Kerslake challenging Howard in primary

In the 167th state House District, two women are vying to win the Democratic primary nomination on June 2 — incumbent state Rep. Kristine Howard of Malvern, and challenger Ginny Kerslake, a West Whiteland resident.

The 167th House District spans the municipalities of Malvern, Charlestown, West Pikeland, West Whiteland, Willistown, East Whiteland and Easttown.

Howard won the House seat in 2018 after defeating six-term Republican incumbent Rep. Duane Milne, a race she described as won “on a $15,000 budget supplemented by 14,000 doors knocked.”

Howard raised seven children in Malvern and said she’s been “a politically engaged person for more that 12 years with Demo

cratic candidates and the local Democratic Committee.”

Senior lives

“Our seniors in nursing homes are the most vulnerable to COVID-19 and we must take further action to flatten the curve within these facilities and also protect workers that care for them,” said Kerslake, 56.

“We need to ensure adequate PPE, testing and the ability to isolate those that have tested positive. Even before this crisis, elder care workers were undercompensated, over-staffed and without sick leave. This further increases the risk within and outside the senior living facilities. This needs to be addressed, expanding existing protocols and fully implementing them with oversight and reporting requirements.”

Howard advocated for common sense based on key data and better funding as key solutions to protect senior citizens moving forward.

“The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has laid out an extensive guide as to how to make nursing (homes) and extended care facilities safer for their residents,” said Howard, 58. “Their recommendations are thorough and based on data collected in the United States and around the world.”

Howard added, “The question is: ‘What can we do to see these recommendations are followed in Pennsylvania?’ I believe we need to establish a specific division in the state Department of Health to focus on implementing the changes needed at any facility and given the authority to enforce the steps that must be taken to improve health and safety. That also means having the will to provide the funding needed to get the job done.”

Goals of the candidates

“I was born in California,

then lived in Canada for 36 years until a career opportunity for my husband brought us to Chester County in 2004,” Kerslake said. “We still live in the historic home we bought in West Whiteland, lovingly restored and raised our two young sons in. Last year my husband and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary and look forward to many more.”

Kerslake said her biggest personal goal for 2020 is to win this primary and ultimately the General Election race in November. Her goal is to “bring community-focused representation to the people of the 167th District and strong leadership for all Pennsylvanians.”

The key issues of her campaign, she said, are: environmental protection, public health and safety, public education and economic justice and reflect her key legislative goals for 2021.

“Running for office takes commitment, courage and sacrifices,” Kerslake said. “It also takes stamina and to that end, I have a personal goal to maintain excellent mental and physical health. That includes making time for family and myself with more hikes, runs and bike rides through our beautiful county parks and trails.

“Three years ago construction for the Mariner East pipeline project hit West Whiteland Township and others in Chester County,” Kerslake said. “It quickly became apparent that we needed to work together. So in our backyards and around kitchen tables, we began to organize, raise public awareness and advocate for our families and communities. By growing our community power we have accomplished many things and held our elected officials and regulators accountable when they have claimed to be powerless.”

Kerslake said, “I come from a large family of eight children, each of us unique, but all of us strong and independent. We get that from my mother who suddenly passed away in January at 86 years young. She was incredibly proud of my work fighting for my community and running for office and was my biggest cheerleader. I hope to make her proud next week and in November.”

As the incumbent running to keep her 167th District seat in the Pennsylvania House, Howard said her most important goal in the legislature, set to impact 2021, is to elect a new majority, a majority that works in Harrisburg.

“We are hamstrung by a faction of Trumpian extremists who have hijacked the Republican Party making ‘bipartisanship’ and ‘compromise’ nearly impossible,” Howard said.

Howard also wants to help empower and support Pennsylvanian children.

“Another 2021 goal for me is to improve the lives of disadvantaged children by strengthening support services for kids in foster care, making sure no child is hungry, delivering robust education opportunities at all levels and ensuring mental health and special needs counseling and care are readily accessible and freely available,” she said. “As for a third goal, with a new majority in place, is to develop a public health program that will build on everything we have learned from this crisis.”

Pandemic solutions

It’s been nearly three months since the president declared a national emergency to combat COVID-19 stateside. In the days ahead prior to June 5, the MediaNews Group asked both candidates what three tasks most needs to be done at the state level to keep everyone safe from harm.

