Democrats Are Running a Genuine Farmer in the 11th District of Pennsylvania

The 11th District of Pennsylvania is mainly rural, central Pennsylvania, and Denny Wolfe could be said to "fit the district":





He was Pennsylvania agriculture secretary in Governor Ed Rendell's cabinet, and he's a doer of good deeds: He founded the Nicholas Wolff Foundation, a non-profit which operates as Camp Victory, a summer camp for chronically ill children and their families. The foundation is named for Wolff's youngest son, Nicholas, born in 1984 with an extremely rare liver disease. Nicholas spent the first two years of his life in and out of hospitals until receiving a life-saving liver transplant in 1986.

Thank you, Wikipedia: "Once Nicholas returned home after his 1986 transplant, the Wolff family, realizing the value of having a place to share their triumphs and struggles, shared a dream to found a camp for chronically ill children. Wolff donated the initial 35 acres of land to start the camp. Through partnerships and an outpouring of community support, Camp Victory began construction. In 1994, the camp hosted its first campers, when five groups brought 325 campers. Since this time, Camp Victory's hosted over 30,000 overnight guests and counselors."

While he served as secretary of agriculture, he founded the Center for Dairy Excellence, which "was created to develop and support programs for both the Center for Dairy Excellence and other Pennsylvania dairy organizations which educate, cultivate, and inspire a thriving and sustainable Pennsylvania dairy industry." He also implemented the "PA Preferred" program, a branding program to promote Pennsylvania products.

The 11th CD in Pennsylvania was gerrymandered for a Republican, and a Republican (Lou Barletta) has held it since 2010 and easily won reelection over and over. But Barletta has vacated the seat to run for the US Senate, and Denny Wolff has stepped forward for the Democrats. He faces a primary, and there are at least six Republicans competing in May in their own primary.

Wolff is the kind of quality (and highly qualified) candidate that the Democrats are promoting this year. We'll be watching the primary in the 11th.