Who Is Anna Thomas's Opponent?

This November, Anna Thomas, the Democratic candidate running to represent PA House District 137, is running against established Republican State Rep Joe Emrick. A former teacher, Emrick has represented this district, which includes the large towns of Bethlehem Township, Nazareth, Lower Nazareth Township, Upper Nazareth Township, Tatamy, and parts of Hanover Township and Palmer Township, since 2011. He is a classic conservative who is generally pro-business and supports lower taxes and small government, even being appointed to serve as Republican Chairman of the House Commerce Committee for the 2023-24 legislative session. Yet for someone with a libertarian streak, he sure says no to lots of things: no to proven environmental solutions, no to public education, and no to reproductive rights.

 Prior to serving as representative, Emrick was an educator and honored by the Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge for his teaching concepts of entrepreneurship and the free enterprise system (“The Student Corporation”).  Co-founded by Dwight Eisenhower, the Foundation in question is a non-partisan organization that supports the study of freedom and civic responsibility and emphasizes the necessity for business to operate freely. Emrick’s campaign website states that, “Joe Emrick has made it a priority to support our local schools in Harrisburg, voting to fully fund public education at record levels without raising taxes.” This statement seems to be at odds with his voting record where, despite being a former public school teacher, Emrick has voted numerous times to cut funding to public schools in favor of funding for private and religious schools. Last session, he voted no on HB 27, a bill that would have increased funding for public schools. Yet he supported SB 843, a different version of HB 27 that included funding for financial literacy programs and education tax credits that amount to tax write offs to businesses funding scholarship initiatives at private schools. The millions in funding for the initiatives included in SB 843 will be taken out of Pennsylvania’s Level Up fund that supports the state’s 100 poorest school districts. It seems that big government is only okay if it pays for education goals that Emrick personally supports.

In terms of the business community, Emrick’s official website spends a significant amount of time talking about his support for the biosolid industry. Biosolids are essentially a byproduct of wastewater treatment, capturing organic matter, or sludge, that can then be resold to farmers as fertilizer by middlemen businesses for a profit. Since taking office, Emrick has supported legislation that monitors the Commonwealth's use of sewage sludge by land application. Unfortunately, some critics believe that biosolids contain harmful chemicals–and if it is illegal to dump biosolids into the ocean, then why is it legal to dump it in poor, rural communities? One local critic of Emrick’s even wrote an op-ed complaining that the legislation Emrick helped write was a waste of taxpayer money, since sludge usage would be monitored by a government committee, not a third party investigator. The biosolid industry is marketed as being safe and sustainable, so it would make sense if Emrick voted to use taxpayer funds for other sustainable industries. Yet towards the end of the 2023-2024 session, he voted against a bill that would allow wind farms on Lake Eerie. (It passed.) Once again, he tried to redirect his community’s taxpayer money from anything outside of his personal pet projects.

 Finally, Emrick has a lot of opinions about women–who is and isn’t one, who can and can’t get an abortion–and how government should control their bodies. Just this week on June 15th, a pro-LGBTQIA+ organization released a statement that Emrick was on “The Hate Squad” for supporting a ban on trans women in sports. He also has repeatedly opposed any attempts to fund abortions with taxpayer money. He has also supported legislation to amend the state constitution to say that abortion is not a constitutional right. In 2021, he also voted yes to a bill that would have required the burial and cremation of abortion remains. The bill would have required any facility that stores fetal remains to provide for a funeral or cremation. Any person who wanted to dispose of fetal remains outside of this system would have to pay for the costs of their arrangements. If no one claimed the remains, the storage facility would have to arrange for a funeral. It seems that Emrick’s desire for small government mysteriously vanishes when it comes to women and queer people.

Emrick’s district was redrawn by court order in 2022 to represent a more balanced voter demographic. Anna Thomas now has a real chance to win this seat and vote on legislation that actually reflects her constituents’ values. It is clear what a hypocrite Emrick can be and how that hurts everyone within his district. Now is the time to support Anna: help us call voters to spread the word that a truly genuine candidate is running and/or donate to her campaign to ensure freedom for all people in PA House District 137.