88% of Deely's Money Comes Wrapped in a Union Label

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Deely at Labor Day Parade in Bethlehem

State House candidate Kevin Deely, an Easton High School teacher and union activist, clearly derailed at the DeSales debate. After that, I wrote him off as a serious candidate. He is seriously uninformed on most state issues, and that became apparent very quickly. But I forgot that few people in the Lehigh Valley watch televised debates. Fewer still read the blogs. So quite a few Democrats in the 131st District, who had already decided to vote for Obama, voted straight party. As a result, incumbent Justin Simmons is hanging by a one-vote lead in Lehigh County, although he's still up by 430 votes in Northampton County.

In addition to the lever pullers, Deely's campaign was heavily funded by the unions. 88% of his $130,000 warchest is wearing that union label. His biggest union contributor is PSEA. After all, he was President of the teachers' union in Easton, where he's known for rejecting federal funding when tied to teacher performance. He also organized a rally when school administrators balked at an average 12.57% average raise for teachers in the height of the Great Recession.

That union label is apparent among his individual contributors, too. They include union activist James Schlener, who lost his job as a Bethlehem firefighter after being picked up for DUI while supposedly on sick leave. Schlener and other contributing union activists, like Jim Gregory and former LV Labor Council President John Werkheiser, live outside the 131st legislative district.

Simmons raised about the same amount of money as Deely. His largest contributor, by far, is $30,000 from the House Republican Campaign Committee.

But Deely does not list the $98,000 that state Democrats paid for TV ads. Maybe he forgot.