Republican Gary Day has notched 16 years as state representative in the 187th House District. Now he is in a Nov. 3 contest for another two years with Democrat Rachel Cuevas, a working mother who wants to bring a new voice to Harrisburg.

Day said he has built a strong conservative voting record. On one of the election’s biggest issues — data centers — he has voted in favor of mandating annual reporting of energy and water consumption, in favor of a six-month pause on development and in favor of repealing the tax credits that he and a majority voted for in 2021.

On other topical issues, he voted against a bell-to-bell school cellphone ban, against allowing election offices to pre-canvass mail-in ballots and against raising the minimum wage.

He is among sponsors of a bill called the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which would require transgender students to play on sports teams that correspond to their biological sex.

Cuevas is running for office for the first time. As someone who has worked for hourly wages, she is emphasizing her working class roots in appealing to voters who talk of troubles paying for groceries, gas and their electric bills.

“I’m running because I haven’t only heard about the issues that are at play this election — I’ve lived them,” she said. “I’m offering ordinary folks a new voice, focused on the challenges their families are facing right now. Because despite the gridlock we’ve seen in Harrisburg lately, there are solutions, and there are very real ways to make life easier for folks.”

The 187th District comprises Heidelberg, Lower Macungie, Lynn, Washington and Weisenberg townships and Alburtis and Macungie along with part of Upper Macungie Township (districts 3, 7 and 8).

Republicans hold the registration edge with 22,792 versus 17,581 Democrats as of Oct. 12. The bulk of the remaining 9,405 voters are independents.

State representatives serve two-year terms and receive a base salary of $113,000. The House has 103 Democrats and 100 Republicans.

Here is a look at the candidates. Information comes from campaign websites, social media, voting records and news releases. Cuevas also answered a questionnaire from Armchair Lehigh Valley. Day did not respond to a request to answer the questionnaire.

Gary Day

Day, 59, was born in Baltimore. He graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1990. Before becoming a state representative, he worked as director of marketing and human resources for Service Electric Cable and was an executive assistant to then-Allentown Mayor William Heydt. He and his wife, Susan, live in Heidelberg Township and have three children.

Day was elected state representative in 2008 and had no opponents until 2022, when he faced Republican Ryan Mackenzie in the primary election.

Mackenzie had represented the 134th House District but mandated redistricting put his residence in the newly drawn 187th. Mackenzie won the primary with 61% of the vote and was unchallenged in the November election. Mackenzie is in his first term in Congress in the 7th Congressional District and is facing Democrat Bob Brooks in the midterm election.

After his loss to Mackenzie, Day worked for the office of state Sen. Jarrett Coleman, a Republican who represents the 16th Senate District. Day returned to the House in 2024 after defeating Democrat Stefanie Rafes, now a Lower Macungie Township commissioner, with 55% of the vote.

He serves on the Communications & Technology Environmental & Natural Resource Protection and Aging & Older Adult Services committees.

Day has highlighted his vote in favor of the $50.8 billion budget for 2026-27, saying it raises education spending, offers cost-of-living increases to retired police, firefighters and teachers whose pensions had been frozen and sets aside millions for road projects — all without raising taxes.

Rachel Cuevas

Cuevas, 45, lives in Lower Macungie Township with her husband and their two children.

Her father served in the Army while her mother served in the Air Force. The family moved to the Bath area, where her father struggled to find work after leaving the military. Cuevas said local leaders stepped up to help her family, an experience that shaped her appreciation for public service.

Cuevas went into the workforce after graduating from Northampton Area High School. She has worked for insurance companies and in human resources at Amazon and Boston Beer. She is currently not working to concentrate on the campaign.

She defeated Geoffrey Whitcomb with 69% of the vote in the May 19 primary.

The Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee included Cuevas in its Blue Wave Warning program of 10 candidates who are receiving added support to defeat Republican incumbents.

Help for Cuevas has included a flood of ads that have appeared on television, streaming platforms and social media that emphasize her working class roots.

ISSUES
Top priority

Day: Is committed to promoting economic growth, combating inflation, ensuring children’s safety in schools and protecting the freedoms of his constituents.

Cuevas: Says affordability is her top issue. Wants to build more affordable housing and protect renters and residents of manufactured-home communities with tenant protection laws that keep rents from rising unnecessarily. Wants to expand access to property tax relief, especially for seniors. Wants to address price gouging coming from big corporations. “We can do that with legislative protections against things like surveillance pricing, and by making large electricity users pay for the infrastructure they require rather than passing those costs onto consumers.”

Healthcare

Day: With federal COVID-era subsidies ended for Affordable Care Act premiums, voted yes on House Bill HB 2550, which would provide a tax credit for businesses with 50 or fewer employees that contribute toward their employees’ healthcare premiums. The bill passed the House and is in the Senate Finance Committee. Voted no on House Resolution 382 urging Congress to retain expanded health insurance subsidies that enable people to buy health insurance through Pennie.

Cuevas: Would vote to protect insurance coverage and bring down the costs of premiums. Wants to cap prescription costs and end unethical overcharging for care. Supports instituting state assistance for low- and middle-income residents struggling to keep their Affordable Care Act coverage. Supports a monitoring board to ensure the program is reaching the people who truly need it most.

