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Photo provided Ryan Mock is running as a Democrat for the 107th Pennsylvania House seat being vacated by state Rep. Kurt Masser.
Photo provided Ryan Mock is running as a Democrat for the 107th Pennsylvania House seat being vacated by state Rep. Kurt Masser.
The contrast between the Republican and Democratic candidates running to fill the 107th State House District vacated by Kurt Masser couldn’t be starker.
On matters such as minimum wage, abortion, gun control, and energy production, Joanne Stehr of Hegins, a staunch Republican conservative, and Democrat Ryan Mock, of Coal Township, differ on almost everything.
It begins with contrasting views on the 2020 presidential election and the votes in Pennsylvania.
Mock said the voting was certified and there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Pennsylvania.
Stehr is not so sure about that. “Every day we are finding out more information,” she said. “Was there voter election fraud? I don’t know, but it would certainly seem that there are inconsistencies that don’t match up.
“We are no more than a third-world country if we can’t have a free and fair election,” Stehr said.
The issue of raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage could come before the House for a vote in upcoming sessions. Currently, Pennsylvania mirrors the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. In 2021, Gov. Tom Wolf renewed his push to raise the commonwealth’s minimum wage to $12 and to have that amount increase by $0.50 annually until it reaches $15.
Mock is in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour incrementally over the next few years.
“However, due to inflation, the minimum wage should be around $27 an hour. Fifteen dollars, at this time, would be a benefit and a compromise. I believe all work has dignity. If the minimum wage is increased, it will stimulate consumer spending and grow the economy here in Pennsylvania,” he said.
Raising the minimum wage benefits the economy, the workers and employers in the state, he said.
Stehr said she thinks it should be up to the industry to set wage rates.
She cited how businesses, where feasible, are raising wages.
“Even McDonalds has raised starting wages to $16 an hour. Manufacturers are also raising wages to compete with other companies raising wages,” she said.
Nationally, reproductive rights are a hot-button issue in this mid-term election. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer, states have been quick to pass their own legislation regarding abortion.
“I am the pro-choice candidate when it comes to abortion,” Mock said, about abortion rights. “There is no space for a politician in the exam room. This is not a one-size-fits-all issue and the government should not issue one-size-fits-all solutions.”
Stehr is the pro-life candidate, she said.
“We are never going to get rid of the word ‘abortion.’ I think the left is being unfair as to what the choices are. There are a lot of untruths out there just to push the pro-choice agenda,” Stehr said. “I definitely support that we need better education. We are no longer in the coat-hangers age. There is a simple pill you can take the next day if you are having unprotected sex.”
Another “kitchen table” issue for most families is education and funding for local school districts. Both candidates support looking into how the commonwealth funds schools.
Being a teacher, Mock is “gung ho” for education funding, he said.
Mock said he believes Republican gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Doug Mastriano’s plan to cut $10,000 per student by cutting property taxes is “simply not feasible.”
Gutting budgets to that extent means schools in the 107th would have almost $4.6 million cut from their budget per school, Mock said. It resulted in an average loss of 54 jobs per school, as well as a nine-student increase in classroom size, he contends.
“We do need a comprehensive review of how education is funded in this state,” Mock said.
Which is what Stehr also believes. But she comes from a different political mindset.
“Money should be following the students,” Stehr said. “I think that we should have alternative choices in education, particularly if a family has religious convictions, for example, that don’t align with the curriculum at a public school.”
She said people need to know what schools are teaching students and there needs to be transparency.
“I support our schools and want them to survive,” she said. “I could not support schools that taught Critical Race Theory, for example.”
“I can’t say one way or another how I would vote on a funding program until I saw the bill and how it was written,” Stehr added.
Gun reform is an issue that might come before House members as well.
Stehr is a very staunch Second Amendment supporter, she said.
“Do not infringe on that amendment and I will not bend on that,” she said. “I told the people in my district that the Second Amendment is the only thing that is saving us from tearing our Constitution apart. Gun-free zones are open targets for people who wish to do us harm.”
Mock supports red flag laws in Pennsylvania and background checks for firearm sales.
“Particularly with sales of assault rifles and long guns, AR-15s. In private sales, we need a background check for sales of all guns in our states,” he said.
As the cost of energy — gas at the pumps and home heating oil — skyrockets, energy source issues have come to the forefront of political dialogue.
Stehr said she does not think Pennsylvania’s natural resources should be competing for green money that they have been enticing people in terms of solar panels, wind turbines.
“We need to open our gas lines, get our coal mines up and running. You can’t make steel without coal. We definitely need coal. We are sitting on a gold mine of natural resources here,” she said. “I’m absolutely repulsed by having to rely on foreign energy.”
Mock also said the commonwealth and country need to be energy independent.
“I believe in the science behind climate change,” Mock said. “Oil and gas are not the way forward. We need to be the leaders in clean, renewable energy. Solar, hydroelectric, and wind are the way of the future. Oil and gas are the way of the present and the past.”
The country needs to be the leader in this world in regard to clean energy, Mock insists. “We do not take our lead from countries like China, Russia, or the countries in OPEC who decided to cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day to make Americans suffer at the pump. We should be the leaders in energy, not China.”
Photo provided Ryan Mock is running as a Democrat for the 107th Pennsylvania House seat being vacated by state Rep. Kurt Masser.
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First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.