BLAIR COUNTY, Pa. — With Election Day approaching on November 3, Andrea Verobish and Caleb McCoy are facing off for a second time in the race for Pennsylvania’s 79th District House seat.
The rematch comes after Verobish won the March 17 special election, defeating McCoy with 57% of the vote to fill the vacant seat.
Both candidates say affordability is one of the biggest issues facing Pennsylvania, but they have different ideas about how to provide relief to residents.
McCoy says raising the minimum wage is one way to help working-class Pennsylvanians.
“Starting with raising the minimum wage hasn’t been increased since 2009,” McCoy said. “We have seen real wages failing for working-class people in PA and across America the last three decades.”
Verobish, meanwhile, has co-sponsored legislation that would temporarily suspend Pennsylvania’s state gas tax for six months.
“One of the bills I co-sponsored is a gas tax holiday that would remove the 57-cent tax on gasoline. That’s the state tax for six months,” Verobish said.
Another issue drawing attention across Central Pennsylvania is data center development. Both candidates expressed concerns about how potential projects could affect local communities and emphasized the need for protections.
“I think that it’s a shame we don’t have regulations already in place to make sure the communities are not being threatened by these data centers,” one candidate said.
“If this does come, we don’t want to have sort of development that is going to hurt our local people,” the other candidate said.
As voters prepare to head to the polls, both candidates also explained why they believe they are the right choice to represent the 79th District.
McCoy said he wants to focus on his vision for Pennsylvania rather than comparing himself to his opponent.
“I have talked about what I want to see done, and I have talked about why we need the changes we need. I don’t really care to argue about why I’m better than my opponent,” McCoy said. “I want to talk about what we could be doing to make life better, and if you share that vision, then you probably think I’m the right person to vote for.”
Verobish said her experience serving in the state House over the past several months has given her the opportunity to work on behalf of the district.
“It’s been an honor working for the people of the 79th District. I would love to have their faith as we go into November third and let me keep doing what I’m doing because I have a lot of good ideas, and I’m really hopeful that we can make PA a better place, and Altoona especially,” Verobish said.
Voters will head to the polls on November 3 to decide who will represent Pennsylvania’s 79th District in the state House.
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