Corrupt PA State Rep. Tom Mehaffie, funded by radical leftist special interests, exposed as Harrisburg's biggest FRAUD and must be primaried in 2024
How PA-106 Rep. Tom Mehaffie (Dauphin County) repeatedly betrayed GOP voters and why he must be primaried by a real conservative in 2024.
Taking Inventory in PA
With the 2024 election cycle almost upon us, Republican voters in Pennsylvania must be 100% caught up on all the facts concerning each of their elected officials. After all, the salaries, pensions, excellent healthcare, and privileged lives these people enjoy are paid in full by YOUR hard-earned tax dollars. We have the authority and obligation to critique every action these people take, as they exist on OUR dime, from the county level to the White House.
It's easy for us to get preoccupied with all the noise emanating from the top of the ticket, especially during such a decisive presidential election year like this one, when the stakes for America's survival have never been higher. However, we must remember the vital importance of our state and local elections here in Pennsylvania. The old adage "change starts at the state and local level" might sound cliche, but it's inherently true.
Sadly, Pennsylvanians see and feel why change is so badly needed in our state every day, now spiraling downward fast on the same perilous course as our country. Due to terrible Democrat policies, we have higher taxes, bigger government, and an obscene rise in costs for our daily necessities from the gas pump to the grocery store.
Our schools are under the assault of Marxism, "wokeness," and perversion. An unprecedented invasion of illegal aliens brings crime, fentanyl, and violence into our commonwealth while our freedoms and civil liberties are under attack like never before heading towards the precipice of no return.
Thankfully, the progress achieved by Republicans in free states like Florida indicate that that a new generation of bold conservative leadership is alive in our nation. The Sunshine State is the perfect case study for all of us in the Keystone State to see that it's possible to fight back with facts and win big against the Democrat's woke agenda. Though, having the right people in place is vital. That is why the most urgent task for PA Republicans is to keep this in mind as we take inventory ahead of this historic election cycle.
As one who has managed a warehouse for several years, I know firsthand that taking inventory isn't the most glamorous task. In fact, making a 100% precise count of anything down to the last piece of cardboard can be downright tedious. Nevertheless, it is an essential process of business and life that must be done to determine what you have and don't have. Ultimately, being on top of one's logistics is paramount to success, and this is no different for the hardworking Republican voters of Pennsylvania.
The only avenue through which we can achieve our goals, not only in this upcoming election cycle but for the remainder of this decade and beyond, is to use all of the facts available to take a thorough inventory of our elected officials in Harrisburg. History demonstrates that tough and uncertain times such as ours requires leaders who equal that level of toughness. What we need are smart Republicans with guts who equal the times like Florida has in Tallahassee, who will wake up each day hungry to deliver results and push back with strength against the Democrat's radical agenda.
What we do not need, however, are spineless career politicians who take our tax dollars every year only to back down in the face of adversity and refuse to stand up for our conservative principles when all the chips are down. The time is NOW for Republican voters to discern who among our current incumbents in Harrisburg is worthy of our tax dollars and who isn't.
Being worthy of leading as a Republican in 2023 for our incumbents entails having a clear and extensive record of fighting for what we care about as conservatives. Smaller government, lower taxes, free markets, school-choice, unleashing PA energy, medical freedom, election integrity, law and order and the rigorous defense of our Constitutional rights and civil liberties. Those who don't have a record of standing with these principles must be identified and exposed, so we can ultimately replace them with someone who will fight for them.
In the spirit of taking inventory in our state, it's critical to point out that those in Pennsylvania's 106th legislative district know all about deadweights in Harrisburg who work against our interests and put our future in doubt. As a lifelong resident of that district, I feel obligated to speak up and join others in my community and around our commonwealth in saying that I am not satisfied as a Pennsylvanian with the poor performance and record of my State Representative, self-described "moderate" Rep. Tom Mehaffie.
With all that said, I hope the facts in this article may play a small role in enlightening GOP voters of our commonwealth to all the facts about the Democrats' favorite Republican in Harrisburg and why he has to go in the 2024 GOP primary contest.
