Democrat Patrick Slattery says he's no longer vying for the 134th House seat that opponent Republican in a special election in May.
Slattery posted on Facebook that he has withdrawn from the race due to personal and professional constraints.
Slattery and Mackenzie squared off in a special election to see who would fill the unexpired term of former Rep. Doug Reichley, who left state politics to become a Lehigh County judge.
The two men were set to compete again in November's general election for a two-year term for the same seat.
Though he had heard "rumblings," Mackenzie said he learned of Slattery's decision while going door-to-door in Emmaus on Monday to meet voters. "Didn't you hear?" he said a constituent, who had been watching the local TV news, told him. "Your opponent dropped out of the race."
But Mackenzie said he intends to continue to go door-to-door to meet voters nonetheless. He had planned to be knocking on doors in Lower Macungie on Tuesday evening. "It's the best way to get out your message," he said, "and to represent the people of our district."
Of Slattery, Mackenzie said, "I wish him well. He probably just didn't have the fight in him for a third time." (Slattery also had run for the seat in 2010 against Doug Reichley).
Mackenzie said it's possible he will face another contender if the Democratic Party names a candidate by early August to replace Slattery on the ballot.
1. paying a bill at Kohls 2. Switching a new phone onto my plan at ATT 3. stopped by a pub to watch couple innings of the phillies with a friend 4. Driving my car 5. Using a debit card (optional but I never sign my cards) EVERYONE should have a photo ID card. I have an issue with this being done for political reasons, but I don't see a problem with having to present an ID to vote. Anyone can get a state ID for (I think) 36 bucks. Now is this some sort of variation of a poll tax? possibly... I just don't see the massive dis-enfranchisement happening that some people say this will cause. People don't vote cause they don't vote. And that is sad. No one who wants to vote won't be able to because of an ID. Anyone can get an ID. IMHO. Now FYI here is a good article that presents both sides fairly. http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2012/03/18/opinion/doc4f6537efb60e1648545975.txt
This matches Republican efforts in Texas, Wisconsin and in other places. If this is about voter fraud show us the numbers. After that phase the process in over a couple of years to guarantee this is not about short tem political gain. None of that will happen because this has nothing to do with voter fraud. Just ask Mr. Turzai
Example: In the Special Election for the State House in the 134th, held on the normal Primary Election Day, 76% of registered voters did NOT participate. While the number of registered Democrats in the 134th is only 3% less than registered Republicans (41% to 44%), the turn out at the polls was 59% Republican and only 38% Democrat (a -21% difference in a -3% district). Voter participation is bad across party lines and decidedly horrible among Democrats. Rather than creating barriers to voting, we should be making it easier to vote. Other jurisdictions have found creative ways such as early voting and weekend voting to boost voter participation. When only 24% of registered voters are making our electoral decisions, we should all be concerned.
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/19/us/vote-fraud-ruling-shifts-pennsylvania-senate.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm Here is an article estimating up to 9% of voters do not have a photo ID. http://possibleexperience.blogspot.com/2012/07/pa-gop-steals-votes-from-750000-voters.html
In the state where I recently lived and was a poll worker for several elections, they had a very secure system for early voting at central locations, which also involved using current (or recently expired since the last election) photo ID. Proper ID was also crucial for the system we used to efficiently direct people where to go if they showed up at the wrong polling place. It was also made the job easier for our clerks to get people signed in properly, since even the workers who were life-long residents in that precinct didn't know who most of the voters were, and it made it easier to understand the voter's name. Finally, no voter would ever be turned away. If a person didn't have the proper ID, they still could vote provisionally, and would have plenty of time to resolve the issue later, as long as that was within two weeks, which is when the county certified the election. In reality, there were very few cases where this procedure was used. We almost always got people to the right place. The few provisional ballots we ever used at my site were for people who weren't registered at all or didn't want to go to the right place and not because of missing or faulty ID.
Democrats had little of consequence to vote for in their primary so the only reason for them to show up locally was to vote in your special race. Many were likely totally unaware. Considering those circumstances, it's actually quite remarkable that you did as well as you did in the special election! To illustrate how variable voting turnout can be in a primary, consider the following. At a polling place that I have supervised in Indiana, 293 Republican and 75 Democrats appeared for the primary in 2012. In 2008, when the very hot presidential contest was on the Democratic side, but where the Republican side was essentially decided, the turnout by party was completely reversed. Only 207 Republicans (30% lower) presented themselves, but 688 Democrats showed up. (almost 800% higher!) In other words, fewer than 12% of the Democrats who showed for the 2008 primary (which coincidentally was the first election where foto ID was required) showed up again in 2012. The turnout by party in PA was similarily motivated for 2012 primary.