Election 2022 Three Pa. House hopefuls compete for GOP nomination in 73rd District

May 12—EBENSBURG, Pa. — Three candidates are vying for the Republican nomination in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives' 73rd District.

John Sobel, Derek Walker and Dallas Kephart are all vying for the seat currently held by Republican state Rep. Tommy Sankey, who decided to not run for reelection.

The district includes Barr, East Carroll, Elder, Susquehanna and West Carroll townships in northwestern Cambria County, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State's website.

To the north, it also covers a large area in southern and eastern Clearfield County that includes the boroughs of Brisbin, Burnside, Chester Hill, Clearfield, Coalport, Glen Hope, Houtzdale, Irvona, Osceola Mills, Ramey, Wallaceton and Westover.

Sobel said he got into the race because he believed that he could better handle some of the issues facing the region at the state level than in his current role as a Clearfield County commissioner.

Sobel, a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Penn State Dickinson School of Law, has served as a solicitor for multiple municipalities and as a school board member. He has been a county commissioner since 2008 and said that he feels his prior experience in government would help him know where to start in Harrisburg.

One issue Sobel said he would like to explore is helping to develop the industry for critical rare-earth minerals.

"These are the substances that are naturally occurring in the ground that are the building blocks that you use to make the components of things that are very useful tools in the 21st century," he said. "That's rechargeable batteries, smart phones. They're used in a lot of military communication and guidance systems."

Kephart said that he knew he wanted to run for office since he was younger, and when he heard Sankey was not running for re-election, he knew it would be a good time to enter the race.

Kephart has been a coal miner and a law clerk for the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Reform, as well as a clerk for a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judge and an intern for U.S. Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson.

If elected, Kephart said he will remain accessible to the voters.

"One priority of mine that is not necessarily a policy issue ... is being accessible and available to folks," he said. "If elected, I will be everywhere. I will be in the district meeting with people and taking phone calls while in Harrisburg, listening to people's concerns. I think it is important to stay grounded with the people you serve."

Walker said he entered the race because he feels that values are under attack and that citizens don't have a voice in Harrisburg. He holds a degree in economics from Bucknell University and a master's in business administration from Penn State University. He has operated Walker Financial Services since 1997.

If elected, Walker said he will work to prevent "brain drain" in the district.

"Our best and brightest leave the area for opportunity that doesn't exist here," he said. "We need to reinvent our energy economy to create those opportunities and keep our young people here. That's easier said than done — as the country has become increasingly urbanized, there's a real disconnect in knowledge in how electricity is generated."

Because there are no Democratic primary candidates running in the 73rd District, the Republican primary winner will be unopposed in the Nov. 8 general election, unless there is a Democratic write-in candidate.