Mark Patrick Flaherty and Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner
Keeping things interesting on a Friday, Allegheny County Controller candidate Mark Patrick Flaherty’s campaign is looking to make hay over an upcoming Chelsa Wagner fundraiser that lists Republican Allegheny County Councilor Heather Heidelbaugh as a host.
The March 4 “reception in support of County Controller Chelsa Wagner" is at Downtown's Olive Or Twist, with tickets ranging from $250 to $2,500. The event features a list of the usual Democratic Party suspects, including state party chair Jim Burn, former state Sen. Jim Ferlo and current state Rep. Harry Readshaw. In addition to those names is Heidelbaugh, a Tea Party favorite, supporter of
Voter ID laws and
climate-change denier.
Heidelbaugh's presence is an issue that Flaherty’s campaign thinks voters, and Democrats who
will be endorsing one of the two candidates on March 8, should know about.
From the release (which appears after the jump):
“Chelsa Wagner teaming up with a Tea Party Republican who is a leading national advocate for Voter ID laws and who called President Obama a Socialist is a slap in the face of every member of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee whose endorsement she seeks,” Mark Patrick Flaherty’s campaign manager Abby Murphy said. “Chelsa Wagner talks a good game about supporting the Democratic Party. But, when nobody is looking, she teams up with a Tea Party Republican like Heather Heidelbaugh who is anti-worker, anti-voter and anti-environment. Wagner’s alliance with Heidelbaugh [is] insulting to Democratic Committee members and everyone who volunteers their time to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.”
But while Heidelbaugh, who announced last month that she
would not seek reelection, and Wagner may not see eye-to-eye politically, they do have one thing in common — issues with a certain
fiery redhead who has on more than one occasion referred to both
Wagner and
Heidelbaugh as “obstructionists.”
We reached out to Wagner’s campaign and will update with a response if we get one. But this is not the first salvo fired in this race. Last week Flaherty's campaign
took Wagner to task for not including certain information on campaign finance reports. For her part Wagner said the oversight was inadvertent and used the moment to tie the aforementioned fiery redhead (County Executive Rich Fitzgerald in case you weren't sure) to the Flaherty camp.
"This is a feeble attempt to distract voters from real issues that impact our residents," Wagner said of the filing flap. "I'll continue to work to ensure that Allegheny County is served by a Controller who is a watchdog, not someone else's lapdog."
Chelsa Wagner Teams Up GOP’s Only Countywide Official to Raise Funds for Campaign
Heidelbaugh is Nationally Known Voter ID Advocate, Called Obama a “Socialist”
Pittsburgh, PA – Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner is teaming up with Tea Party Republican Allegheny County Councilwoman Heather Heidelbaugh to raise funds for Wagner’s failing re-election campaign. Heidelbaugh is nationally known for being a leading advocate on Voter ID laws and other voter suppression tactics. Heidelbaugh currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Republican National Lawyers Association which, in addition to promoting voter suppression tactics, claims that one of its missions is “advancing Republican ideals.”
Heidelbaugh’s right-wing extremism does not end when it comes to rights of people to vote. In 2009, she penned an op-ed claiming that President Barack Obama is a “Socialist.” Heidelbaugh has gone so far as to claim that climate change is a hoax. On County Council, Heidelbaugh even tried to prevent workers trying to form a union at UPMC from speaking at a 2012 council meeting.
“Chelsa Wagner teaming up with a Tea Party Republican who is a leading national advocate for Voter ID laws and who called President Obama a Socialist is a slap in the face of every member of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee whose endorsement she seeks,” Mark Patrick Flaherty’s campaign manager Abby Murphy said. “Chelsa Wagner talks a good game about supporting the Democratic Party. But, when nobody is looking, she teams up with a Tea Party Republican like Heather Heidelbaugh who is anti-worker, anti-voter and anti-environment. Wagner’s alliance with Heidelbaugh [is] insulting to Democratic Committee members and everyone who volunteers their time to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.”