Data centers

Day: Voted yes on House Bill 2150, which would mandate annual reporting of energy and water consumption by data centers. Voted in favor of House Bill 2496, which would allow a six-month pause on data center development. Voted in favor of House Bill 2650, which would require data center developers seeking state tax benefits to meet strict standards protecting energy affordability, supporting local communities, creating jobs and strengthening environmental protections. Voted in favor of House Bill 2198, which would repeal tax incentives passed five years ago to encourage data center development. Had voted with the majority in favor of the credit in 2021.

Cuevas: Supports allowing municipalities to impose a one-year moratorium on development and ending the blanket sales-tax incentive for new projects. Says any new project “must deliver clear, enforceable, and tangible benefits to the community.” Says developers should be mandated to disclose their expected and real water and energy use, and must be responsible for infrastructure costs.

Voting

Day: In June, voted against House Bill 37 to allow for pre-canvassing of absentee and mail-in ballots. Voted yes on the Republican’s 2021 election reform bill, which would have required voter identification at the polls, change the voter registration deadline from 15 to 30 days before an election, and create earlier deadlines for mail-in voting.

Was among the group of Republican Pennsylvania legislators who sought to temporarily withhold Electoral College votes from Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. The group filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in a lawsuit filed by Texas against Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin over a decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that, among other rulings, upheld then-Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision to extend the deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots by three days over pandemic-related concerns. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit.

Cuevas: “I am open to voter ID, but only if acceptable IDs are broad in definition, a free ID is easy to obtain no matter your financial situation, and eligible voters have practical options if they have changed names, are older, or have disabilities. We need to ensure voter ID secures our elections and does not disenfranchise eligible voters.”

Education

Day: In June, voted no on House Bill 1814, which provided for a bell-to-bell policy restricting the use of cellphones by students in public schools during school hours. The bill passed the House, and the House and Senate are working on reaching an agreement between their two bills. Is a sponsor of the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which defines “sex” based on biological reproductive characteristics and requires that all interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural or club athletic teams be expressly designated as male, female or coed. Other local sponsors are Joe Emrick (137th), Milou Mackenzie (131st) and Ann Flood (138th). The bill is in committee.

Cuevas: Wants schools to be fairly funded. Wants to expand career training, technical education and apprenticeship programs “so every kid can find a path that leads to good-paying, dignified work later in life.” Does not support eliminating school property taxes “without a specific, reliable replacement that fully funds our schools and does not simply shift the cost to working families in other ways.” Supports a bell-to-bell school cellphone bans with reasonable exceptions for medical and disability accommodations as well as for emergencies. “We must balance prioritizing education and safety in a way that provides genuine benefit.”

Skill games

The state Supreme Court gave state lawmakers until Oct. 13 to pass a levy on skill games after declaring them gambling devices. No action has been taken.

Day: Position unknown. His campaign received a $2,500 donation from the Operators for Skill, a political action committee that represents the interests of the skill-gaming industry.

Cuevas: Supports a licensed, regulated system that has machine quantity limits, revenue reporting enforcement, criminal activity enforcement,and funding for gambling addiction recovery services. As far as a levy goes, would start negotiations with a 35%-36% tax proposal, then take time to review its projected revenue and effect on small businesses before committing to a final bill.

Immigration detention

Day: Position unknown.

Cuevas: Supports clear identification and accountability for federal officers, with narrow and monitored exceptions for documented safety needs. “People should be able to go to school, seek medical care, and appear in court without fear of indiscriminate enforcement from officers wearing masks meant to intimidate.” Says local police should focus on local public safety not federal immigration enforcement. Would support prohibiting the development of new, privately operated immigration detention facilities and restricting municipal agreements that outsource detention to private companies.

Minimum wage

Day: Voted against gradually raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour by 2029. The measure to raise the rate passed the House.

Cuevas: Supports gradually raising the rate to $15 an hour, saying it gives workers a much-needed raise, while still giving small businesses time to plan and adjust. Supports continually raising the rate to account for inflation.

Reproductive rights

Day: In 2017, voted in favor of a bill, which was later vetoed, that would have prohibited abortions beyond 20 weeks of gestational age. In 2022, voted in favor of a constitutional amendment package, which included language clearly stating that women have no guaranteed rights to abortion or public funding for abortion. In 2021, he co-sponsored a bill that would have prohibited abortions because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome.

Cuevas: Supports constitutional protection for reproductive autonomy. “All women should have the right to make their own decisions about abortion, contraception, miscarriage care, and the many other things that comprehensive reproductive care includes, such as family planning and IVF.”

Gun rights

Day: Has voted in favor of bills that would have restricted the ability of municipalities to regulate firearms and allow aggrieved parties to sue those localities. Has voted to allow anyone to carry concealed firearms without getting a permit. In 2022, voted against allowing a procedural vote on a bill that would have banned owning, selling or making high-capacity, semi-automatic weapons.

Cuevas: “I support universal background checks and restrictions for people who have violated protection from abuse orders — and there must be due process and effective enforcement. I oppose concealed carrying without a license. I believe local governments should be able to consider reasonable, lawful responses to gun violence.”

Editor’s Note: This story first appeared on Armchair Lehigh Valley and is being published on themorningcall.com as part of a partnership with the website, which aims to give voters factual information in a nonpartisan way to help them make informed decisions at the polls. Armchair Lehigh Valley is run by Publisher Katherine Reinhard and editor Robert H. Orenstein, two former Morning Call employees. Learn more about Armchair Lehigh Valley and subscribe at armchairlehighvalley.substack.com.