Polls opened Tuesday, November 4th, to elect the Pennsylvania Governor, and Slippery Rock's district representative for Congress. I went out to cast my vote at the Slippery Rock Township Building at 1:30 p.m. This particular election is generating a lot of attention from voters of all ages. Essentially, the ultimate decision of the voter comes down to two issues: taxes and education.
Education tops the list of concerns for Pennsylvanian voters. According to The Daily Pennsylvanian, Tom Corbett is basing his campaign around the idea that there should be more efficient spending within the education budget. Tom Wolf, Corbett's challenger, opposes Corbett's argument stating that, "increasing Pennsylvania's education budget is in the best interest of the state."
Tom Wolf ran his entire campaign leading up to the election based on one fact: Tom Corbett cut nearly $1 billion from the state's education funding. However, Corbett's campaign replied in aggressive political advertisements, all stating that he "increased funds for education by $1.5 billion."
According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, Wolf's claim refers to the $860 million deduction that school districts received in the 2011-2012 school year. On Tom Corbett's website, he refers to the additional funds allocated to school employee pensions during his term in office. In the last debate, Corbett argues that "we have put more money into education than anytime in the history of education in Pennsylvania." Corbett urges PA voters to realize that Wolf will hike the taxes in order to achieve his education funding goals.
Wolf has argued this claim, and proposes a solution to implement a five percent severance tax on gas drilling companies, which is a key part in his education funding formula. Wolf plans to overhaul the personal income tax, and address the state's unfunded pension liabilities. He also argues that the taxes will be well-managed, and that this is the most efficient option to raise the funding for schools across the state.
Latest polls show that Wolf is up in the polls 48-42, which is actually the tightest it has been in the race for the governor's chair.
A "Voter Information" table has been set up in the quad all day and they are answering any questions that students have regarding the election.
Karl E. Sparn, Jr. was a man I met outside of the Slippery Rock Township Building. Sparn was an educator for years, and retired after substitute teaching for the Slippery Rock Area School District. He states that "We are losing our freedom at a very alarming rate," and wants voters to know that if you are voting for Tom Wolf, you are essentially voting for a "Mini-Obama". Sparn strongly disagrees with the tax formula proposed by Tom Wolf, and expressed how the plan is failing in the state of Ohio. Sparn gave me his card after our interview, where he promotes his Facebook page. The following image is a screenshot of one of his posts:
Slippery Rock University voters are being directly effected by the decisions made in Harrisburg, as they are enrolled in a public institution of learning. Arthur Richards, Jr., who previously wrote an opinion article in The Rocket made his point by saying that as college voters, we should be educated on ObamaCare, Schools and the laying off of over 27,000 educators, fracking and its effects on the environment, especially in State Parks, and finally, the concern of wages and raising minimum wage. Richards opposed Sparn by stating how this plan has worked in other states. Richards ended his statement by saying, "You college students are the future."
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