Norberto Dominguez: Why I Withdrew in State House Race

From Norberto Dominguez: I am a man of my word. I was raised that way by my father—a steelworker and union man at Allentown’s Gulf Western for 38 years, who worked hard to provide for his family—and my mother a seamstress. Immigrants from the Dominican Republic, I was blessed to learn from them the key lessons of love, honor and compassion rooted in the idea that everyone deserves respect, and that leadership requires fairness, wisdom and humility.

For over 25 years, I’ve dedicated myself to working hard for my community and the 22nd district, instilling that same standard in the hearts and minds of every person I’ve engaged, during my time as the director of HALA (Hispanic American League of Artists) and as a Jordan Heights Neighborhood Manager for CACLV.

I’ve had the honor of working with great community leaders from Jesus Ramos (who recently passed) to teens ready to change their community for the better. There are great people in the 22nd, many that remind me of my parents. The people of the 22nd district that I’ve come to know over time are not power hungry. They are not privileged. They work hard to make their lives and their children’s lives better.

Believing that Peter Schweyer was a principled man, a man of good will, a man committed to democracy and the will of the people, a man like my father, I made a promise to him early on that if I decided to run for his seat, I would tell him face to face. And I did. Before shaking his hand that day, I relayed to him that I hoped we would run this race with honor and with respect and Schweyer concurred.

Little did I know, that all bets would be off once petition season ended. On February 24th, the day after the deadline to file a challenge, I received an email from the law office of Adam C. Bonin notifying me that Peter Schweyer had challenged my petitions. Three days later, I was served by Schweyer’s law firm. March 1st, I received a letter from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania compelling me to face Schweyer in court on the 14th. Given the fact that I had to resign my position from CACLV in order to run, due to the Hatch Act, I was in no position to hire my own lawyer and fight this challenge.

On March 2nd, I officially withdrew my name from the ballot. Before I arrived home, it was already listed on the state website. Three days later, I received another letter (postmarked March 3) from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania notifying me that Peter Schweyer had withdrawn his petition challenge. I can only hazard a guess that the blowback he’d received on the Lehigh Valley Ramblings blog sent him running for cover and that he hoped that by withdrawing no one would notice how he had chosen to undercut the democratic process itself. I gather having a Latino opponent in a predominantly Latino district was not his preference. Yet he was all too happy to use a Latino to sign his challenge.

Clearly Peter Schweyer was more interested in this election being decided prior to the people of the 22nd district ever having an opportunity to cast a single ballot. He was supported in doing his dirty work by Nestor Tatis, Representative to the Executive Board of the Allentown City Democratic Committee, a fellow Dominican.

I am a wiser man today than I was that day I shook Peter Schweyer’s hand and committed to running a respectful race for the support of the people of the 22nd district. This district was created to represent the large Latino population living within its borders. Yet, Schweyer, a member of the disgraced mayor’s inner circle, and the Democratic Committee, has done very little for the Latino residents here.

It is with deep sadness that I note that, both at a city and a county level, the Democratic Party in this town seems mired in maintaining the same folks at the top that have always been at the top. They are no different than the Republican Party. Their actions, in this case, speak louder than their talking points.

You’d think they’d have learned something in the past seven months about subverting democracy from watching the long shadow cast across City Hall by the ongoing FBI investigation on corruption.

On March 2nd, I officially withdrew from this race. Today, I’ve resigned my position as a committeeperson of the Allentown City Democratic Committee. I cannot stand with a party committed to taking away the ability of the people of this district to weigh in on who represents their best interests in Harrisburg.

I remain a man of my word. I continue to believe in my father’s lessons, that fairness, wisdom and humility, are a requirement, of good leadership. Unfortunately, it seems Peter Schweyer does not.

Updated: Dominguez Withdraws in State House Race

In an earlier version of this story, I told you State Rep. Peter Schweyer has withdrawn his challenge to Norberto Dominguez' nomination petition for the state house in a newly created Allentown district created specifically for Latinos. Dominguez, a Dominican, founded HALA (Hispanic American League of Artists), which has beautified ugly parts of this Allentown with full scale murals, and turned a dirty lot into a park.

