2018 Primary election: 189TH LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT
District includes Ross Township.
Democrats:
Christa Caceres
Education: B.A.-jurisprudence, California University of PA (2017), candidate, M.S., law and public policy, CALU
Qualifications: My educational background in jurisprudence and law and public policy means I’m prepared to legislate and analyze proposals on day one. As a wife, mother and stepmom I can referee, negotiate and find creative solutions to existing problems.
Q: What are your top three priorities in office?
A: 1. Raising the minimum wage for hardworking Pennsylvanians over 60 percent from $7.25 to $12 with annual increases to $15 within six years, but we must first reduce the corporate tax rate to assist small businesses with this change. This can be done with a severance tax, closing the Delaware loophole and implementing the “Fair Tax.” We must be serious about balancing our budgets and finding ways to properly fund public education/human services, protect our environment and repairing/maintaining our infrastructure across the state. 2. Protecting our children with laws such as gun responsibility (universal background checks/closing all available loopholes) and taking a stronger stance on bullying in our schools. We must take the safety and mental health of our precious children seriously and be proactive whenever possible. 3. Protecting existing funding to combat opioid and heroin addiction and find new ways to address this growing crisis in Pennsylvania. Our friends and family need our help.
Adam Rodriguez
Education: Graduate, Midland Park High School, Rhode Island School of Design, NYCDCC Journeyman carpenter
Qualifications: Experienced in product development, quantitative analysis, creative problem solving and professional design management. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, along with a unique ability to negotiate and find reasonable compromise.
Q: What are your top three priorities in office?
A: Although I have a long list of priorities I’d like to address, I believe that focusing on economic issues that affect my fellow residents’ pocketbooks first is a winning strategy. Economic inequality can begin to be solved here in the 189th by raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15. We understand that this country was built on a system of high wages. Secondly, high property taxes are a real problem for my fellow Monroe and Pike County residents, where we pay nearly three times the state average in an area where 54K per year is the average salary for a family of four. I propose using the proceeds from a Liquefied Natural Gas Severance Tax, combined with another fix to the School Funding Formula’s weighted average would go a long way to solving our property tax problem. Lastly, under the preamble of both the state and federal constitution, Pennsylvanians have a right to quality affordable medical care under a Medicare for all plan.
Republican
Rosemary Brown (incumbent)
Middle Smithfield Township
Candidate did not answer questions by the deadline provided.
Courtesy Monroe County League of Women Voters