“Most important is to minimize the public health risks of COVID-19 by continued social distancing and requiring socially responsible behavior that lessens the risk of spreading the virus and exposing ourselves and others in needless ways,” Howard said. She added everyone bears this responsibility.

“We must have a re-opening strategy that is science based and health care data driven, minimizing the risk of a second surge that will be divesting from both public health and economic perspectives,” Howard stated. “Moving slowly is frustrating, but it allows us to make sure that what we are keeping people safe.”

Howard continued, “We have to put in place the social safety net protections we need to help people pay their rent and mortgages, put food on their tables, keep their lights on and their water running. Unemployment benefits, food assistance and physical and mental health care have to be available for everybody. Getting small businesses back in business is also necessary.”

“As we reopen our county and state, we must continue to protect against COVID-19 until we have a vaccine,” Kerslake said. She said at the state level, this includes adequate PPE, adequate testing and contact tracing within our communities and continued unemployment benefits for workers and help for businesses who cannot safely reopen.

Kerslake said people must protect society’s most vulnerable, in nursing homes, prisons, and places where people congregate, such as churches, synagogues, mosques. “And we must encourage personal accountability … We look out for each other and follow the rules so we are all safer.”

A race to win

“Together we are stronger. In the midst of this campaign I have been able to use my reach to raise money for the Chester County Food Bank, items for Home of the Sparrow, donated plasma and personally sewed and gave away over 600 face masks to protect our community,” Kerslake said. “This is who I am: When I see a problem I dig in and work to find solutions.”

Kerslake said, “This race has been challenging in many ways, some anticipated, and others not. I knew it would be a lot of work to challenge an incumbent. I knew, once the party and other entities rallied around her based on party loyalty, I would have to prove I was the better choice on the merits. What we didn’t anticipate was the pandemic and how our campaign plans would need to adapt and change. I am incredibly proud of the work we have done on my campaign and win or lose.” Although, Kerlake noted that she expects to win.

In the legislature, Howard serves on the Children and Youth, Human Services and Finance Committees of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. And Wolf appointed her to the Juvenile Justice Reform Task Force.

Howard is an attorney and said her family raised her to value community. “My father was a probation officer and my mother worked in administration at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School,” said Howard.

Howard continued, “I believe in respectful political discourse. The unhinged rhetoric on social media from both the right and the left is not conducive to an environment fostering the free exchange of ideas without prejudice or furthering the assumption of good faith. I want to cultivate a different environment where extremists and alarmists cannot hijack the mediums of communication and people of good will can work together in a rational way to solve real problems and find common ground.”

Howard said she’s been engaged in her community for years, “I have raised my seven children in the district with my three youngest kids still living at home with me while attending public secondary and postsecondary educations.”

She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers Law. In the past, she served as the director of a legal aid clinic in New Mexico providing legal services to indigent clients. Howard also represented children in the Philadelphia foster care system.

“My work as a child abuse investigator for Chester County Children, Youth and Families prepared me to be a legislative leader on issues affecting children and families,” Howard said.

“As a state representative I don’t see my voters as constituents,” Howard said. “I see them as friends, neighbors and members of the community I love and where I raised my children.”

“My community involvement is not recent,” Howard said. “It is anchored in three decades of raising children and a dozen years of active engagement with a range of issues from women’s rights to gun safety to environmental conservation to better schools for my kids and much more.”

After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in earth science, Kerslake said she managed an analytical services laboratory specializing in soil analysis.

“As market and regulatory requirements continually changed, I was able to transform our services and operation to not only meet these changes but to expand our business and attract new clients,” she added.

“I am proud of what we accomplished by being flexible, working together, being creative, and holding true to our values of putting our community first,” Kerslake said.

“We cannot pass Restore PA or any similar plan that ties us to fracking for the next 20 years and invests in the petrochemical infrastructure. We need legislation that ensures health care insurers treat mental illness and substance use disorders the same as other medical conditions: We need to establish true parity. And we need to increase the minimum hourly wage in Pennsylvania to $15,” Kerslake said. “All workers deserve the dignity of a living wage.”