(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
On Friday afternoon, a meet-and-greet event was held at Irvine Park in Beaver featuring Jeff Coleman, a candidate for the Republican Primary for the Lieutenant Governor seat in Pennsylvania. Coleman was joined at the event by State Representative Josh Kail (R-Beaver/Washington). Prior to the event, Coleman spoke with A.M. Beaver County’s Matt Drzik about what led him to run for the seat.
Coleman is a former State Representative himself, representing Armstrong and Indiana counties from 2000 until 2007. “My focus there–and still is–having civil discourse,” Coleman said, “making sure that we’re fighting the good fights, but doing it in the right way.” When asked what those “good fights” were, Coleman talked about believing in the sanctity of life, lower taxes, smaller government, parental choice, and local control of schools among them.
“[I’m] a traditional conservative,” Coleman added, “but someone who really believes that you’ve got to do it in a no-drama way. The theatrics of politics often are what hurt the message for people who care about these issues.”
As to the particular decision to run for Lieutenant Governor, he sees the position as an opportunity for more civil debates and discourse: “I see the opportunity to turn the country and the state around when it comes to how we do battle.” Coleman wants “more debates, not less, more debates happening in the building and in the Capitol, less on social media…if we continue to go down this road, I think we’re in very bad shape; especially going into the next presidential election. I saw lieutenant governor as the only place you can really have that discussion.”
Coleman sees the Lieutenant Governor position as a “switchboard” for the different branches of the commonwealth’s government, adding “When there’s communication between those branches of government, you have a real opportunity for a functioning government.”
Coleman is one of nine current candidates for the Republican Primary in the race for lieutenant governor, which is set to be held May 17.