90th District Republican voters need to be careful who they vote for

Let me pose a question to the Republican voters in the 90th Legislative District, that area in Franklin County now represented by Rep. Paul Schemel: After Schemel retires this year, would you rather have a Republican or Democrat represent you in the future?

Easy question, right? Your answer would be “Republican,” of course, but what if one of the Republicans running to replace Paul Schemel was actually a Democrat in disguise?

Well, it seems one of the Republican primary candidates to replace Paul Schemel as your state Representative might be a Democrat in Republican Clothing.

Janon “Jay” Gray has announced he is running to represent the 90th District in the state House of Representatives. It appears that Mr. Gray’s Republican and conservative bona fides are a bit on the thin side, and that is being charitable. Actually, Mr. Gray became a Republican after moving to this conservative area, likely because he knew that Democrat successes in county and state elections here are as rare as hen’s teeth.

A conservative women’s group in Waynesboro, which is part of the 90th District, has been doing some old-fashioned gumshoe work in digging up Jay Gray’s political past, and it reveals that he was not only a registered Democrat before he moved here, but he also has a trail of gushing pro-Obama posts on X (formerly known as Twitter). The group, “Conservative Women of Waynesboro Area,” has posted Mr. Gray’s X posts on their Facebook page, along with some voter registration data from his last place of residence.

An excerpt from their latest Facebook post states, "He (Gray) registered as a non-affiliated in Montgomery County, Md. in 2003, became a Democrat in 2008 (Obama primary), changed back to non-affiliated in 2019 ( in Md.), moved to Pa. sometime in 2020 and registered as non-affiliated, decided to run for school board in 2021 and registered Republican. Flip flop as the wind blows to suit a political career. This is all too familiar. Interestingly enough,  Mr. Gray sits on the Franklin County Republican Committee as treasurer supported by Fred Young FCRC Chairman and John Flannery,  VC. In addition, they are all members of the Reagan Coalition with Stewart McCleaf as Chairman.”

The post also shows Mr. Gray’s voter registration record, which is public information. Another post shows Gray’s X responses to Barack Obama’s posts to get out to vote in 2016, with Gray stating “Let your voice be heard!” Another post made in response to an Obama “Happy Thanksgiving” post in 2015, Gray states, “Happy Thanksgiving Mr. President! Thank you for taking care of our country!” There are other posts as well.

Janon Gray’s ties to the current county Republican committee are very revealing as well. In 2022, the now liberal/moderate leadership of the committee took over from the former conservative chairman Allen Coffman. Included in the reshuffle was making Janon Gray, a newcomer, party treasurer. The current chairman and vice-chairman of the party are both members of that moderate county political action committee mentioned in the Facebook post above, “The Reagan Coalition” which was formed in 2008 to oppose and undermine the conservatives then running the party, and is known for its support of members of “the swamp,” as demonstrated in the next paragraph.

In the summer of 2020, the executive committee of the Franklin County Republican Committee, under conservative chair Allen Coffman, voted to censure former District Attorney Matt Fogal for his support of the radical leftist group “Black Lives Matter” and his opposition to Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump. The members of the Reagan Coalition who were on the executive committee at the time, including current chairman Fred Young, defended their fellow-Reagan Coalition member Fogal at the pre-censure meeting, and did not show up for the subsequent censure vote. I know this because I was a member of the executive committee at the time, and I witnessed it with my own eyes.

So, the bottom line is that we have a RINO (Republican in Name Only), Janon Gray, who is being sponsored by a group of RINOs, the Reagan Coalition, running in a Republican primary to represent the conservative 90th District in Harrisburg.

Gray’s Republican primary opponent will be Chad Reichard, an accomplished bona fide conservative Republican and a lifelong resident of the Waynesboro area. I’m not a resident of the 90th District, but if I were, I would be supporting Reichard, the Republican in the race, and not a Democrat who switches parties for political convenience.

Dwight Weidman is a resident of Greene Township and is a graduate of Shepherd University. He is retired from the United States Department of Defense, where his career included assignments In Europe, Asia, and Central America. He has been in leadership roles for the Republican Party in two states, most recently serving two terms as Chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party. He has been an Amateur Radio Operator since 1988, getting his first license in Germany, and is a past volunteer with both Navy and Army MARS, Military Auxiliary Radio Service, and is also an NRA-certified firearms instructor. In his spare time, he dabbles in genealogy and learning new languages.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: 90th District Republican voters, be careful of voting for Democrat