, told the Sun-Gazette as the candidates and guests arrived for the meet-and-greet reception.
The hotel room was soon buzzing with chatter, endorsements were signed, and the candidates and representatives were asking for support in the mostly partisan room.
The list of invited guests included: U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, 9th district; U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, R-Kreamer, formerly 12th (Keller said he intends to run against Meuser); and candidates for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Zionsville. They included: Dave McCormick, Kathy Barnette, James Hayes and George Bochetto.
Matteo invited gubernatorial candidates Jake Corman, Bill McSwain, Dr. Nche Zama, Charlie Gerow, and the wife and two daughters of Lou Barletta. Also invited were candidates for lieutenant governor: Jeff Coleman, Carrie Lewis DelRosso, Russ Diamond, Chris Frye, Rick Saccone and Clarice Schillinger.
Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor also spoke.
It was a night for supporting the Grand Old Party and its platform – focused on promises by candidates, if they were elected, to restore the economy and preserve Constitutional rights.
“This is one of his favorite places,” said Mary Grace Barletta of her husband Lou Barletta, former U.S. House Representative and mayor of Hazleton.
She was joined by their daughters April Kennedy and Kelly Randazzo.
Barletta most recently was on stage as a supporter of former President Donald J. Trump.
“The state has everything going for it,” said gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Jake Corman, President Pro Tempore, serving Centre, Huntington, Mifflin and Juniata counties. It has vast transportation access to large cities; it has a large population with intellectual capital and an education system beyond any in the nation, Corman said.
“We need to get the government out of the way,” Corman said. “We need to inspire economic growth and we need to keep that going through the tax credits as seen in Penn’s Northeast,” he said, a reference to a job creation tax credit program.
Corman also pointed toward successful industries such as the future $6 billion investment of Nacero, a natural gas plant to be built in Luzerne County and Shell’s ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, as economic powerhouses showcasing the state’s might.
Corman touched on the importance of technology and the new generation remaining in the Commonwealth once they are educated in various institutions.
Meuser spoke to the Sun-Gazette on the state Supreme Court’s redistricting, which resulted in Williamsport and several other Lycoming County communities being included in the 9th Congressional District.
Meuser said he believed, rather than the court, that the citizens should have decided, but now that it is done he noted how he was pleased that 70% of his district has been retained and he was especially pleased about the Bradford and Susquehanna County inclusions.
He also said he looked forward to getting reacquainted with the people of Greater Williamsport and its voters and with continuing a strong working relationship with U.S. Rep. Glenn GT Thompson, R-Howard, whose district also covers a large portion of Lycoming County in the new map.
Senate candidate James Hayes, a mechanical engineer, drove to the event from Allegheny County. He said he was running for Senate for a couple reasons. Among those, he wanted to ensure future election integrity, and said the way that could be done was through showing photo ID and in-person voting.
Furthermore, Hayes said energy independence would provide for and keep good paying jobs, especially those in the oil and gas industry.
He said he was opposed to critical race theory but open to conversations with the parents on it.
He favored a revamping of the criminal justice system, to make it less political and more independent.
“The criminal justice process really needs to be evaluated from the outside to understand the problems, and then build consensus on taking steps to improve it,” he said.
A “40-year” high inflation, failing energy policies and fentanyl getting into the U.S. and Pennsylvania – along with mask mandates are driving forces Dave McCormick said were his reasons to run for the open Senate seat. McCormick, a West Point graduate said Vladimir Putin sees weakness of this Administration and that would result in increasing cost of fuel and energy. McCormick went on to lead Bridgewater Associates, an investment management company.
He considered himself to be “battle tested.”
Diamond, a state representative from Lebanon County, pointed out how, “God forbid, that the lieutenant governor needs to step in” that he could handle the job.
He vowed to be a lieutenant governor that was a liaison between executive and legislative branches.
Johnson, a father of three, grandfather of eight and veteran, said he would be a strong Frederick Douglass conservative, placing a value on the First and 10th amendments of the Constitution.
Dr. Zama said he arrived in the U.S. with $20 in his pocket and through hard work, sacrifice and compassionate people around him was able to achieve the American Dream, eventually becoming a heart surgeon.
“Pennsylvania is sick,” he said, adding the state has the resources to be a global leader in education, healthcare, technology, energy and economic opportunity, but those resources, he said, have been mismanaged.
Zama said as governor he would provide leadership with a vision and ‘patient-centered’ mentality of a doctor.
He said he would establish high-performance teams to identify problems, propose solutions, implement corrective measures, monitor results and achieve successful outcomes that best benefit the people of the state.
That night, the Alvin C. Bush Award was granted to committee members Bob and Carol Pryor for outstanding volunteer efforts.