2022 election | 15th House District: Where Thompson vs. Molesevich stand on the issues

Oct. 27—Incumbent U.S. Rep. Glenn "G.T." Thompson and former Lewisburg Borough Council Member Mike Molesevich will vie for the seat in the 15th District next month.

An environmental consultant and Democrat, Molesevich said he's running to "uphold the Constitution... not a political party" and noted that his opponent voted against certifying the 2020 election result.

Thompson said he accepts the results of the election. "Yeah, Joe Biden won that election based on the electoral college vote. Sadly Pennsylvania's vote was not constitutional. Only the state Legislature can set the time date and manner of elections."

Thompson, a Republican, served in the 5th Congressional District from 2009 until it was redrawn into the 15th District.

The 15th District covers all or parts of 18 counties, which now includes Snyder and Union.

Thompson said he is familiar with the new areas in the district he's seeking to continue representing, including doing Scout leader training in Union County years ago.

Molesevich, who has served as both a Lewisburg councilman and mayor, ran unsuccessfully against former U.S. Rep. Tom Marino in 2016.

The following are answers the candidates provided to issues facing voters.

On the economy

Thompson said the U.S. is in a recession, citing soaring gas and grocery prices.

"Families are struggling to decide if they have resources to go to the store and buy groceries or if they fill up their cars or trucks," he said.

Thompson blamed inflation on the Biden administration's "flawed energy policy. Shutting down the Keystone pipeline and restricting domestic energy production. Prior to that we were largest producer of energy in the world."

As a member of Congress "we can use our ability to legislate and once again increase domestic energy production on federal lands and water. Support the infrastructure on domestic energy, specifically pipelines and peel back some of the very aggressive, and quite frankly harmful, regulations on methane emission," he said. "Energy is really at the heart of the 41-year high inflation."

Molesevich said the economy has been hit hard by a number of forces, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the war Russia is waging in Ukraine, and said President Biden is being unfairly blamed.

To combat the economic problems in the U.S., he said, there needs to be a discussion about energy consumption.

"No one talks about reducing consumption. We have to be good consumers," Molesevich said. "As an elected official, I can make that a priority."

On abortion

Molesevich said abortion should be a choice left to women and their medical providers.

"It's not for me to decide," he said, adding that choice extends to education, health care and what books people want to read. "Choice is the theme."

Thompson said the decision regarding abortion rights should be made at the state level, but in cases where a woman's life is at peril due to pregnancy, the decision to terminate should be made between a woman and her physician.

He does not support abortion in cases of rape or incest. "At that point you have two victims," the mother and child, he said.

Immigration, border safety

Said Thompson, "We need to seal the border" due to the safety hazards facing people who are dying trying to enter the U.S.

"We need to fix the bureaucracy of our legal immigration," he said. "We are a welcoming country, but it should be merit-based. What are the skills they are bringing? How will they contribute?"

Molesevich said the U.S. should be able to "do better" regarding its immigration policy but said he needs to learn more about the issue.

On gun reform

Molesevich said the U.S. should be able to protect children from gun violence and one way is by increasing the legal age for purchasing a weapon and restricting military assault-style weapons.

"What purpose do they serve?" he said.

Thompson supports enforcing existing laws to keep "guns out of the hands of criminals" and providing more resources for mental health professionals.

"We have all the laws that we need, we need to enforce them," he said.