Kelly, LaVallee take different approaches to campaign for 3rd District House seat
Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly and Democrat Dan LaVallee are taking vastly different approaches to their campaigns for the 3rd Congressional District seat that Kelly first won in 2010.
The incumbent says he's been too busy dealing with the economy and other issues in Washington to campaign for the May 20 primary. Kelly believes his experience will be enough for voters.
LaVallee, a first-time candidate, has traveled throughout the district, knocking on doors and attending various events to spread this message: We need a new representative in Congress, and I want to be that guy.
Neither Kelly, 65, nor LaVallee, 26, faces opposition in the primary. They will square off in the November election.
"I don't have time to go out and glad-hand and try to make someone look bad," said Kelly, of Butler, seeking his third two-year term. "I am trying to represent 705,000 people in northwestern Pennsylvania.
"If I do that job the right way, I don't have to go out and hand out balloons and pencils and emery boards," Kelly continued.
LaVallee, a former deputy director for America's Health Insurance Plans, is a first-time candidate for public office.
A resident of Cranberry Township in Butler County, LaVallee said that Kelly is not the representative 3rd District residents need -- he is part of a GOP faction in Congress that "would rather shut down the government than find solutions.
"We have plenty of opportunities for growth (in the 3rd District), but we aren't taking advantage of them," LaVallee said. "It starts with creating new educational and tech partnerships, ... and we need to focus on creating those partnerships to prevent job losses, like at GE for example."
Kelly said that while Congress has record-low approval ratings, he believes many representatives are doing good work and reaching across the aisle on issues aimed at improving the economy. He cited the Restaurant and Retail Jobs and Growth Act, which he introduced in the House of Representatives in March with U.S. Reps. Richard Neal, a Democrat from Massachusetts; Republican Jim Gerlach, of Pennsylvania; and Ron Kind, a Democrat from Wisconsin.
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Kelly, LaVallee take different approaches to campaign for 3rd District House seat