Mattei Waging Write-In Against Emrick

I am more than a little disappointed to see that State Rep. Joe Emrick has no opposition in tomorrow's primary, and that no Democrat sought his party's nomination. Dave Mattei, a Nazareth insurance agent and former New Jersey State Trooper, must have been upset, too. But unlike me, he is doing something about it, and has formally announced his write-in campaign in the Democratic Primary tomorrow.

Mattei is asking Democrats in the 137th PA House District to write him in for Representative in the General Assembly, where there is currently no candidate on the Democratic Primary ballot. He needs to get at least 300 write-in votes to win the Democratic nomination and challenge Joe Emrick on the November ballot, and he has knocked on several hundred doors over the past two weeks to let Democrats know.

Dave Mattei opened the Farmers Insurance agency in Nazareth four years ago and serves on the board of the Nazareth-Bath Regional Chamber of Commerce. He recently moved to downtown Nazareth after several years in Washington Township and more than a decade in Lehigh Township, arriving in Pennsylvania after his first career as a New Jersey State Trooper.

Earlier this month, Mattei earned the “Spirit of Nazareth” award for his dedication to the local community. He helps regularly with events, volunteers at the weekly “Loaves and Fishes” soup kitchen, and recently rebuilt the Nazareth’s nativity scene with all parts and labor donated.

Mattei is tired of the partisan obstructionism and gridlock in Harrisburg that prevented a budget compromise, leaving Pennsylvanians nine months later with a budget that still does not balance, nor addresses the problems of restoring school funding or responsibly lowering property taxes.

Though Mattei has been registered with no party affiliation since locating in Pennsylvania two decades ago, he finds himself increasingly frustrated with the Republican legislature’s unwillingness to negotiate a compromise on key issues that affect nearly all Pennsylvanians. The first compromise budget proposal with a bipartisan majority was only blocked by Emrick’s Speaker of the House quick gaveling the session closed days before Christmas, and it nearly passed in spite of no support from Lehigh Valley Republicans.

“Joe Emrick is part of the problem, and I’m ready to be part of the solution,” Mattei said. “Residents from the Bangor area of the Slate Belt to Nazareth and the Easton suburbs deserve a leader, one who will reach across party lines to find broader compromise to do the business of Pennsylvania.”

To avoid a challenge that would force him to answer tough questions about his record and failure to compromise in Harrisburg, Republican Joe Emrick is trying to block any opposition for November by sending a glossy mailer to Democrats asking them to please write him in. Doing so would only have one purpose -- to prevent voters of the 137th District from having a choice in November.

Democrats in the 137th who want an honest discussion of what’s been going on (or rather, the dysfunction) in Harrisburg should write in DAVE MATTEI at this Tuesday’s Primary.

Because I've already voted absentee, I am unable to give Mattei a vote. But I ask every Democrat in the Nazareth - Palmer - Slate Belt district to do so.

Emrick has got to go. He is a poster boy for a complete lack of transparency in government.  I also understand that his constituent service is horrible because he refuses to give people more than three minutes of his time.