Philadelphia, September 27, 2018 – CeaseFire Pennsylvania, the advocacy arm of CeaseFirePA, today released additional endorsements in races for the Pennsylvania State Senate and House of Representatives. Endorsement decisions were based on an assessment of candidate surveys, voting records of incumbents, and the priority ascribed to the gun violence prevention agenda by the candidates in their public statements and actions.
Earlier in September, CeaseFire Pennsylvania designated candidates in many races across PA as Commonsense Candidates (the full list can be found here). Most of our endorsements fall in races where only one candidate earned that designation. Where both candidates earned the distinction, but we are still making an endorsement, we explain our decision below.
Senate
4th District Arthur Haywood
6th District, Tina Davis
10th District, Steve Santarsiero
12th District, Maria Collett
24th District, Linda Fields
26th District, Tom McCarrigle
44th District, Katie Muth
In the 10th District, only former State Representative Steve Santarsiero earned the Commonsense Candidate Distinction. However, his opponent State Representative Marguerite Quinn was the prime sponsor on a critical bill that passed the House yesterday, the bill to disarm domestic abusers.We are endorsing Santarsiero because of his long commitment to gun violence prevention, his leadership of the effort to pass the background check expansion bill during his time in the House, and his continued work to enact commonsense gun violence prevention policies. We wish to also acknowledge Quinn for her work in getting HB 2060 passed.
The race in the 26th Senatorial District features two candidates who are strong on the gun violence prevention issue and who both earned the Commonsense Candidate distinction. Incumbent Republican Senator Tom McGarrigle scored 100% on our survey. During his first term in the Senate, McGarrigle has voted for an important domestic violence bill and against guns in schools and special standing/expanded preemption. He also was the co-prime sponsor on the critically important background check expansion bill. Challenger Democrat Tim Kearney also scored 100% on our survey, and as a mayor made gun violence prevention a key priority.
We recognize that the voters of the 26h District have two strong candidates to choose from. Because of his voting record and willingness to make gun violence prevention a key issue in his Senate work, we are endorsing Senator McGarrigle.
House
District 28 Emily Skopove
District 61 Elizabeth Hanbidge
District 137 Amy Cozze
District 143 Wendy Ullman
District 146 Joe Ciresi
District 151 Todd Stephens
District 154 Steve McCarter
District 155 Danielle Friel Oten
District 165 Jennifer O’Mara
District 176 Claudette Williams
The race in the 151st House District features two candidates who are strong on the gun violence prevention issue and who both earned the Commonsense Candidate distinction. Incumbent Republican Rep. Todd Stephens has been the lead sponsor on the Extreme Risk Protection Bill and is working hard to move this bill through the House. He also voted for all the bills that came before the Judiciary Committee in June, including the background check expansion bill and the ban on bumpstocks. Challenger Democrat Sara Johnson Rothman scored 100% on our survey, and as a member of the Upper Dublin School Board and a candidate for the House has made gun violence prevention a key priority.
We recognize that the voters of the 151st District have two strong candidates to choose from, both of whom we believe will fight for strong gun violence prevention policies if elected. We are endorsing Representative Stephens because of his commitment to passing an Extreme Risk Protection Order bill in PA.