I was happy to see that there would be a race decided by the voters, not some senior judge. But a reader just alerted me that Dominguez himself has withdrawn from the race. So the voters will really have no say in the 22d legislative district in Allentown, where democracy is clearly dead.

Since Schwyer has no opponent, his challenge is moot.

Schweyer Challenges Dominguez Petition

too brown for Allentown?

State Rep. Pete Schweyer has a pretty good gig goin' as the Gringo representing a new District in Allentown that was supposedly established for its Latino population. But Norberto Dominguez, who actually is a Democrat and an honest-to-goodness Latino, has dared to challenge the natural order by running himself. So Schweyer has challenged Dominguez's nomination petition, hoping to have this election decided by a judge and not the voters.

Schweyer is using the same Philly lawyer - Adam Bonin - who challenged Terri Powell's signatures.

According to Tonya Trotter, who is volunteering for Dominguez' campaign, Schweyer "doesn't want the Latinos (that he represents) in the 22nd district to decide. What he wants is for Mr. Dominguez, who is Dominican, founded HALA (Hispanic American League of Artists), has beautified ugly parts of this city with full scale murals, and turned a dirty lot into a park, to be kicked off the ballot. He filed his lawsuit late on Tues, the 23rd, the deadline for objections."

"How serious is Mr. Schweyer's commitment to the Latino people of the 22nd district if he wants to kick their Latino candidate off the ballot?

"That should speak volumes to the voters of the 22nd district about his character and true motives for being in that seat. He's okay representing them in a seat of power, but he is too afraid to face a true contender in an election?"

Tonya, I don't believe Pete represents the voters. He represents the crony capitalist party headed by J.B. Reilly. From time to time, he hands out food to the poor, kinda' like the aristocracy used to throw coins at the unwashed masses in France.

Schweyer and his Bobbsey Twin, Mike "Darth Voter" Schlossberg, are far more comfortable among the Lee Butz' of this world, something their campaign finance reports make very clear.

I don't know his challenge claims. Maybe it was signed by people who aren't really registered. Maybe Norberto did not know about filing his Statement of Financial Interests with the Ethics Commission. But Schweyer's real argument is that Norberto is too brown for Allentown.

Will Mike Hortom Withdraw For Pete Schweyer?

Incumbents rarely lose an election unless plagued by some sort of scandal, so nobody expected State Rep. Karen Beyer to lose a primary against political newcomer Justin Simmons. But she did. That's why we have elections and horse races.

Democrats, who have fielded another political newcomer, Michael Horton, are surprised, too. Horton, unlike Simmons, had no primary opposition and has been conspicuously absent from summer events like this Summer's Latin Extravaganza, held in Jordan Park. An Allentown Democratic committeeman has asked me, "Where is he?"

What I've heard is that Horton is being pressured by the state party to withdraw in favor of a more formidable candidate. Allentown City Council member and Jennifer Mann legislative aide Pete Schweyer is the Golden Child, but has not committed.

If Horton intends to withdraw, he must do so by August 9.

Allentown City Council Candidate Bloggin' His Way Into Office?

My thanks to Damien Brown at Our West End Neighborhood, for alerting the LV blogosphere that Allentown city council candidate Pete Schweyer has his very own campaign blog.

Damien considers this a sign of political sophistication. Obviously, Damien has stopped reading my blog. A campaign blog is a cheap and effective way to reach voters. It can work, but depends on regular and honest posts, instead of the usual evasive campaign tripe.

Since July 9, Pete has had two posts. Neither says very much about Allentown or the many problems facing that city. Whether that changes is up to Schweyer.

Let's face it. Not everyone is cut out for the blogosphere. It requires that rare ability to make a complete ass out of oneself on a near daily basis while pretending others are even worse. I know this because at least daily, one of my admiring readers points it out.