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Special election to fill Pa. Senate seat pits a district attorney against a history professor

The seat is open following the resignation of Republican Mike Folmer, who stepped down after he was arrested and charged with possessing child pornography.

  • Jan Murphy/PennLive
FILE PHOTO: The Pennsylvania State Capitol is seen in this file photo.

 Amy Sisk / WESA

FILE PHOTO: The Pennsylvania State Capitol is seen in this file photo.

(Lebanon) — Voters in the 48th state senatorial district will have the opportunity to go to the polls on Jan. 14 and elect someone to serve as their senator for the better part of three years.

The two men vying for that seat are Lebanon County District Attorney Dave Arnold and Lebanon Valley College associate history professor Michael Schroeder. The district includes parts of Dauphin and York counties and all of Lebanon County.

The seat is open following the resignation of Lebanon County Republican Mike Folmer, who stepped down after he was arrested and charged with possessing child pornography in September.

The 48-year-old Arnold, the Republican nominee, is no stranger to politics, having held his elective office for the past 14 years. Schroeder, 61, the Democratic nominee, is making his first run at public office but counts his community and environmental activism along with study of politics and government from his work as a history scholar as qualifying him for the position.

Both men reside in Lebanon County and admit running for a seat in Pennsylvania’s Legislature was an idea each had entertained over the years. After Folmer’s resignation, both decided it was time to run.

Arnold was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in October and immediately underwent surgery to remove it. He said he has been given the thumbs up from his team of doctors to carry on with his district attorney duties and his run for Senate. If elected, Arnold said he can serve as a state senator without any restrictions.

“To a person, everyone has agreed with that assessment,” said Arnold, the married father of one daughter.

For the record, Schroeder, who is also married and has two grown children and three grandchildren, said he has no health conditions that would impact his abilities to serve.

“I feel I could make a bigger difference in Harrisburg as a state senator than I can as a college history professor and a local community and environmental activist,” Schroeder said.

He said he feels he could bring a fresh voice to Harrisburg with “no political debts to pay. I am an independent thinker and committed to the public good.” Schroeder said the purpose behind public offices is to serve the public good and he believes state legislators on the whole “are largely failing in pursuit of that fundamental purpose of government.”

Arnold, on the other hand, said he loves being a district attorney and making a positive impact on people’s lives through the service provided to crime victims and the public.

“When I saw this opportunity to step up and sort of do a different level of public service, that really appealed to me,” he said. “I think I have done a good job serving the public and I think I’m going to do an even better job serving the public in Harrisburg.”

Here is a sampling of their views on some key issues:

Retroactive window for child sexual abuse victims to sue

The Senate in November approved a House-passed bill proposing a constitutional amendment arising from the clergy sex abuse scandal.

If approved, the amendment would create a two-year window allowing adult victims of child sexual abuse to sue perpetrators, employers and institutions, even if they are beyond the statute of limitations. Because it is a proposed constitutional amendment, it requires the House and Senate to vote on identical bills in the next legislative session. So the winner of this contest may have a say in whether to send this question to voters for ratification.

Schroeder said to count him as a yes vote on this proposed constitutional amendment.

Seth Wenig / AP Photo

Sisters Patty Fortney-Julius, Lara Fortney McKeever, second from left, Teresa Forteny-Miller, second from right, and Carolyn Fortney sit behind pictures of themselves as children as they listen to an attorney speak to reporters during a news conference in Newark, N.J., Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. Two of the sisters from Pennsylvania, Patty and Lara, are suing the Archdiocese of Newark and the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They allege clergy in Newark knew a priest had sexually abused children before he moved to Harrisburg and abused them and their sisters for years. Lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy are taking center stage in New Jersey as the state’s relaxation of statute of limitations rules takes effect.

“The ripple effects of this kind of trauma extend through a person’s lifetime,” he said. He personally doesn’t think a two-year window is long enough but said, “half a loaf is better than none so yes, I am in favor of that.”

