Carla Sands, former President Trump’s ambassador to Denmark who is vying for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat, took her campaign to a local high school Thursday where she pitched her views to a group of seniors while digging into her Westmoreland County ties.

Speaking to a class of about 100 Project 18 students sitting in a small auditorium at Hempfield Area High School, Sands, a Republican and staunch supporter of Trump, leaned heavily into her ties with the former president who, in 2017, appointed her to the ambassador position. She touched on her accomplishments within that role while also calling out Democrats for what she deemed leftist views.

“I’m running because I think we’re losing our country to the hard left, and I’m not talking about the traditional Democrat party. I’m talking about communists and socialists,” Sands said to the students, who are studying state and local government.

Sands, who announced her candidacy in July, touched on key points of her campaign including energy, supporting farmers and improving the economy. If elected, her goal is to create an Operation Warp Speed to focus on the state’s energy sector, while harmonizing permitting and regulations to attract more companies such as the ethane cracker plant in Beaver County.

“When I was your age, Pennsylvania was thriving and the small towns were amazing, population was great,” Sands said. “But over the years, those companies and jobs moved to places like Asia. The companies did not feel, and the owners did not feel, an obligation to take care of and nurture the communities that they came from.”

Sands, 61, grew up in Camp Hill, Cumberland County, although she lived outside of the state for several years.

Her family has ties to Westmoreland County, where her ancestors settled in the 1700s. Over the years, generations of her family fought in the American Revolution and the Civil War, Sands said. The family also gave land for a Presbyterian Church and cemetery in Pleasant Unity, according to the 2005 book “Threads of History and Heritage” by Lee Ann Baker.

After graduating from Cumberland Valley High School, Sands went on to study biology and chemistry at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She received her doctor of chiropractic degree from Life University in Georgia, becoming the third generation to be a chiropractor in Pennsylvania. She later moved to Los Angeles, where she worked as an actor.

In 1999, Sands met her late husband, Fred, a prominent Republican campaign donor. He died in 2015.

After his death, Sands took over as chairman and CEO of his real estate investment firm, Vintage Capital Group. A year later, Sands, a lifelong Republican, helped raise money for Trump’s campaign by hosting a fundraiser at her Bel Air mansion and giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to the campaign, the Associated Press reported.

“I’ve worked hard to help every Republican candidate get elected to the presidency because I know we’re the party of strong families, strong small business and constitutional freedoms,” Sands said. “That’s why I support those candidates, and Donald Trump was clearly advocating for those issues.”

A year after his election, Sands drew two Trump appointments, one to his Council of Economic Advisers and one as ambassador to Denmark.

It was while she was ambassador that she decided to run for office, Sands said.

“While I was in Denmark and I was watching the cancellation of conservative voices and I was watching the incoming Biden administration talk about banning fracking and opening our southern border … I got worried about our country,” Sands said. “My daughter is 21, and I had so much opportunity growing up in Pennsylvania and I wanted to preserve our democracy and our independence as a country, our rule of law and our honoring of the Constitution.”

Sands is among a pool of 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats seeking to replace U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey. The Lehigh Valley Republican is not seeking reelection.

Student involvement

In addition to talking about key points of her campaign, Sands also elaborated on Denmark traditions following a high school graduation, denounced critical race theory — a way of thinking about America’s history through the lens of racism — and discussed the video-sharing platform TikTok.

“If you have TikTok on your phone, the Chinese Communist Party has every contact on your phone, they know every keystroke you make and they are trying to influence you to dislike yourself and your country,” Sands said. “I’m just telling you, that is the fact.”

Several students before the event stressed the importance of hearing from candidates as many prepare to vote for the first time.

“It really influences who you want to vote for, and it helps us make those decisions,” said Caris Rehak, 18. “A lot of people don’t really know, going into voting, the stuff about people, so it really helps.”

Tyler Planey, 17, agreed, adding that he will be able to vote in the November election.

“This event is kind of showing us more in depth into the senator’s race,” Planey said. “Getting some information directly from the candidate is something that’s going to help us, especially as young voters, decide who is our choice for the senate race.”

Alexis Smith, 18, who introduced Sands to the Project 18 class, added, “Since she’s running to represent Pennsylvania, that includes our county, so we want to know what her intentions are, and it’s really great to ask her questions face-to-face. It’s an opportunity that a lot of other schools do not have.”

According to Ken Stough, who teaches the Project 18 class, students are required to choose a candidate they hear from and volunteer for their campaign.

“We think it’s the best way to get students interested,” Stough said. “It’s not just a name on a ballot somewhere; it’s a real person that they’ve actually met and can talk to.”

“It’s a big commonwealth, 67 counties,” Sands said. “But this is my ancestral county, so I’d be honored to have the support of the Republican voters in May and then in the general election. I hope to earn the support of some Democrat voters as well. We have many conservative Democrats living here in Westmoreland County.”

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