Pennsylvania Democrat running for House says party needs to better understand rural voters

Erin McClelland

A Democratic candidate for the U.S. House in Western Pennsylvania coal country said at the Democratic National Convention that the party needs to do a better job understanding rural voters, Dave Sutor reports for the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat. Erin McClelland hopes her message will help her gain ground on Rep. Keith Rothfus, a Republican lawyer elected to Congress in 2012, who defeated her in the 2014 general election by 59.3 percent to 40.7 percent.

McClelland, a health-care professional who has specialized in addiction treatment and prevention, told Sutor, “Message wise, we're really talking about rural voters. I'm really concerned that the Democratic Party has really started to disengage rural voters. And it has been for some time. Their love for the Constitution, their love for the Second Amendment, it's not a bad thing. It's actually something that's very passionate and very pure, and should be embraced by my party and should be inspiring our policies. And it's not something that we should be rejecting." (Read more)