MARS — Lambasting the war in Iran, gas prices going up as a result, Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations “causing chaos in the streets,” and attacking corruption were some of the stances and populist messaging expressed by congressional candidate Justin Wagner at a campaign event at Mars Area Public Library on Wednesday, April 29.

Wagner is the only candidate in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s 16th Congressional District. He is gearing up to challenge Republican incumbent Mike Kelly, who has held the seat since 2011.

“I want to thank everyone for coming to see me. I know it wasn’t cheap to get here. I paid $4.45 at Sheetz today to get gas,” Wagner said. “We have these rising costs. We have this war of choice going on that we’ve been drug into again. We’re playing the same playbook that we played in 2003.”

Kelly has served in Congress for 16 years. In that time, he has only had one truly competitive election, when he won by 3% in 2018. Otherwise, he has won comfortably each cycle.

National polling currently favors Democrats to take back the House of Representatives in November. But with uncertainty over how much the results will swing in 2026, Wagner is betting that people want change.

“I feel like I’m making headway, getting the name out there, talking to as many people as I can,” Wagner said. “The district is a (Republican leaning) district the last time I looked, so it’s a big hill to overcome. But I’m hoping most of the people are ready for a change, ready for representation.”

In the downstairs community room of the Mars library, Wagner spent about 90 minutes firing up roughly 30 people who showed up to hear his message.

Originally from Greeneville, Mercer County, Wagner is an engineer and father of four daughters. He served in Iraq in 2006 with the Fourth Infantry Division.

His background, he said, has influenced his staunch opposition to ICE tactics and operations in the streets of cities across America over the past year. In recent months ICE has carried out operations in Cranberry Township and southern Butler County.

“When I was in the Army, we were taught to fight against things like that happening. They said, ‘the guys wearing masks and beating people up, those are the bad guys,’” Wagner said. “Now we’re here.”

In a mid-March interview with the Butler Eagle, Kelly cited decades of state-sponsored terrorism by the Iranian government as a big reason for supporting military operations in Iran. He also said at the time the operation should not be considered “a war.”

In addition to Kelly’s stance on the war in Iran, Wagner criticized Kelly’s broad support for President Donald Trump’s agenda. He painted Kelly as someone who “takes orders from the top,” and not “from the people.”

“The fact that Congress stands by, and doesn’t fight hard enough to claw their power back from the executive branch, is a failure,” Wagner said.

Wagner said he has signed on to a group with at least 100 other candidates across the country called “Take Back Congress.” The policy goals of the coalition are to ban congressional stock trading, impose term limits on members of Congress, a five-year moratorium on lobbying for former members of Congress, overturning Citizens United, and passing a code of ethics for the Supreme Court.

“I feel Congress is incredibly corrupt. We’ve got a good ole boys club that’s been there forever, and they’ll be there for as long as they cling to power. And they think they are untouchable,” Wagner said.

Though Wagner did not get into specifics, he said he would “fight for funding” for projects in Butler County like fixing roads, completing the Route 228 project and repairing bridges.

Wagner said he wants to protect “the beauty of Pennsylvania.” This would include opposing the construction of data centers in Western Pennsylvania.

While pitching his staunch anti-Kelly, anti-Trump campaign, Wagner also expressed support for “working for all constituents.” He said he wants to promote civility and civil discourse and would work to achieve bipartisan legislation that “make sense.”

“We’re all people. Our problems aren’t our neighbors, our family or friends. It’s sad we’re this divided and can’t work together,” Wagner said.

In a rapid “yes or no” session to close out the gathering, Wagner said he is a yes on “healthcare for all,” being pro-choice and raising taxes on billionaires.

Brandon Dukes, a Democratic candidate in the special election for Pennsylvania’s 12th House district to replace Stephenie Scialabba, also urged community members to oust Republicans. The GOP has held political power around Cranberry for decades.

“Cranberry is the fastest growing township this side of the Mississippi,” Dukes said. “This district has been represented by the same party, the same leadership, for 30 years. It’s time for a change. We’ve seen gas prices go up. Minimum wage has stayed the same.”

Dukes said his priorities are investing in infrastructure and public schools.

“Seneca Valley, Mars, they’re some of the best districts we have in the state. It’s important to keep public education funded. I don’t believe in school vouchers, or taking money away from public schools you paid for to go toward a charter school, or cyberschool with no oversight,” Dukes said.

The special election for the 12th legislative district is Aug. 18.

For all Pennsylvania elections, the primary is May 19. The general election is Nov. 3.

“I never wanted to get into politics. It’s a dirty game, and I’m kind of learning how dirty it is, and all the work it takes, doing a bunch of stuff that you don’t want to do,” Wagner said. “I wanted to move into the woods, and nobody hear from me again. But when I saw this summer, the chaos and violence in our streets, masked agents tackling grandmas, veterans … I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”