Rep. Tom Mehaffie: The Biggest RINO in the PA House of Representatives
One would think that after an incumbent is given the privilege of another term in office by their constituents that they would be eager to get right to work for the people who put them there in the first place. However, despite being re-elected to a fourth term with a new lofty six-figure salary, so called “Republican” State Representative, Tom Mehaffie, chose to begin this 2023 legislative term by voting a Democrat (Mark Rozzi) for speaker of the house, along with handing the house majority to the Democrats and blocking voter ID in the process.
On January 3rd, after Democrat Rep. Mark Rozzi was sworn in as Speaker of the House, he used the excuse that both parties couldn’t come to an agreement on operating rules to take a vote to adjourn the house. Rep. Tom Mehaffie was the ONLY Republican to vote with Rozzi and the Democrats to close the house and lock the doors until late February.
The PA House Freedom Caucus wasn’t having any of this, and proposed a maneuver which would force the house to reconvene with a petition to form a quorum with a simple majority of 101 members. That way, they would be able to elect a new Republican speaker. Unfortunately, while 100 GOP representatives signed the petition there was still one single holdout, Rep. Tom Mehaffie.
On January 23rd PA Rep. Aaron Bernstein (R-Butler) alerted taxpayers to the situation in a facebook post:
As one can probably expect, Mehaffie’s GOP colleagues along with many taxpaying Republican voters in his district and around the state became very upset when news of his treachery and refusal to do his job hit social media.
On February 1st, a group of concerned Pennsylvanians gathered outside Mehaffie’s Downtown Hershey office to peacefully protest his actions and demand a return to work. Ultimately, they were met by Teamsters Union members.
“They were met by a large contingent of Teamsters in union colors and accompanied by a Teamsters tractor-trailer emblazoned with the union logo.
“The Teamsters, as requested by Representative Mehaffie, occupied the entire sidewalk in front of Mehaffie’s office. As members of the Coalition arrived to set up for the protest they were met with a stream of obscenities and threats.”
Further, he points out: “At one point, the Teamsters received pizza delivered to them courtesy of Rep. Mehaffie who was apparently inside for a portion of this incident but declined to come and and address any of those present.”
Via ANDMAGAZINE
For those who don’t know, the Teamsters are one of the biggest labor unions in America who routinely support Democrat candidates for political office. Including the presidential runs of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and most recently Joe Biden.
Every Pennsylvanian who votes republican should it find it odd that a group of people belonging to a large union tied at the hip to the Democrat Party, their candidates and radical agenda would come out to “shield” GOP State Rep. Tom Mehaffie from having to answer questions from taxpayers.
After all, these people were harmless and genuinely curious as to why Mehaffie’s allegiance was not with his own party and taxpaying Republican voters, along with the reason as to why he was refusing to return to work.
At the end of the day, the fact that he didn’t even have the courage to come out of his office and answer the questions and concerns of taxpayers tells you all you need to know about Rep. Tom Mehaffie.
Rep. Dawn Keefer (R-York), Freedom Caucus Chair, said this about Mehaffie:
“Are you going to stick with Republicans on procedural things or aren’t you? If you’re not, I guess you’re not part of the caucus right? So you need to pick a horse and ride it,” said Keefer. “If you’re not going to allow us to get back to work because you’re lining up with the Democrats, so you should caucus with the Democrats, right? If they’ll allow you to caucus with them.”
This was Mehaffie’s smug response:
“No, I’m not caucusing with the Democrats. I’ve been a lifelong Republican since I was 18 years old, when I could register. I’m going to continue to caucus with the Republicans and going to continue on and do the right thing.”
Apparently, for Rep. Tom Mehaffie, being a lifelong republican and “doing the right thing” entails betraying your party, colleagues and constituents over and over again repeatedly in a short amount of time.
Voting Democrat Mark Rozzi for Speaker of the House.
Being the only Republican to vote with Speaker Rozzi and every Democrat in the assembly to shut down the Pennsylvania House of Representatives until late February.
Refusing to join 100 of his Republican colleagues and forcing the house back into session.
