PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
Pennsylvania GOP can't lose Fleck's state House seat [House DIstrict 81]- but he can :: 08/12/2014
Republicans can't lose in Pennsylvania's 81st Legislative District.
A GOP victory for the seat that covers Huntingdon and parts of Blair and Mifflin counties is so assured the House Republican Campaign Committee is happy to stand on the sidelines, even though the Democratic nominee happens to be an incumbent state representative with four terms under his belt.
"We will not be participating in that race," said state Rep. Dave Reed, the Indiana County Republican who chairs the HRCC.
THE DEMOCRATS' GOP NOMINEE: State Rep. Mike Fleck is an openly gay Republican, and he's found himself in his biggest political battle yet after announcing his sexuality in 2012.
That might sound an odd statement given the contested nature of the seat, but the race for the 81st has been anything but normal this year. That's because the Democratic nominee is actually Republican state Rep. Mike Fleck, who has held the seat since 2007.
Fleck lost May's primary election to fellow Republican and Huntingdon County Treasurer Rich Irvin, but Democratic voters granted him an extra political life by writing him in as their nominee and giving him a victory by 15 votes, 901-886, over Irvin in the Democratic primary.
If that wasn't unusual enough, Irvin beat Fleck with a write-in campaign after he was removed from the ballot for failing to file a statement of financial interest.
Fleck's loss in the Republican primary, in a district that previously backed him in multiple elections, may provide an answer, depending on the result of the general election.
Fleck spoke to PA Independent via email between appearances at the Huntingdon County Fair, but has already said publicly to WITF he believes the primary results were swayed partially by reaction to his sexuality.
Fleck lost the GOP primary the same day a federal judge struck down Pennsylvania's ban on gay marriage.
Huntingdon County GOP Chairman C. Arnold McClure partly attributed Fleck's Republican primary loss to that decision, but said policy matters also played a role. Fleck's voting record had moved too far to the left for the conservative district, while his ties to labor unions also bothered some people, McClure said.
http://paindependent.com/2014/08/pennsylvania-gop-cant-lose-flecks-state-house-seat-but-he-can/
