Jeremy Shaffer, the former Ross commissioner who ousted Randy Vulakovich from the state Senate before losing the general election in 2018, will try his hand at a federal office.
Mr. Shaffer, now a resident of Pine, said Tuesday he’s running for Congress in the 17th District, which — as it’s currently drawn — stretches from the northern and western suburbs of Allegheny County to encompass all of Beaver County and the southwestern corner of Butler County.
In an email blast, Mr. Shaffer said he’s running because “America is in trouble,” the American dream is “under extreme threat” and cancel culture is thriving.
“Everyone that I talk to agrees that the radical left is out-of-control: from ballooning the national debt to tax-and-spend policies that are crushing the middle class,” Mr. Shaffer wrote. “I am going to Congress to defend our freedoms, advance economic reforms, empower parents & local schools, and challenge the political establishment to work for you, the people.”
This isn’t the first time Mr. Shaffer has labeled the Democratic Party a radical vessel. In 2018, when he ran for the 38th state Senate District, he branded Democrat Lindsey Williams a “socialist” out of step with the values of Pennsylvania. He lost the election, but did beat Mr. Vulakovich — the incumbent Republican — in the primary.
Mr. Shaffer resigned from his post as Ross commissioner in mid-2020, bookending a seven-year tenure that he said was fueled by a desire to fight for taxpayers and small government. In the private sector, he co-founded a company that made bridge and infrastructure maintenance software.
So far, the Republican primary for the 17th District — a race that will determine who succeeds U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon — is between Mr. Shaffer and Tricia Staible, president of Robinson Fans Inc.
Sean Meloy, Vice President of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, and Chris Deluzio, policy director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security, are running in the Democratic primary.
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com; Twitter: @julianrouth
First Published: February 8, 2022, 8:50 p.m.