Making his own party (the GOP) absolutely powerless to push any of our priorities through despite still having a narrow majority.
Putting his constituents and hardworking Pennsylvanians through all of this while knowing full well that the Democrats were expected take the majority after the (then) upcoming special elections.
Ultimately, Rep. Mehaffie was kicked out of his office in Harrisburg by the republican caucus. Though, apparently, he and the Democrat Party got what they wanted as the house remained closed until after the results of the special elections.
As expected, with the GOP unable to exercise any advantage of their narrow majority, the Democrats were able to wait it out and win each of their special elections to gain a 102-101 house majority.
Clearly, all of this is unacceptable behavior from a GOP State Representative, but all those who have been paying attention to Mehaffie’s legislative career know that the start of 2023 was a just continuation of business as usual for someone who has been known for quite sometime as the Democrats favorite Republican in Harrisburg.
Mehaffie’s Record
A record is never something to stand on it’s always something to build on, however, anyone looking at Tom Mehaffie’s record in Harrisburg through a conservative lens would tell you that it just doesn’t reflect the same values and priorities held by the majority of republican voters in our state and country. Sadly, this has been the case from the time he took office.
In fact, according to Jermey Baker, Political Director of Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs:
“In 2017, Mehaffie sided with Democrats in opposing legislation that would have prevented taxpayer resources from being used to collect government unions’ political campaign contributions. These unions give heavily to Democrats and, not coincidentally, to Mehaffie.”
“In 2018, Mehaffie sponsored legislation that would have stripped workers of the right to a secret ballot in union organizing elections. In essence, this bill would have empowered unions to intimidate workers into voting to unionize.”
“And in 2022, Mehaffie sided with Democrats in voting against Lifeline Scholarships, which would help children escape failing and even violent schools to access a quality (and safe) education.”
Even in today’s wacky political climate, it’s clear that Mehaffie’s legislative record in Harrisburg is the exact opposite of what any conservative minded Republican would deem as acceptable. Though, he could have made a strong case for Democrat of the year had he been elected on the other side of the aisle. Mehaffie fits right in with his Democrat colleagues on the far-left already.
For example, in March, Rep. Mehaffie celebrated “World Energy Efficiency Day” 2023 by authoring a Penn Live OP-ED with Democrat State Representative Jennifer O’Mara (Delaware County) Democrat State Senator Lindsey Williams (Allegheny County) and Flora Cardoni, Field Director at PennEnvironment, to announce the introduction of their legislation supporting energy efficiency standards for home appliances in the Pennsylvania.
If you’re wondering why this particular legislation sounds like a woke leftist scheme to ban your gas-stove then you are correct. But what is PennEnvironment?
Interestingly, some Pennsylvanians might remember that PennEnvironment once praised former Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Wolf (D) for announcing the largest push for solar power in Pennsylvania history, providing almost 50 percent of the electricity in a slate of counties across the commonwealth.
In reality, PennEnvironment is just one tentacle in a large web of woke organizations that have the intention of forever changing our state and country as we know it.
According to Capitol Research:
“PennEnvironment and PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center form a 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3) pair of local affiliates for a massive, multi-million-dollar activist nexus in Washington, DC: the Public Interest Network.”
Over 100 left-wing nonprofits and for profit companies make up the Public Interest Network which specializes in forming “grassroots” campaigns in which poorly paid activists fundraise for groups like Planned Parenthood and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Its labor practices have earned it a reputation on the Left as a “liberal sweatshop.”
Evidently, Environment America is the puppet master of PennEnvironment and PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center and controls similar paired affiliates across the country acting as branches of the master group which advocates for a host of left-wing environmental policies, including 100 percent renewable energy, banning fracking and offshore drilling and halting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
All Republican voters in Pennsylvania need to know is that GOP State Rep. Tom Mehaffie is co-sponsering radical progressive legislation with Democrats that is backed by insidious “woke” far-left organizations. Mind you, these are the same organizations pushing Joe Biden’s energy killing agenda that has made gas prices unaffordable and devastated our state and country. All in the name of the grift that keeps on grifting, CLIMATE CHANGE.
