local
How Did Local Jewish Candidates Fare
in the 2022 Election?
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
Wild, the Democrat, was running for
her third term aft er beating Scheller,
the Republican, by about 14,000 votes
in 2020. And Wild, who converted to
Judaism during her son’s bar mitzvah
process, beat her rival again.

With 98% of the vote counted, the
contest has been called for the incum-
bent. But with red Carbon County in
PA-7 this year, it looks like Wild will
beat Scheller by even less this time.

Wild leads by 1.6% and fewer than
5,000 votes.

“Pennsylvania’s 7th congressional
district is a truly special place and the
only place I have ever called home,”
Wild said in a campaign email aft er
her victory. “It has been the honor of a
lifetime to serve as your representative,
and even more of an honor to earn your
trust to continue that service.”
Santarsiero and Pinsley
Santarsiero, who served four terms in
the state House from 2009 to 2017, got
elected to the Senate from the state’s
10th district in 2018 and now reelected
in 2022. Th e Democrat received
6 Ben Waxman, second from left,
campaigns in Philadelphia.

more than 76,000 votes compared
to a little over 54,000 for his oppo-
nent, Republican Matt McCullough.

Santarsiero fi nished with more than
58% of the vote.

Pinsley fell to Republican Jarrett
Coleman in the 16th Senate district.

Th e Lehigh County-heavy territory,
which also includes parts of Bucks,
was gerrymandered by Republicans to
exclude most of Allentown, the Lehigh
County seat. In Allentown’s 2021
mayoral election, Democrat Matthew
Tuerk received almost two-thirds of
the vote. So, the gerrymandering made
it diffi cult for Pinsley to win. But the
controller of Lehigh County doesn’t
regret his attempt.

“I would totally do it again. I met so
many people. It’s just so interesting to
see the diff erent communities,” he said.

Next year, he will do it again, in a
way. Pinsley is planning on running
for reelection to his controller seat.

Th e businessman was not involved in
politics before 2016 but became moti-
vated by that year’s Republican pres-
idential candidate, Donald Trump.

He didn’t like Trump’s rhetoric about
Mexicans and Muslims. And once you
get involved in politics, Pinsley said,
“all of a sudden you see a lot of injus-
tice.” He said the experience reminded
him of the importance of his favorite
NOVEMBER 17, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Jewish value, tikkun olam, or repairing
the world.

“You really do feel like we need to
repair the world,” he added.

Waxman, Breyman and Stoltz
For Waxman, who was running in the
Center City-based 182nd district, there
was little doubt that he would win.

Philadelphia is more than 80% blue.

Th e question was how many people
would turn out, and the answer was a
respectable amount. Waxman, a Temple
Beth Zion-Beth Israel member, received
more than 26,000 votes in an election
in which the total turnout, more than
29,000, topped 50%.

Th e party activist and former com-
munications staff er for Philadelphia
District Attorney Larry Krasner
was excited to see Shapiro and John
Fetterman, the Democratic candidate
for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat, win
as well.

“It was a really good day for
Democrats,” he said.

And that really good day should help
protect the right to an abortion that
was overturned by the Supreme Court
earlier this year, according to Waxman.

“People want to make sure that Roe
v. Wade is protected and codifi ed in
state law, and we have that now in the
governor,” he said.

Pennsylvania state Senate
candidate Mark Pinsley
Breyman and Stoltz, running in pur-
ple Bucks County, did not fare as well
as Waxman did in blue Center City.

Breyman fell by more than 4,000 votes
in PA-178, while Stoltz lost by less than
3,000 in PA-143.

Like Pinsley, though, Breyman enjoyed
the experience.

“I got out in my community and
talked to thousands upon thousands of
people. I walked probably every street
here,” he said. “Bucks County is beauti-
ful, and our district is beautiful, and it
was great to be able to see it.” JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
Courtesy of Mark Pinsley
Wild versus Scheller
Courtesy of Ben Waxman
P ennsylvania Gov.-Elect Josh
Shapiro was not the only Jewish
candidate to run in the Greater
Philadelphia area in the 2022 election:
Several Jewish locals ran for the United
States Congress and the Pennsylvania
General Assembly, too.

Two Jewish women, Susan Wild
and Lisa Scheller, competed against
each other for the U.S. House of
Representatives seat from PA-7,
which covers the Lehigh Valley. Two
Jewish Democrats, Steve Santarsiero,
a Congregation Kol Emet member in
Yardley, and Mark Pinsley, campaigned
for state Senate offi ces representing
Bucks and Lehigh counties, respec-
tively. And three Jewish Democrats,
Ben Waxman, Ilya Breyman and Gwen
Stoltz, tried to win state House seats in
Center City, lower Bucks County and
central/upper Bucks County.

Here’s how they did.