Casey attends Valley meet and greets; Molsevich announces write-in candidacy

May 13—MIFFLINBURG — Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, Democrat, urged party officials to vote in the upcoming primary election and November general election during two Valley meet-and-greet events Friday.

The first event was in Shamokin and the second was at OIP in Mifflinburg.

Casey's speech touched on a variety of subjects, including the war in the Ukraine and COVID. He spoke to the attendees about positive things Democrats have done in Congress to help working families get through tough times brought on by COVID.

Casey noted bills such as the American Rescue Plan, to help families during COVID, and to help school districts reopen. He also mentioned the infrastructure bill, which is helping to build bridges and upgrade roads in the commonwealth.

But he also raised his voice and became most animated when saying how many of the bills passed were done so without any Republican support.

"Not a single Republican voted for the Rescue Plan," he said, as an example..

Casey also said Democrats should take credit for the child tax credit, which helped families.

He stressed the importance of the upcoming primary and after that, the November general election.

Casey, an avowed and longtime anti-abortion Democrat, was also asked why he recently said he would have voted to codify Roe v. Wade.

"Because it was a blanket total ban on abortion," he said. "The Republicans have announced they want to produce a bill for a nationwide ban, which would be almost a universal ban. It is an issue that divides people. i think the people in Pennsylvania would not want a total ban on abortion," he said.

"I wish some Republicans would come to us and say 'I really want to help pregnant moms,'" Casey added.

Write-in candidate

Lewisburg resident Mike Molesevich, an announced write-in candidate for the 15th Congressional District, was also at the meeting.

In 2016, Molesevich ran against then-incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, who represented the 10th Congressional District. Molesevich pulled in 30 percent of the vote that year. If he qualifies to get on the November ballot as the Democratic nominee, he will likely face off against another incumbent, Glenn Thompson, in the redrawn 15th Congressional District.

"Given everything that was happening, with the disarray, with the Republicans and more information coming out about the January 2021 insurrection and the Supreme Court leak, I decided that a write-in was necessary in order to give the people a choice in the 15th Congressional District, and hold Mr. Thompson accountable for his previous votes against our election," Molesevich said. "I want to remind elected officials that the first thing you do when elected is to take an oath to uphold and defend the constitution from all enemies, domestic and foreign."

Molesevich's goal right now is to attract 1,000 eligible write-in votes in order to get onto the November general election ballot.