Candidate forum set March 24
CRANBERRY TWP — Constituents of the 12th District will have a chance next week to meet with the two Democratic candidates running to represent their party in the election for state representative in the 12th District.
The Butler County Democratic Party is holding a public forum at 2 p.m. March 24 at the Cranberry Township Municipal Center, where attendees can ask candidates about their principles and positions.
“It's a forum for Honora Rockar and Dan Smith, so we will ask them some questions we have prepared, but they will not know the questions ahead of time,” said Catherine Lalonde, Butler County Democratic Party volunteer. “Then the audience will have a chance to ask some questions.”
The 12th District includes Callery, Mars, Seven Fields and Valencia boroughs and Clinton, Cranberry, Forward, Middlesex and Penn townships.
Registered Democrats residing in these municipalities will be eligible to vote in the primary.
“And we want to cover topics like transportation, road conditions, issues relating to fracking, Medicaid, community development,” Lalonde said. “Anything that's related to state and local issues.”
The two candidates, Smith of Adams Township and Rockar of Cranberry Township, will be vying to be the democratic candidate to challenge incumbent state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican who has served for 10 terms.
Smith was born and raised in Zelienople and lives in Adams Township with his husband, Don.
He is running on a platform of local issues: easing traffic and congestion, fighting for first responders and advocating for hunting on Sundays.
“As a constituent I felt the only thing I could do to get my voice heard was to do this,” Smith said in an interview earlier this year. “My focus is change in the district.”
Rockar was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in South Fayette Township. She teaches business information systems as an adjunct professor in the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business at Duquesne University and has lived in Cranberry since 2004.“Recent events in Pennsylvania and in Washington, D.C., suggest that those in office today have lost the ability to govern in a democratic system, through negotiation and collaboration,” she said in a news release. “I hear it often — from my neighbors in Cranberry, on campus from students and my colleagues — we are all tired of the partisanship and bickering.”Those planning to attend are asked to register online at eventbrite.com, by phone with Lalonde at 724-713-0222 or by email at clalonde@zoominternet.net.
