Democrat Tony DeLoreto challenges incumbent Republican Joe Pittman in 41st Senate District

State Sen. Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, is facing his first reelection challenge just 16 months after being sworn in to represent the 41st Senate District.

Democrat Tony DeLoreto, a restaurateur from Indiana, is looking to knock off Pittman.

Pittman has been representing the district since June 2019 after winning a special election to replace former state Sen. Don White. Pittman had formerly served as White’s chief of staff for 19 years.

DeLoreto unsuccessfully ran against White four years ago.

The 41st District includes Indiana and Armstrong counties, as well as parts of Butler and Westmoreland counties.

Joe Pittman

Pittman’s community involvement began before becoming a state senator. At 18, he served on the school board for his alma mater at Purchase Line School District, acting as the youngest school board member in the state at the time.

He also touted his work as the chair of the Indiana County United Way Campaign in 2018, and he currently serves on its board of directors.

Pittman, who grew up in Indiana County’s Hillsdale, holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Penn State University.

As a state senator, Pittman sponsored legislation that extended funds for volunteer fire departments and EMS services during the covid-19 crisis.

“One of my priorities was to help those services in this difficult time,” Pittman said. “It equated to about $50 million for volunteer fire and EMS statewide.”

His other primary focus has been combating the carbon tax that would result from Gov. Tom Wolf’s efforts to enter Pennsylvania into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Pittman argued the tax would be a harmful expense for Pennsylvanians still reeling from the economic downturn caused by covid-19 and could result in lost jobs.

If reelected, Pittman said the economy would be his top priority in his next term.

“We certainly need to remain focused on coming out of the shutdown that occurred as a result of the pandemic. The economy is in dire straits, so we need to focus on economic policies that get people back to work,” he said.

To do this, Pittman said he advocates for an economic reopening, a reevaluation of the regulatory burden on small businesses and an emphasis on efficient budgeting in Harrisburg.

“We need to get to a sensible reopening of the economy,” Pittman said. “We need to make sure we balance our budget without increasing the burden on taxation. We need to get a lot more efficient on how we manage our finite resources.”

Pittman said he also opposes Wolf’s proposed electricity tax.

“Particularly in these difficult economic times, the last thing we need to do is make electricity more expensive and risk family-sustaining jobs,” he said.

Pittman said his other top priorities include blight remediation, broadband internet access for rural communities and improving infrastructure.

Pittman applauded Wolf’s recent loosening of capacity restrictions and the move to allow restaurants to operate at 50% occupancy as steps in the right direction. But he condemned Wolf’s last-minute change on mask policies in schools, his recommendation to delay school sports and his approach to shutdowns and mitigation orders.

“I just think it could have been a much more collaborative effort if he would have engaged us,” Pittman said.

Pittman said he feels he’s more in tune than his opponent with the community’s needs and priorities.

“The experience that I have in understanding the process is very important,” Pittman said. “I do believe that my views are much more reflective of the district that I represent.”

He also emphasized that his political experience is an asset.

“Experience matters in any profession, whether it’s public service or the private sector,” he said. “I have that experience.”

Tony DeLoreto

DeLoreto, a Navy veteran, said that what he lacks in political experience he makes up for in business savvy.

“A business background is something my opponent doesn’t have. Being in business for 30 years, I’ve created jobs, I created a business from scratch, and I know what it takes to be part of a workforce,” said DeLoreto, who has a journalism degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

He owns and operates the restaurant Spaghetti Benders in Indiana. As a restaurant owner since 1991, DeLoreto said he’s learned a lot about business and people.

“Working with people every day, working with all kinds of different people, just gives you the flexibility to see how everybody interacts with each other and see what the working man’s interests are, what his needs are, and how best to serve him,” DeLoreto said, claiming he’d take a bipartisan approach to office.

As he campaigns for a Senate seat, DeLoreto is advocating for campaign finance reform and term limits.

“If I got elected, I’m not going to run for more than two terms,” he said.

He said he also opposes gerrymandering, a term to describe the process of drawing boundaries for legislative and congressional districts for political gain.

“You can’t have it where it’s the politicians who are picking their voters instead of the voters picking the politicians,” he said.

If elected, DeLoreto said, education would be a high priority. He advocates for public pre-kindergarten and affordable community colleges, trade schools and state universities.

“Education is paramount, because a lot of things could be fixed with education,” he said. “It should be an equal opportunity for everybody.”

He said he’d also prioritize “health care as a human right for everybody in this country.”

DeLoreto said he supports legalizing marijuana to increase tax revenue, which he said is necessary for achieving goals such as improving education.

“If there’s ever a time to be creative and figure out a way to create revenue to help our economy, it’s now and it’s with the legalization of marijuana,” he said.

He said he also would like to eliminate property taxes on primary residents that cost less than $250,000 to $300,000 and working farms. He said it may help older people stay in their homes and provide an incentive for young people to stay in the area.

He recommends raising the sales tax.

“Raise the sales tax and include everything except for things on WIC,” he said, referring to the nutrition assistance program Women, Infants and Children.

DeLoreto said that as a state senator, his main emphasis would be on helping constituents.

“It’s just like when a customer comes into my restaurant,” he said. “I want them to be completely satisfied. I’m the kind of person who, when something happens in the restaurant, it’ll keep me up at night. I don’t like people not being satisfied. It would be the same thing as their public servant. If there was one person who I talked to and they explained to me what their need is and I can’t do that for them, it would grind on me.”

He contrasted that to his stance on career politicians, who he claims are focused solely on reelection.

“I’m going to be there for them. I’m not a career-minded politician. (Our forefathers) didn’t intend politicians to be a full-time job your whole life. Get in, do your civic duty and get out of there,” DeLoreto said.