U.S. Congress 4th District Election Preview: Madeleine Dean Vs. David Winkler
— The heavily blue 4th congressional district that covers most of Montgomery County is up for grabs this election season, and while incumbent Congresswoman Madeleine Dean is expected to win handily, Republican challenger Henry Winkler is trying to make it interesting.
Dean, a native of Glenside and former Pennsylvania state representative, has become a national figure since first elected to the position in 2019. She was named the impeachment manager of the Bipartisan Task Force in charge of investigating former President Trump, following the Jan. 6 insurrection in 2021.
Montgomery County, the state's third most populous county, is full of voters both blue and red and everywhere in between, but the balance of power almost always tilts to the left in countywide contests.
While polling in the district is limited, The Hill gives Dean a 99 percent chance of winning. In 2022, she defeated Republican businessman Christian Nascimento by nearly 90,000 votes, more than her 83,000 vote margin over Kathy Barnette in 2020.
Winkler, of Elkins Park, is a U.S. Marine, former police officer in Tennessee, and CEO and President of Wings for Warriors, a veterans nonprofit.
Dean's campaign has largely ignored Winkler, and focused most of their time and public appearances on campaigning for the Democratic ticket at large, particularly Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Bob Casey. Both are in races that project to be far tighter than Dean's.
Winkler, meanwhile, has gone on the offensive, attacking Dean after her recent appearance with Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Montgomery County where the pair discussed the impacts of inflation.
"Dean needs to go, she doesn't have the knowledge of basic economics & believes she can use more regulation and reckless spending to turn our economy around," Winkler said. "We need to use a Milton Freedman style of approach by letting the economy work for itself. We need less regulation, lower taxes, open up manufacturing production, make, buy, and export American made products."
Winkler has also said he "despises" Dean for her and her family's alleged ties to sweatshops in Taiwan and corrupt business practices.
"She built her fortune on the back of Labor trafficking of Taiwanese workers in sweat shops," Winkler said. The issue has been used unsuccessfully by Republicans to undermine Dean since her first congressional race back in 2018, when the Republican Party of Pennsylvania demanded answers from her.
While the claim is at best a partial truth — it is Dean's husband, Patrick Cunnane, who owns a business that was funded heavily by a larger corporation in Taiwan — it has also never been proven.