Arnold said he is undecided about how he would vote on this.

“I support anything we could possibly do to benefit our victims of abuse,” he said. “From a legal perspective, obviously we need to be careful that we follow the law so that’s something that really needs to be thoroughly vetted before we make a final decision on how we want to go with that.”

Redistricting reform. Is it needed?

The candidates are seeking to represent one of the more oddly configured senatorial districts, which starts in Lebanon County and stretches over Dauphin County into northern York County.

Both candidates said when it comes to redrawing senatorial district maps they would hope to see something a little more compact – or as Arnold said, “set up in a maybe a little bit more common-sense fashion.”

But the candidates differ on how that should be done.

Arnold said he tends to lean toward making no changes to how congressional and legislative district boundary lines are drawn.

“I’m always open to any ideas if they make sense and can make an improvement but my initial thought would be it would remain with legislative leaders,” he said. “Input from other individuals by all means is certainly important. Don’t get me wrong on that. But I think the decision-making needs to come down to the Legislature.”

Keith Srakocic / AP Photo

William Marx points out one of the districts that crossed four counties as an image of the old congressional districts of Pennsylvania are projected on a wall in the classroom where he teaches civics in Pittsburgh on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018. Marx was a plaintiff in the Pennsylvania lawsuit that successfully challenged the Republican-drawn congressional maps. Marx said he believes the new district boundaries resulted in “a more fair congressional representation of the will of the people in Pennsylvania.”

Schroeder, who is involved with the redistricting reform group Fair Districts PA, said he opposes gerrymandering and would support putting an independent citizens commission in charge of the task of drawing the maps.

“This district as it currently exists was gerrymandered in a way to favor the Republican Party and I don’t think politicians should be choosing their voters,” he said. “I’m in favor of an independent citizens commission but barring that, I’m in favor of a fair redistricting process that takes partisanship and politics out of it and seeks to most effectively represent the people of each district.”

Top issue on voters’ minds

Pocketbook issues appear to be major issues on the minds of voters.

For Schroeder, it’s the cost of health care and prescriptions that the folks he spoke with are struggling with and he has an idea for addressing it.

“The state needs to play a more active role in funding health care,” he said. “We need to create a robust public option so that ordinary people have a choice between private insurance and a public option. I think over time people would gravitate toward the public option.”

He said he also would like to see Pennsylvania adopt a law similar to one adopted in Colorado that put a $100 cap on insulin copays and other steps to make sure prescription drugs are affordable.

Arnold said a lot of people have complained to him about rising school property taxes. He said it’s an issue that he would like to work on to find a solution.

“There are a lot of different theories out there on what we can do and how we should go about eliminating and reducing property taxes,” he said. “I’m not suggesting that I have all the answers on how we’re going to do that but it’s an important one to me. It’s important that we are able to keep our property taxes down for our working class and for our senior citizens who are on fixed incomes and at the same time, make sure we get the best education we can for our students.”

Marc Levy / AP Photo

A 2017 file photo of Republican state Sen. Mike Folmer. He was arrested September 17 and charged with possession of child pornography.

Why should folks from other party vote for you?

Republicans hold a roughly 50% to 35% registration edge over Democrats in the 48th district and the remaining 15 percent are registered to other parties, according to the Department of State statistics.

Given that, Schroeder knows to win he has to present himself in a way to draw support from Republicans and non-affiliated voters, who are eligible to vote in the special election for this seat.

“I offer a kind of fresh perspective and a sense of integrity in serving the public good,” he said. “I know many Republicans are disenchanted with the process by which my opponent Dave Arnold was selected through this kind of closed process with hand-selected delegates that voted. He also has very close ties to Harrisburg lobbying firms. I come into this with no political debts. I don’t know any lobbyists. I am not tied to big money in Harrisburg or elsewhere as my opponent is.”

