That’s the imagery Leisey used to open his welcome-home speech Saturday in front of the borough office.


Leisey, the 25-year-old Iraq War veteran seeking the Democratic nomination in the 36th state Senate district, spoke to mark his homecoming from the military, which is just about final.


“By the grace of God,” he said, “I stand before you once again, prepared to be your general in the fight to restore honesty and integrity to Harrisburg — and together, this is a fight we will not lose.”


Leisey, the pride of Mountville, was badly wounded by a suicide bomber who rammed his Humvee while on patrol a year ago near Bayji, Iraq.


He has been recovering at a Texas military hospital from his injuries.


Mountville Mayor Connie Guy, a fellow Democrat, told about 30 friends on the sidewalk outside the borough office that Leisey showed extraordinary “strength and courage in the face of adversity.”


His dream was to serve in the military, she said, but the suicide bomber cut that short.


“God had a much larger mission for him,” Guy said. Leisey’s campaign is already up and running, even in the candidate’s absence, and even though he doesn’t face any opposition in the May 16 primary. He’s scheduled to participate in a candidate forum this week at the Woodcrest Villa retirement community.


“Our work ... is going to pay off now that he’s back,” campaign manager Robert Spicer said.


Leisey will meet the winner of the GOP Senate shootout, either endorsed candidate Mike Brubaker or maverick Heidi Wheaton.


Leisey didn’t name the Republicans in his speech. Instead, he focused on his promises to be a senator not in thrall to special interests.


“Rally to me,” he said, “and the lobbyists and special interests whose millions of dollars rule our state Capitol will be defeated.


“While the other candidates talk of honest, accountable government, ours is the only campaign that has imposed limits on contributions. Ours is the only campaign that will not accept money from those wishing to buy access to power.”


He has pledged not to accept money from lobbyists or interest groups, except for state and local Democrats. Leisey said his first priority will be to introduce a Senior Citizen Home Protection Act, ensuring that older Pennsylvanians will not lose their homes because of rising property taxes.


He reiterated his intent to improve the state’s services for veterans and also said he would work to enact Jessica’s Law, in memory of slain 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford of Florida, mandating a 25-year sentence for child predators. Leisey also emphasized better homeland security in Pennsylvania, particularly with “Three Mile Island in our backyard.” And he renewed a call to ramp up alternative fuels production, which he said would benefit Lancaster County farmers as well as the environment.


Leisey still has to sign his final military discharge papers May 21, but he’s back in the district to stay. He has heard Republican rumblings that his ballot status might be legally challenged because he had not been discharged from the military when he filed for the 36th earlier this year.


His campaign, though, noted earlier that it had researched the matter before Leisey entered the race and learned he could indeed be a candidate before formally leaving the service.


“I am running,” Leisey told his supporters, “because it is a new way for me to fulfill my duty to my nation, my duty to my state and my duty to my community.”




Elsewhere in the 36th ...




Agriculture was outstanding in its field as a campaign issue in the 36th last week.


On the GOP side, Heidi Wheaton embarked on a “Farmers First Agenda” road trip in the primary’s final week — campaign observers think she’s hoping to nullify endorsed candidate Mike Brubaker’s ag advantage.


Wheaton’s campaign said she will be doing “a mix of door-to-door visits and town-hall-style meetings with voters” to make the case for “conservative solutions for farm families.”


Her policy proposals include restricting the use of eminent domain authority; enacting the first phase of property tax reform, with school choice and taxpayer veto authority; and eliminating the state’s inheritance tax.


Brubaker, who has picked up the endorsement of Congressman Joe Pitts, R-16th District, issued a statement last week promising to promote the county’s agriculture industry if he’s elected, by means of tax incentives for profitable farming, smart growth initiatives and economic development tools that open new markets for farmers.


He also suggested that unless the 36th District elects someone to replace retiring Sen. Noah Wenger with a similar background in agriculture, the field could suffer: “For years we watched other industries — like the steel industry — slowly fade away. Agriculture is too important to our economy to not make it a priority.”

— Brubaker spent Saturday, after a breakfast with supporters in New Holland, touring the Goodville, Terre Hill and Leacock fire companies with state Rep. Gordon Denlinger, R-99th District.


In Terre Hill, Brubaker and Denlinger got a fire truck ride to meet volunteers working at the Terre Hill Memorial Park. — The Wheaton campaign, meanwhile, said its newest TV ad will begin airing on the 11 p.m. news tonight. It can be previewed this evening at Wheaton’s Web site, www.LancasterValues.com.


— Apologies to the borough of Mountville, which was omitted in a graphic last week listing the municipalities in the 36th state Senate district. We won’t forget again!




Back again in the 97th




John Bear, the endorsed Republican challenging incumbent Roy Baldwin in the 97th state House district, returned to the scene of the crime, so to speak, on Saturday.


He picked the site of his campaign kickoff announcement in November, the Neffsville Park, to deliver his “Not a Single Dime” pledge to voters in the north-suburban district. Bear picked up the pace of his criticisms of Baldwin’s “taxpayer accountability,” arguing that Baldwin not only voted for the pay raise last year but accepted other legislative perks.


Published accounts last year said Baldwin took $21,216 in benefits, such as a state-paid vehicle, gas reimbursement and per diem payments, in a 12-month period.


Bear was flanked by a giant image of a dime to illustrate his point.


