3 Republicans compete for nomination in toss-up congressional district in Pittsburgh suburbs
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Three Republicans are running for the nomination to replace Democratic Congressman Conor Lamb this year.
Lamb is giving up his House seat to run for the U.S. Senate, and it's a seat that Republicans have a shot at winning in November. Meet Kathy Coder, of Ben Avon, Jason Killmeyer, of Mt. Lebanon, and Jeremy Shaffer, of Pine Township.
Each interviewed by KDKA political editor Jon Delano, these three Republicans would like to represent the 17th Congressional District, which includes most of the suburbs of Allegheny County and all of Beaver County.
"I'm an engineer. I got my PhD from Carnegie Mellon University, and I really have a passion for serving our community," says Shaffer.
"I am a business owner. I love what I do. I do leadership development around the world with all different types of organizations," says Coder.
"Spent about a dozen years in Washington, DC, in national security, primarily, counter-terrorism and supply chain," says Killmeyer.
While Killmeyer can cite service in Washington, both Shaffer and Coder have served in local government: Shaffer in Ross and Coder in Bellevue.
Each has a different focus.
"Some of my issues I am particularly passionate about are term limits. We absolutely need new blood in D.C. and really on both sides of the aisle. We need to encourage term limits to help change things," says Shaffer.
While Shaffer stresses term limits, Killmeyer focuses on border security and Coder wants to end partisan bickering at the Capitol.
"People in the middle really want to see something get done, and they're tired of what's going on in Washington," says Coder. "And they're tired of bureaucrats, people with money going down there. They never get a voice. They never see them again."
"My focus has been heavily on ending illegal immigration and securing our border," says Killmeyer. "Inflation, to rising costs to the budget issues that we're having – all of those are exacerbated when you have a population Pittsburgh-size in number of people coming across our border every 60 days."
The winner of the GOP primary will face off against the winner of the Democratic primary, either University of Pittsburgh Cyber Policy director and attorney Chris Deluzio or LGBTQ Victory Fund vice president Sean Meloy.
This seat is very much up for grabs in November. Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in the 17th by less than six points, so it really matters who wins the primaries. The election is just over two weeks away.
