Mercury rising
Conventional wisdom holds that smart candidates emphasize middle-of-theroad positions in general elections. Not Mr. Metcalfe.
In July, Mr. Metcalfe touted a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling against public sector unions as bringing Pennsylvania “one step closer to becoming a rightto-work state.” He also blasted Gov. Tom Wolf’s creation of an election security workgroup as “a supreme act of hypocrisy.”
Mr. Wolf shouldn’t talk about “foreign aggression” against U.S. elections while failing to address the problem of “foreign nationals illegally registering to vote,” argued Mr. Metcalfe — whose wife and son-in-law are immigrants from Germany and Poland, respectively. The representative wrote in a press release that this fall he’ll hold a hearing on election integrity in the powerful House State Government Committee, which he chairs.
Mr. Metcalfe has said he won’t let Democratic legislation through his committee. The chairmanship has given him more power than the governor, Mr. Berkebile said, because he “can’t be overridden.”
Only Mr. Metcalfe knows what his political ambitions are. In 2009, he floated his own name for House speaker, but didn’t pick up enough support. In 2010, he ran for lieutenant governor, finishing third in a nine-person primary. For now, he lives in a modest townhouse in Cranberry, outside of which sits a 2004 Mercury Monterey decorated with two of his campaign’s bumper stickers, one for Donald Trump, and a prolife magnet.
While Mr. Metcalfe wasn’t willing to talk about his plans, his supporters wish him “continued success wherever he serves,” as Mr. Powers put it.
“If he elects to stay, I’d be happy,” Mr. Powers said. “If he’d decide to run for Congress I would support him in that endeavor, too.”
A move up might take him out of his office in Cranberry’s municipal building, just feet away from the suite in which Cranberry’s supervisors meet to discuss local issues without him.
“I’m not afraid to talk to him. I just don’t want to deal with him,” Mr. Skorupan said. “There’s no advantage for us dealing with him anymore. We’ll do it on our own. Thank you very much.”