Lehighton Area Democratic Club

08/25/2026

Today’s order is not a ruling on the merits. As Justice Sotomayor wrote, the decision does not address whether the President’s attempts to interfere with the 2026 elections are lawful — it ‘merely postpones’ that fight. And the Court itself acknowledged that implementing this scheme may still be unlawful.

But make no mistake about what’s at stake. The federal government cannot nationalize our elections. The Constitution is clear: elections are run by states and by local officials — people like the election workers here in Montgomery County who administer them with integrity every single year. The Post Office delivers mail. It does not decide who gets a ballot.

Justice Jackson warned that this decision fuels ‘pre-election chaos instead of quashing it,’ and that election officials are already bearing the consequences. She’s right — I’m one of them. With just weeks until ballots go out, last-minute federal interference sows chaos for the voters we serve.

We will continue to fight at every stage — including in the Supreme Court the moment they attempt to implement this — to make sure every eligible Pennsylvanian can cast their ballot by mail, free from federal interference.

08/20/2026

My opponent is taking credit for repealing a data center tax break.

He’s the reason it exists.

In 2021 he voted for HB 952, the bill that handed data centers a sales tax exemption no ordinary business in Pennsylvania gets. It wasn’t a "required" vote. Thirty-one members voted no. He wasn’t one of them.

It passed. It became law. And for four years, while communities across this state absorbed the cost, he raised no public objection.

This year, with a challenger on the ballot, he voted for HB 2198 to repeal that same exemption. Now it’s on his campaign graphics.

Think about what that means. He wrote the check. He let it clear for four years. Now he wants credit for stopping payment, right at the moment it turned into good politics.

I’ll give him this much. Repealing the exemption is the right vote. Data centers should pay what every other business pays. No argument there.

But you don’t get to create the problem, sit on it until an election, and then run on the cleanup.

Here’s what I keep coming back to. Every one of these good votes, the tax repeal, the transparency bill, the zoning pause, happened this year. After the meetings. After the primary. After somebody finally made him answer for a record he’d spent years building quietly.

The votes he cast when nobody was watching tell you who he is. The votes he cast this year tell you who he needs you to think he is.

I’ve held the same positions in the quiet years as I have in the election years. That’s the difference.

08/07/2026

THIS is the reason Christian Bartulovich is the one to vote for in November to replace Doyle. He will go the extra mile and then some for the people.

I was part of the township team in a Zoning Hearing Board hearing last night on the solar field case against Penn Forest Township. The company challenging our ordinance presented its case and rested. Our defense starts August 27, and I'll be assisting, which isn't something you see a lot of supervisors doing.

This is what I mean when I talk about living in a world of sue first, ask questions later. A company doesn't like what a municipality's ordinance allows, so it goes straight to a substantive validity challenge, and now the municipality is stuck spending months and real taxpayer money defending decisions its own residents asked for.

This happens every day across Pennsylvania. Most municipalities don't have the budget of a company with lawyers on retainer. Cases like this get decided by digging through decades of court opinions and arguing over what a judge meant twenty years ago. That's not a fair fight for a municipality without deep pockets, and it's not fair to applicants either. Some of that case law could be codified into concrete standards, so both sides know what's actually expected going in instead of litigating it every time. That's the kind of MPC reform I want to push for in Harrisburg, so our local governments aren’t just fighting these one case at a time.

Credit to Lori Cooper for the photograph.

07/15/2026

One of the highlights this weekend was the annual picnic hosted by Save Carbon County.

We want to thank this dedicated group of friends and neighbors for their ongoing commitment to protecting Carbon County's agricultural and environmental resources and preserving the natural beauty that makes our community such a special place to call home.

Strong communities are built by people who are willing to step up, get involved, and work together for the future. Organizations like Save Carbon County demonstrate the important role that engaged citizens play in shaping and strengthening our county.

Thank you for the invitation, the warm welcome, and for all you do to serve Carbon County.

You can support the important work of Save Carbon County for $20 a year on their website!
https://www.savecarboncounty.com/join