Democrats confident in 38th District
where a lot of other people don’t have that,” Ms. Williams said. “If my rights are getting violated, what is happening to workers every day who don’t have that same support system?”
Ms. Williams said she entered the fray for the 38th because the incumbent, Republican Randy Vulakovich, wasn’t doing enough to help grow and protect public education. She pointed to a bill he co-sponsored to eliminate the state mandate on teacher sick time and another allowing teachers to be armed.
The funding of public education — particularly that the $1 billion cuts during the Corbett administration in 2011 have not been fully restored — is one thing that influenced Ms. Walsh to run. The Highland Park resident remembers her days as a seventh-grade science teacher, using “really old microscopes” and having few supplies. Over the next seven years, she worked as a budget analyst for the Colorado state Legislature, evaluating programs and making funding recommendations.
Ms. Walsh said voters are eager to send someone to Harrisburg who understands budgeting, which is a process often marred by long delays that lead to severe consequences.
“We’ve seen what happens time and time again when our Legislature is unable to pass a budget on time,” Ms. Walsh said. “We have schools that have to take lines of credit and social services agencies that rely on state funding have to cut programs. … It puts a great state of uncertainty in many of our really critical service areas, and it’s just not fiscally responsible.”
Where she differs from Ms. Williams, she said, is in her experience as a policy consultant in several different areas, including the environment, health and human services, and criminal justice — while Ms. Williams said her background shows a dedication to fighting for worker protections.
Although Ms. Williams holds a lion’s share of the race’s endorsements, including from the Allegheny County Democratic Committee and the Allegheny County Labor Council, Ms. Walsh has been able to raise and spend more in the final stretch. From Jan. 1 to April 30, Ms. Walsh raised about $65,000 to Ms. Williams’ $22,000 and was able to outspend her by more than $40,000. About $50,000 of that went to a direct mail campaign.
If Mr. Vulakovich wins the Republican primary over Jeremy Shaffer, he’s “not going to have the war chest advantage that most incumbents do,” Mr. Marshall said, adding that Democrats are “perfectly fine with him spending lots and lots of money to determine how conservative he is.”
The SDCC is remaining neutral in this Democratic primary, as it often does when multiple Democratic candidates are running for office at this stage in the election cycle.
Voting in the race is open to registered Democrats in the following Allegheny County precincts: