Two primary write-in candidates secured the Democratic Party’s nomination to oppose two Lancaster County incumbent Republican lawmakers in the Nov. 5 general election.
Trex Proffitt, a Lancaster Township resident, won 1,785 write-in votes to face state Sen. Scott Martin, R-Martic Township, in the state’s 13th Senate District, which spans the southern and eastern portions of the county, including Lancaster city, and reaches into four municipalities in the southern tip of Berks County. At least another 80 write-ins were recorded for names that appeared to be misspellings of Proffitt’s full name.
“I’m grateful for the folks who tried to spell my name right,” Proffitt, 56, said Monday morning with a laugh. On primary day, he took the day off from teaching at Lancaster Friends School to visit polling locations around the district and meet with voters.
Meanwhile, retired nurse Lynn McCleary, of Mount Joy Borough, received 586 votes to oppose state Rep. Tom Jones, R-East Donegal, in state House District 98, which covers much of the county’s northwest region and a sliver of southwestern Lebanon County.
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McCleary, 69, said she stayed at Calvary Bible Church in Mount Joy during the primary and spoke with about 30 voters. She said she felt positive about the support she received, speculating that “there might even be a chance to win” the general election.
Both candidates had missed the February deadline to appear on the primary ballot. Still, they won the county Democrats’ endorsement ahead of last week’s primary, benefitting from the party’s volunteers, who spread the word about their campaigns to voters at polling locations.
Moving forward
Proffitt said his campaign team was slated to meet Monday night to discuss expanding his volunteer base and strategize on fundraising, which likely will be one of his biggest obstacles in facing Martin.
Martin has benefitted from his position as chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, holding more than $735,000 in his war chest as of April 8.
When asked about the money disparity, Proffitt told a reporter it showed the nature of the “scrappy little grassroots campaign” he plans to lead against Martin.
Proffitt said he’ll appeal to the 48% plurality of registered Republicans in the 13th District by stressing “back to the basics” issues, like supporting public education funding.
As a private school teacher, he does not oppose the state financially supporting private schools, but he said “it must never come before the public school system.”
In 2022, Martin defeated Democratic challenger Janet Diaz with about 56% of the roughly 132,000 votes cast in that race.
“With Mr. (Proffitt) now representing the (Democratic) Party, I look forward to sharing our positive record with the people of the 13th District, and our vision for moving Pennsylvania forward to a more prosperous future,” Martin said Monday in a news release.
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Positive campaigning
McCleary said her campaign team, which mostly consists of members of the Donegal Democrats, met Sunday night to strategize about the next steps of her campaign and were slated to meet Monday night to continue planning.
First, she said, she hopes to ramp up her campaign’s social media presence and plan a fundraiser for mid-May.
“I plan to message for women, and the men who love them,” said McCleary, noting reproductive rights will be a focus of her campaign.
She also said she wants to emphasize her opposition to state-funded private school vouchers and her support of further gun safety regulations, including the restriction of open carry laws.
McCleary said she jumped into the race because she thought Jones, a member of the conservative Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus, has represented only Republican views in the 98th District since he first won office in 2022.
But she said she does not plan to run attack ads against Jones or lead a negative campaign against him.
McCleary will be Jones’ first opponent as he seeks a second term in the state House. As of April 8, Jones had $12,500 in his campaign coffers. He likely will benefit from the Freedom Caucus’ campaign arm, which had $125,000 saved.
Jones did not respond to a request for comment.
TOM LISI | Staff Writer 
