Candidates For New 54th House District Chat Up Voters At The Polls

NORRISTOWN, PA — "It's been my dream to run for this office," Rochelle Culbreath says while standing outside a polling location in Norristown Tuesday afternoon. "There is no incumbent. This is the first time this seat will be inhabited."

Patch spoke on Tuesday with Culbreath and the other candidates for the newly created 54th Legislative District, which will encompass Norristown, Conshohocken and Plymouth Township.

Culbreath, who is a fourth-generation Norristown resident, is excited about the fact that Norristown will now have its own representative in Harrisburg.

By day, Culbreath works in constituent services for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, a job, she says, that requires her to work with both Democrats and Republicans, and something she feels will help her if she becomes elected state representative.

"This is just a natural progression," said Culbreath, while standing outside of a Norristown elementary school.

Culbreath is a proud Norristown native whose family has strong roots in the community with a long history of public service.

Culbreath herself was the first-ever Black woman elected to the Norristown Borough Council and the first Black council president.

A couple miles away, at a local middle school, two other candidates in the 54th House race greeted voters and spoke about their respective platforms.

Dan Wissert, 43, a Republican who is running as a write-in candidate for the seat, is a Norristown resident who said he's running for state representative because he's "really concerned about the direction things are going right now."

"We do need a better school system," he said of Norristown's public school district.

Wissert said he supports more parental choice in education. He is parent to a stepchild.

Allen Arthur Anderson, the endorsed Republican candidate who is on the ballot for the 54th, was not at either of the Norristown polling sites that Patch visited. He does not appear to have much social media presence and no active website.

Wissert, while a Republican, espouses some views not held by other members of the GOP.

He said he supports legalizing marijuana, for example. The fact that Pennsylvania's medical marijuana program has worked as well as it has is proof people can use the substance responsibly, he said.

"I don't have a problem with anybody who thinks that that should pass," he said. "I think it should."

Wissert said the difference between himself and others who may voice support for marijuana legalization is that "I'm serious about it," and the fact that he's a Republican espousing that view proves that very point.

Wissert, who is the chair of the Norristown Republican Committee, previously ran for state rep in the 70th Legislative District, which was Norristown's prior district before the recent redistricting.

As Wissert was speaking with Patch, a supporter and neighbor of Wissert's, Scott Perkins, said he's happy to support Wissert's campaign.

"I like the guy, I think he's going to do good for our area and our state," Perkins said. "We need change."

Also at the middle school polling location was Greg Scott, a former magisterial district judge from Norristown who said he resigned that position in order to run for state rep.

"I think this is an amazing opportunity for someone from our community to represent us in Harrisburg," Scott, the other Democrat in the race, told Patch.

Scott, 35, who as judge was the youngest sitting magisterial district judge in Pennsylvania and the first-ever Black MDJ in Montgomery County, said he looks at this race as an "opportunity, not a mandate."

"When you have opportunity that meets preparation you can be extremely successful," Scott said.

Scott, who was born and raised in Norristown and now owns a home in the community, is also a volunteer firefighter and EMT with the Norristown Fire Department.

"I'm Norristown, through and through," he said.

Scott, a district judge for the past six years, said he decided to give up the judge's seat and run for the legislature because he believes he could make an impact by working to codify things into law that would benefit Pennsylvanians.

"I believe in the opportunity that we have and I believe that we have a chance to make things happen," he said.

The polls in Pennsylvania are open until 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Patch will bring you results as they become available.