GOP backs Jones for PA Senate; no endorsement on Cutler successor

Applause rang out in the room filled with Republican Commitee of Lancaster County members when State Representative Tom Jones (R-Elizabethtown) won the party’s endorsement in the race for the 36th District Pennsylvania Senate seat.

Republicans are looking to win back the seat won by Democrat James Malone in a stunning upset last year. Malone’s victory shocked the political establishment and ended more than 130 years of Republicans in control of the seat that covers a wide swath of Lancaster County.

“I’m asking you to pull together around a unified Republican team,” Jones told the crowd gathered at the Lancaster Farm and Home Center following the endorsement. “We’re going to take back the 36th District Senate seat.”

Not everyone was unified behind Jones candidacy. Mary Jo Huyard, who served on the Manheim Township Board of Commissioners and lost the endorsement bid, says she’s running against Jones in the May primary. 

“I’m a little disappointed,” Huyard said after the results were announced. “We know we have the ability to run a grassroots effort. Our polling shows the voters want a fresh perspective.”

Former Manheim Township Commissioner Mary Jo Huyard

Another race in the spotlight is the contest for the 100th Legislative District seat covering southern Lancaster County. Former Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Bryan Cutler (R-Quarryville) is stepping down this year following 20 years of service at the state capitol. Cutler told The Independence he would support the party’s endorsed candidate. 

That endorsement never came. Shortly after 11 p.m., following eight rounds of voting, neither candidate for the district could secure the needed two-thirds majority of committee member votes to secure the endorsement.

Retired Pennsylvania State Police Trooper and current Lampeter-Strasburg School Board member Kelly Osborne held a narrow lead in the voting over Sadsbury Township businessman Dave Nissley. Both will compete for the nomination in the Republican primary. 

“I look forward to presenting my proven record of getting results like voting for lower taxes, protecting girls’ sports,” Osborne said in reaction to the results. “My plan is to make Pennsylvania better for taxpayers, working families and seniors.”

Nissley, who challenged Cutler two years ago for the seat, talked about the lack of an endorsement in the race and the faceoff against Osborne in the primary. 

“I’m happy the voters get to decide,” he said. “We’ll engage the voters and talk about the issues.”

Republican Congressman Lloyd Smucker was on hand to accept the party’s endorsement for the 11th District race. Smucker tried to dispel concerns over Republican chances in the midterms in the wake of recent election results and public perceptions of the Trump administration’s handling of the economy, immigration, and foreign policy.

“We are working to turn the country around,” Smucker said. “We are moving in the right direction. I appreciate the confidence you place in me. You can count on me to help other endorsed candidates.”

Congressman Lloyd Smucker

Campaigns set up tables filled with the traditional political pamphlets and signs supporting the candidates. Bottled water and sweet treats were available.

There was even an Abe Lincoln impersonator on hand mingling with the crowd and taking photos. 

In other unopposed races, State Senator Chris Gebhard as well as Representatives Mindy Fee, Brett Miller, Keith Greiner, and Dave Zimmerman won endorsements.

Babita Rusyn garnered the GOP backing to challenge Representative Nikki Rivera (D-Lancaster) for the 96th District seat. Lancaster County Clerk of Courts Nicky Woods won the endorsement to run for Jones’s legislative seat.  

Jones, bidding to take back that key Senate seat lost last year, urged the GOP to take all the races seriously and turn out at the polls.

“Republicans can’t take anything for granted in Lancaster County anymore,” he said. 

Barbara Barr is a former reporter for WGAL in Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna Valley where she led political coverage that earned a Walter Cronkite Award.