Speaking of Climate Change, it should be noted that Mehffie seems to be very comfortable with raising the prices of energy for hardworking Pennsylvanians in the name of the left’s crusade. That’s why he supported former Democrat Gov. Wolf’s unconstitutional energy tax (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) a leftist scheme which will cost taxpayers $700M a year.
Clearly, Rep. Mehffie’s record on this issue proves he is out of touch with Republican voters and in total lockstep with the Democrat assault on gas stoves and Pennsylvania energy. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Tom Mehaffie’s ties to the left and their radical agenda.
Owned by the Left
A simple google search will not only tell you everything you need to know about Rep. Tom Mehaffie’s failed record in Harrisburg, but also why he will never be able to deliver the kind of bold conservative leadership needed to turn Pennsylvania around and get it moving in the right direction again.
As you can see, all of Rep. Mehaffie’s largest donors from top to bottom are literally the biggest left-wing political donors in the country and closely intertwined with the Biden administrations radical agenda. Let’s go down the list.
SEIU Healthcare:
The SEIU (the Service Employees International Union) is the second largest labor union in the country, and the largest union of healthcare workers with a long and extensive history of supporting radical progressive Democrat candidates running at all levels of office.
For example, here in the Keystone State, the SEIU supported Tom Wolf for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2014, and most recently our newly elected Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro in 2022.
At the presidential level, the SEIU backed Barack Obama’s 08 and 2012 campaigns, Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 campaign and Joe Biden’s ride from his basement to the White House in 2020.
The SEIU recently reaffirmed their commitment to the Biden regime’s authoritarian agenda for the 2024 election cycle so it’s clear they are quite pleased with the damage this administration has done to our economy and the rule of law. It also seems the SEIU isn’t concerned about the left’s assault on our freedoms or civil liberties either.
Interestingly, in 2021, the Executive Board of (SEIU) passed a resolution in support of universal vaccination, calling vaccine mandates “an important and powerful tool” that must be coupled with a “mandate for corporations and governments to do everything in their power to protect all workers.”
Apparently, the SEIU’s radical progressive agenda and their authoritarian goals to obliterate medical freedom in America and Pennsylvania are not only shared by Joe Biden and his administration but also by so called “Republican” Rep. Tom Mehaffie, as he gladly took campaign money from them in his most recent election.
PSEA Teachers Union:
The Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) is a left-leaning teachers union which pushes the radical woke leftist agenda in our schools. Despite claims to be nonpartisan, the PSEA runs its own political action committee, PSEA-PACE, has contributed $14 million to Democrat candidates and just $3 million to Republicans in Pennsylvania over the past 25 years. Most notably they have supported in Pennsylvania include former Democrat Governor Tom Wolfe, current Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro, Democrat US Senators John Fetterman and Bob Casey, along with just about every elected Democrat at all levels of government.
The PSEA are also very well known for their vehement oppositions to school choice policies, voucher programs and charter schools with president (Rich Askey) once calling increased school choice funding “the worst attack on public education we’ve ever seen.”
In 2021, the PSEA supported protestors after Central York High School barred educators from teaching left-wing theories on race by banning a list of books and articles promoting CRT, race-based reparations and a curriculum promoted by Black Lives Matter at school. While their parent organization the NEA (National Education Association) has formally endorsed CRT and the position that is should be taught in K-12 schools.
The PSEA also supports Gender Theory and books containing pornography such as “Gender Queer” which has been included in their reading lists.
While the majority of GOP voters in Pennsylvania believe that the agenda being pushed in our public schools is not only dangerous, but unproductive and detrimental to our children and their futures, it’s obvious that one so called “Republican” doesn’t think so and that would be Rep. Tom Mehaffie.
Apparently, Rep. Tom Mehaffie shares the same values as the PSEA which is why they are one of the top donors to his most recent re-election campaign. Despite the fact that the vast majority of his GOP colleagues in Harrisburg and constituents strongly object to the radical leftist indoctrination being pushed in our public schools.
