Biographical Information
County
Lackawanna
Occupation
Mayor of Scranton
Education
BA from University of Oregon, MBA from Harvard Business School
Qualifications
I'm currently serving my third term as Mayor of Scranton. I previously worked for the PA Auditor General and served on the Scranton School Board.
X Handle
What are the most pressing issues facing your district and our country, and how would you address them?
Everything is too expensive – groceries, gas, utilities, healthcare – and Washington is making it worse. Instead of making things more affordable, DC politicians are letting costs skyrocket. Congress could end the tariffs tomorrow but instead continues to support a trade war against countries like Canada, while supporting a war in Iran that is raising gas costs. We need leaders who fight to make things easier for people, not harder. In Congress I will fight for our families by breaking up the corporate monopolies that raise our costs, and stop broad tariffs that only help the big guys. I won’t take a dime in corporate donations and don’t answer to special interests, just to the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
What do you see as the role of Congress in oversight of the executive branch?
The entire idea of our system of government is that no one is above the law and our leaders must maintain the public’s trust. Rob Bresnahan, however, has broken that trust, voting time and time again for price-spiking policies and becoming one of Congress’ most active stock traders while campaigning to ban that practice just a year and a half ago. As a leader, if you can’t hold yourself to account, you simply can’t be trusted to hold anyone else accountable either. In Congress I would fight to ban congressional stock trading, enact a no-budget, no-pay policy, and work to end dark money in politics.
What role should Congress play regarding foreign policy and international relations?
Two of the most important responsibilities of our leaders in Washington are to maintain the security of the American people and to protect their interests overseas and domestically. Congress should be in the business of working alongside the President to maintain our military’s position as the best in the world. Congress should also care that engagements with other nations, whether those are trade deals or military operations, are in the best interest of Americans here at home. That means stopping bad deals for Americans like NAFTA, and making sure we don’t enter endless wars that risk the lives of our soldiers and cost us billions of dollars we could use here at home.
What legislative changes, if any, are needed to make healthcare more accessible and affordable?
Our systems need reform. But the way to improve government programs isn’t destroying them and waiting for the consequences. We need to reverse the cuts to Medicaid and the failure to renew the ACA subsidies in the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill.” That law is raising healthcare costs for tens of thousands of people in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
For too long big pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and for-profit hospitals have made huge profits while families struggle to get care and pay their medical bills. We need leaders in DC that will stand up to them. In Congress I will fight to make healthcare more affordable and hold the big corporations, and the politicians they’ve bought to serve their interests, accountable.