The two Lawrence County farmers contending for the 8th state House District seat in the November general election shared their thoughts on their campaign platforms and issues on voters’ minds, such as data centers and flock cameras.

Aaron Bernstine, the Republican incumbent, is running for reelection to a seat he has run for uncontested in both 2022 and 2024. He described himself as a “common sense conservative.”

Rick Telesz, a Democrat, previously ran for the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Pennsylvania’s 16th Congressional District in 2022, but lost in the Democratic primary. Telesz described himself as a “conservative Democrat.”

Both candidates identified affordability as an issue core to their campaign but disagreed on solutions.

Bernstine is a resident of New Beaver, Lawrence County, where he and his wife are raising three children. Bernstine has been a state representative for five terms.

First elected to the 10th District, he now represents the 8th District after redistricting.

In addition to his family-owned livestock farm in New Beaver, Bernstine has a professional background in human capital management.

Bernstine described the politics driving his work as “people first,” and referred to his constituents as his “65,000 bosses.”

He singled out affordability as a top issue affecting voters and said his remedy would be to reduce the tax burden on Pennsylvanians. Eliminating the inheritance tax and reducing the gasoline tax are two examples he provided of legislation he would sponsor.

“I’ve always believed this and I know this to be true: that I trust my neighbors and my bosses to use their money more wisely than Harrisburg,” said Bernstine.

On the issue of data centers, Bernstine said he generally supports the decisions being left to local governments. He said clean water and air are critical considerations before building a data center and that the facilities should produce their own energy rather than taking it from the grid.

He voiced his opposition to automated license plate readers on the grounds of privacy.

“I am not for Flock cameras whatsoever,” said Bernstine. “At the end of the day, people ought to have the right to travel freely and, oftentimes, these types of things can infringe upon individual liberties and rights.”

As for the Supreme Court ruling that skill games are slot machines and should be regulated accordingly, he said there was a difference between “mini casinos” that are not helpful to communities and small businesses that depend on the machines to keep their doors open.

“This is an issue that needs to be dealt with immediately,” he said, adding he has co-sponsored legislation to provide an extension to the Oct. 13 deadline of six months.

Bernstine said any deficiencies in the public school system are a matter of accountability rather than spending, noting Pennsylvania ranks high in K-12 spending per student.

He also supports school choice.

He said, “In no way, in no other industry, is it acceptable to force people to go to do something or buy something based on where they live. I don’t know why we’re doing it to kids.”

Bernstine said he is running for reelection due to the same considerations as when he first ran in 2016, which is to help his community.

“My focus was really on: What are the things that I can do every day to help improve their lives?” he said. “Sometimes, people think those are little issues, but they are not little issues to the people that it impacts.”

He identified three main components to his job: writing legislation, helping out his constituents and being a cheerleader for community growth.

Though he said he does not take his challenger lightly, Bernstine said having a contender this round has not changed his approach to the election.

“The work that we’re doing to help our constituents — when people see that, campaigns take care of themselves,” he said.

Telesz, a lifetime resident of Lawrence County and a longtime cash crop and dairy farmer, has been married to his wife for 37 years and has three children and two grandchildren. He said his experience working a farm — “one of the toughest businesses” — has taught him about problem solving.

Telesz isn’t new to politics either. He challenged U.S. Rep Mike Kelly in 2022. During the 2024 national elections, he introduced vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at a campaign rally held at his farm.

Telesz recognized affordability as a top issue as well. He emphasized workers’ rights and raising wages as potential pieces of the puzzle.

“Costs have been going up,” he said. “Wages have never kept up with that pace.”

While Telesz said he is pro-business, he said increasing Pennsylvania’s minimum wage should be on the table.

While municipalities cannot impose a complete ban on data centers according to state law, they can restrict construction of data centers to industrial zones, Telesz pointed out. He did not comment on his specific stance on the issue, but said he has encouraged residents to voice their concerns in public meetings.

He said he opposes automated license plate readers, considering them a privacy concern.

“We don’t need them, period,” he said. “Why do they need to track your movement 24/7?”

Telesz said he believes skill games should be subject to the same legislation that applies to other money-generating, chance-based activities, such as racetracks.

As for school choice, Telesz said while he supports the choice to enroll children in private schools, it is important for public schools to be fully funded, even if that means finding a source of revenue other than property owners.

Telesz, who had changed his registration to independent for a stretch of time, said he does not like political labels.

“To me, a label pretty much stereotypes who you are,” he said. “I’m a registered Democrat because you have to register to a party.”

Telesz said his solutions are rooted in the idea communities are only as good as the people at the bottom, rather than on any particular ideology.

Running as a Democrat in a politically conservative area, he said, will be tough. Telesz said voters who strictly vote by party lines tend to not factor in voting records as much, but his own approach is to work across the aisle and try to bridge the divide.

“If people are honest with themselves, (if) they look at the issues that truly affect them and their neighbors and their children, I think the decision becomes a lot clearer,” he said. “There’s a lot about the incumbent that people really don’t know about and I think once they become aware of it, they’ll take a serious look at me.”

Pennsylvania’s 8th House District includes parts of Butler and Lawrence counties.

The Butler County portion includes Brady, Center, Clay, Connoquenessing, Forward, Franklin, Lancaster, Middlesex, Muddycreek, Penn and Worth townships; as well as Connoquenessing, Portersville, Prospect, West Liberty and West Sunbury boroughs.