Tom Mehaffie’s allegiance to PSEA should serve as an explanation to all those wondering why a “Republican” legislator would vote against children and oppose very critical and badly needed school reforms. Evidently, siding with corrupt union leaders and therefore cruising to re-election is more vital to his bottom line than allowing for children in violent and failing public schools to escape.
Tom Mehaffie’s political ties to PSEA also explain why he has chosen to remain silent on the issues of CRT, Gender Theory and blatant pornography being pushed in public school libraries and PSEA endorsed reading lists.
Though, one would think that when given a dose of reality someone who others look to for leadership would choose to stand up and do the right thing. However, Tom Mehaffie refuses to publicly acknowledge that any of these serious issues exist. Even when they have a direct affect on his constituents in his own back yard.
As one who graduated from Derry Township School District in 2009, I was shocked and appalled to see that my old 8th grade social studies teacher was arrested last year for possessing child pornography. My State Representative, Tom Mehaffie’s silence was (and still is) deafening.
AFSCME: The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
AFSCME is the largest union of government workers in the country who aren’t teachers and the largest member union of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) labor federation. This powerful union is a heavy player in American politics and Pennsylvania politics, funding candidates, advocates and lobbyists to push their left wing agenda.
The agenda of AFSCME includes very strong support for a big government controlled single-payer healthcare system in the US, higher taxes and an expanded welfare state, opposition to entitlement and pension reforms as well as open borders and granting status to illegal immigrants.
In 2020, AFSCME campaigned and fundraised very hard for Joe Biden in his 2020 run for the White House and fully endorsed his radical and very expensive Build Back Better Agenda. Obviously, they are fully on board once again for his 2024 re-election campaign.
Once again, so called “Republican” Rep. Tom Mehaffie shares the values and goals of yet another prominent Democrat labor union as they gave big money to his most recent campaign which means they are quite pleased to support what he’s doing in Harrisburg. Clearly, he is happy to have it.
It’s very simple, no legislator can execute the goals and priorities of his or her party and constituents if closely tied to the organizations on the other side whose goals are to fund and enact the exact opposite plan of action.
Rep. Tom Mehaffie will ALWAYS be a cancer to the Republican party in Harrisburg as he is literally tied at the hip to AFSCME along with all the other Democrat special interests whose goals are to implement Joe Biden and the Democrat party’s radical agenda and failing policies.
Conclusion: Pennsylvania Republicans deserve better than RINO’s like Tom Mehaffie
In the final analysis, our commonwealth is on a very dangerous path because of the radical Democrat agenda, their failing policies along with the leftist special interests and woke corporations who fund them. Ahead of the 2024 election, the number one goal of every Republican must be to put our state back on freedom’s road to progress and prosperity.
To do so, Pennsylvanian’s need to take a page out of Florida’s playbook and build a bench of bold conservative leaders in Harrisburg and enact smart policies aimed to unleash our economy, permanently remove the woke leftist agenda from our schools and establish total school-choice for parents, re-establish law and order and sanity in our state, restore confidence in our institutions and election process and ultimately ensure the survival of our God given freedoms, civil liberties and timeless American values.
However, at the end of the day, none of this will ever come to fruition in our state, so long as we still have cancers in our own party like Representative Tom Mehaffie directly working against these efforts while strengthening the Democrat Party’s vicious assault on our very way of life.
Sadly, Representative Mehaffie has proven time and again that he is not up to the task of doing his job, as doing so would disobey his leftist backers. But the good and decent hardworking taxpayers in Pennsylvania’s 106th legislative district deserve a fighter in Harrisburg and Mehaffie’s GOP colleagues deserve a strong and loyal ally in the battle for the future of our state.
That said, Mr. Mehaffie has two options, he should either consider formally changing his party affiliation to (D) or prepare to lose his seat to a REAL republican in the 2024 Pennsylvania primary. After all, Rep. Tom Mehaffie clearly isn’t one so his seat is as wide open as Joe Biden’s chair at the resolute desk.
As the great Millennial Republican activist and organizer Scott Presler would say “GAME ON” in PA-106.