04/21/2026
The PA GOP is playing games with Property Tax Elimination again.
If you read our email a couple weeks ago, you know about the PA House Republicans running a Property Tax Elimination Constitutional Amendment bill that they knew wouldn't pass, just so certain members could claim they voted for it on their campaign flyers.
But now on the Senate side, the GOP is ATTACKING candidates for supporting Property Tax Elimination with misleading ads.
Where does the PA GOP really stand on this issue? For decades, they've recycled their talking points every election season, then do nothing on the issue. Now the House runs a bill just for show, while the Senate attacks the issue.
Here is a letter I sent to the PA State Committee. Please take a moment to read and share.
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Dear Fellow Republican State Committee members,
I am writing to you astounded by the recent actions of our Republican State Committee. Across multiple races, they are using our mail permit to attack primary challengers on behalf of incumbents.
Please understand that this practice has not been employed since the 2005-06 pay raise cycle. Fortunately, under the leadership of former Chairman Rob Gleason, he reformed the process for using the mail permit. Under his leadership, Chairman Gleason banned the practice of utilizing negative mail against fellow Republican candidates. He established that the Republican Party would use the mail permit only to send positive mail on behalf of incumbents, candidates endorsed by the state committee or the local party committees.
Recently, Republican State Committee has been running negative mail against Republican candidates in at least the contested races in the 20th, 46th, and 48th senatorial districts. I would note that the one candidate they are sending this mail out on behalf of is the SRCC chair, Senator Chris Gebhard, another is Senator Camera Bartolotta who is married to a convicted felon and a former Democrat Speaker of the House, and Senator Lisa Baker. Senator Bartolotta has been censured by both GOP county committees she represents and has spoken out publicly against President Donald J. Trump’s illegal immigration position as it relates to Charleroi, PA, which has been overrun with Haitian immigrants.
In fact, mailers have been circulating demonstrably false claims about Senator Bartolotta’s opponent, Al Buchtan, and Senator Gebhard’s opponent, Clovis Crane. As a result, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania will likely face lawsuits and the threat of serious financial consequences. These mailers were drafted by LN Consulting and authorized by the Republican State Committee.
In the 20th Senatorial District race, the Republican State Committee recently sent out a mail piece attacking a legislative position many of us care deeply about, property tax elimination. The mail piece makes it seem as though a candidate supports tax increases, while conveniently leaving out the benefits of the proposal, the elimination of property taxes. In addition to purposefully releasing a deceptive mail piece to attack a Republican candidate, it appears now that the Republican State Committee is now firmly in OPPOSITION to property tax elimination, a position championed by many of our state legislators.
This is the swamp supporting the swamp and the practice must end. This also raises serious questions about the decisions and leadership of our State Party Chair, Greg Rothman, who serves as a state senator. Clearly, we need a separation of roles as the pressure to support his colleagues has outweighed doing what is right for the future of the state party.
At our next meeting of the Republican State Committee, I will attempt to make a formal motion to ban this practice going forward. In the meantime, I would ask that they immediately cease these attacks against fellow Republicans and allow the GOP voters of the state to make their decisions on Primary Election Day.
Thank you,
Dean R. Klopp
Berks County Committeeman
PA State Committeeman
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