Arnold refuted his opponent’s claim that he owes a political debt to anyone. He admits he knows lobbyists and believes they play a key role in policy-making by bringing issues to lawmakers’ attention.

However, he added, “I’ve never been been influenced in any way, shape or form by any lobbyists over the last 14 years and that’s certainly not going to change once I go to Harrisburg.”

As for convincing Democrats and non-affiliated voters to support his candidacy, Arnold said he is banking on his track record as a district attorney and as a leader in the statewide district attorneys association to help him on that front. “I’ve always worked well with Republicans, Democrats, independents and otherwise on all the issues related to law enforcement. There’s no reason to suggest I can’t do the same in the Legislature. So I’m a common-sense, solutions kind of guy.”

Legislative pay and pension

The $90,335 salary that comes with being a state senator would be a pay raise for Schroeder but a pay cut for Arnold.

Arnold said it would be his intention to have a private law practice on the side as other lawyer-legislators do to make up the $95,000 difference between his DA salary and the senatorial pay.

Schroeder said he is obligated to teach this spring semester but if elected, he would ask Lebanon Valley College to place him on leave while serving in the Senate. He said he and his wife are financially secure and would not need to earn another penny and they would still be financially fine so his candidacy “is not in any way about the money.”

It also isn’t about the money for Arnold. He said, “Anyone who runs for public office because of the salary shouldn’t be running for public office.”

Both candidates said they would not sign up for the traditional defined benefit pension plan that new lawmakers can still choose. Most new state government and school employees aren’t eligible to sign up for the traditional pension plan.

“I think we need to eliminate that for new employees going forward, period,” Arnold said. “I think it’s too much of a burden on our state in general and I definitely would not opt into that.”

“I would reject any benefit package that would put me as a legislator in a different category from any other state worker,” Schroeder said. “What’s fair is fair. I would reject any kind of special treatment.”

What others say about Schroder:

Public school teacher Faith Mumma of Mount Gretna has worked with Schroeder on redistricting reform and on pipeline issues. She believes his working class background has provided him the knowledge, listening skills, and integrity, among other characteristics, to be a good senator. “He values educating yourself on an issue. I know when he got his degrees he didn’t go through the channel that many people get to go right after high school. He went later and worked as a laborer and put himself through college. He knows how to face issues that are daunting.”

Lebanon Valley College chemistry professor emeritus Owen Moe of Annville said he too has gotten to know Schroeder through their joint work on many local community projects and thinks his passion for pursuit of the common good in Pennsylvania governance gives him an advantage. “Mike is strongly drawn to community service. He is a clear thinker, indefatigable in pursuit of goals, and he possesses an engaging personal dynamism that will propel him forward as an effective leader.”

What others say about Arnold:

Daniel Wright has known Arnold professionally for 14 years – first as captain of the City of Lebanon Police Department and later as its chief and then in 2016 came to work for him as chief county detective. Throughout those years, he said Arnold has proven himself to be a dedicated and hard worker who cares about the people he works with and for. “He’s passionate about his job and making sure the victims in the case get justice. I think that passion and dedication to his people he’s serving will carry over well. He’s a good guy.”

Joya Morrissey of Jackson Township, who along with her husband owns the Lebanon Farmers Market, said she got to know Arnold while working as an intern in the county detectives office as well as during her time as a Republican committeewoman. She said she found him to be respectful and sincere in his views. “He has been consistently conservative in the job that he does and I believe he will continue to be conservative as a senator. His public service record is available for everyone to see where his opponent’s is not.”

The district

Here’s a municipal breakdown of the 48th District: all municipalities in Lebanon County; Conewago, Londonderry, Swatara and Lower Swatara townships and Highspire, Middletown, Paxtang, Royalton, and Steelton, in Dauphin County; and Conewago, East Manchester, Newberry and Springettsbury townships and Goldsboro, Lewisberry, Manchester, Mount Wolf, and York Haven in York County.

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