Like some other challengers this cycle, Bear is promising not to vote for a pay raise or pension hike or to take per diems, vehicles or gas reimbursement. He also said he wouldn’t accept help from the House Republican caucus in the form of TV ads and phone calls that help incumbents — often during tough re-election battles. Bear has been calling on Baldwin to reveal how much was spent on calls and ads in the 97th earlier this year.


“This election is about setting a new direction and electing candidates who will be accountable to the taxpayers,” Bear said, “and who will be willing to work diligently to fix a broken system. I am that candidate.”


— Bear, a Lititz borough councilman, also raked in $20,000 at a Wednesday fundraiser at Bent Creek Country Club that was hosted by Marilyn Berger, a prominent Realtor.


Bear had to start his remarks after a boffo introduction by emcee Jeff Conrad, an assistant district attorney. “This is totally unfair,” Bear complained, jokingly, “to have to be following that.”




Campaign trails




— The fur was flying again in the 100th state House district primary over the weekend, with complaints from some Republican committee members in the southern end about a mailer on behalf of incumbent Gib C. Armstrong that was produced by the Republican State Committee.


Both Armstrong and challenger Bryan Cutler are “recommended” in the primary after the Republican committee in the 100th couldn’t muster a two-thirds majority to endorse Armstrong.


Cutler’s campaign manager, Ryan Aument, a Quarryville GOP committeeman, said Saturday that Cutler will take Armstrong’s advice and will contact the state committee Monday to see if the RSC is willing to give Cutler the same kind of backing it afforded Armstrong.


— Lois Herr, the Democratic candidate for the 16th Congressional District, last week set out her energy agenda in the face of rising gas prices, saying she favors raising fuel efficiency standards for vehicles, rolling back tax breaks for the oil industry, considering taxing oil companies’ windfall profits and stepping up work on alternative energy sources.


Herr criticized incumbent Joe Pitts for voting for more than $8 billion in tax breaks for energy producers and $2 billion to subsidize drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.


Last week, she also told the county restaurant association at a candidates’ forum that she supports creation of a county health department and legislation that would allow undocumented workers, some of whom hold jobs in restaurants, to find a path to citizenship.


Herr also hosted administrative professionals for a free lunch Wednesday at Café Aroma Borealis downtown.


— Patrick Snyder, the endorsed Republican candidate for the 96th state House district, has named David Stoltzfus his campaign coordinator. Stoltzfus, a GOP committeeman in the 8th Ward, 2nd Precinct, is technology manager for a West Hempfield company.


— Mike Folmer, the Republican challenger to state Senate Majority Leader Chip Brightbill in the 48th District, was endorsed last week by Firearm Owners Against Crime for his Second Amendment advocacy and by local legislative reform group Vote For Integrity in ’06, which also gave Folmer $2,500 for his campaign. Ken Schaefer, chairman of Vote for Integrity, said Folmer, a former Lebanon city councilman, is a man who will do what he promises to do. Folmer held a rally for supporters Friday in Elizabethtown, part of the Lancaster County end of the 48th.


— Lee Heffner, the Operation Clean Sweep-endorsed Democrat in the 37th state House district, observed Earth Day by throwing his support to Mount Joy Township citizens opposing the proposed Lowe’s store in the township.


Heffner urged Mount Joy Township supervisors to refuse to change the zoning of the property to a C-3 “planned commercial” district. “Lowe’s is not worth destroying the way of life of Mount Joy Township residents,” he said.




Political potpourri




— Art DeCoursey, Northeast political director for the Democratic National Committee, will be the featured speaker at the annual Hempfield Area Democrats Ox Roast & Silent Auction on May 12, at Four Seasons golf course in Landisville. Social hour and silent auction begin at 6:30 p.m., with a roast beef buffet dinner at 7. Tickets are $30 per person or $55 per couple, with student tickets at $15. For information, call Martin Dees at 898-0543 or Bob Gast at 209-0656, or log onto www.hempfielddemocrats.org.


— Michelle Chronister of Planned Parenthood of the Susquehanna Valley will address the Lancaster Democratic Women’s Association at 7 p.m. Thursday at Cafe Aroma Borealis, 52 N. Queen St. The event is free and open to the public. For information, e-mail lancasterdemwomen@gmail.com or call Beth Becker at 509-9869.


— Voters in the Donegal area can test-drive the county’s new voting machines from 9 a.m. to noon and 5:30 to 9 p.m. Friday at the East Donegal Township Building, 190 Road Point Road. Saturday, the equipment will be demo’ed from noon to 4:30 p.m. at Calvary Bible Church, 629 Union School Road, Mount Joy; next Sunday, another demo will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. at Hearthstone Manor, 607 Hearthstone Lane, Mount Joy. For information, call Keith Vogt, 653-2510.


— Pennacchio for PA, the campaign of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Chuck Pennacchio, will host “Woodchuck,” a day of live music, politics and fun, from 2 to 6 p.m. today at the Abbey Bar, 50 N. Cameron St., Harrisburg. Jerry Policoff, of the Lancaster Pennacchio campaign, will be one of the speakers.


But the real reason we’re including this notice is that it may be the first political announcement in the history of Lancaster County to carry this advice: “Wear: Groovy.” Helen Colwell Adams is the Sunday News political writer. E-mail her at hcolwell@lnpnews.com, or phone 291-4962. blog comments powered by Disqus