Controversial State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe Retiring

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA — After nearly a quarter of a century in the state House, controversial Rep. Daryl Metcalfe will not run for re-election this year.

The Cranberry Republican, who first was elected in 1998, made the announcement Tuesday.

“I am thankful to the voters who trusted me to represent them in the Pennsylvania House of

Representatives," Metcalfe said in a news release. "

"I am honored by the broad and deep base of support from citizens across the state who supported my work to limit government, protect taxpayers and defend liberty...In the future, I plan to continue fighting in defense of our God-given rights and our Constitution wherein
they are affirmed.”

The incendiary representative is no stranger to controversy and uproar over his statements and actions. A few of them:

• Last year, he unsuccessfully called for the impeachment of Gov. Tom Wolf for his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. Also, a state environmental group called for Metcalfe's removal from the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee for his "climate denial, obstructionism and unprofessional behavior."

• In 2017, he made national headlines after Rep. Matt Bradford briefly touched his arm while addressing him during a House State Government Committee meeting. "I'm a heterosexual," Metcalfe announced to Bradford. "I have a wife. I love my wife. I don't like men as you might so stop touching me all the time."

• In 2015, state Rep. Leslie Acosta of Philadelphia accused him of inviting white supremacist Robert Vandervoort to a hearing on a bill to make English Pennsylvania's official language. An outraged Metcalfe told Acosta that Vandervoort was no such thing. Metcalfe called him a "white nationalist."

Metcalfe represents the 12th Legislative District in Butler County, which includes Adams, Clinton, Cranberry, Forward, Middlesex and Penn townships, and Callery, Mars, Seven Fields and Valencia boroughs.

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