Voter guide to Pennsylvania State House 55th District election: Cooper vs. Magwood
What's at stake: Democrat Davon Magwood is challenging freshman Republican state Rep. Jill Cooper in her bid for a second term representing the Pennsylvania state House 55th District. The 55th includes the northern Westmoreland County cities of Arnold and New Kensington (plus a section of Lower Burrell), six boroughs and five townships plus part of a sixth.
The district population has declined for decades; Murrysville is an exception. The municipality, where Cooper lives, saw its population drop slightly in 2022 but overall has attracted residents with well-regarded public schools and green spaces while grappling with such growth pressures as zoning and water supply (the latter due to natural gas extraction). Currently, just under half of registered voters are Republican; 37% are Democrats.
District map:
Jill CooperCooper got into office in 2022 by defeating a longtime incumbent in the first statehouse primary after district boundaries changed and then winning 62% of votes in the general election that year. Long involved in the GOP at every level, Cooper pushed for later school start times during her first term and helped launch a bipartisan "Meet Me in the Middle" caucus as one of four co-chairs. She also refused her pay during budget impasses in 2023 and 2024 — and advocated for automatic mandatory pay freezes for all legislators and the governor and lieutenant governor whenever there's a budget stalemate in Harrisburg.
: Republican Place of residence: Murrysville : B.S., Grove City College Current occupation: Pennsylvania House of Representatives (2023-present) Related experience: Executive director, Murrysville Economic and Community Development Corp. (2017-2019); chair, Westmoreland County Republican Committee (2012-2014) Supporters/endorsements: None provided by candidate : Website | Facebook Total Fundraising (reported as of 9/30/24): $40,422.15 (2023 ending cash balance: $33,697.20) $38,147.04
Further reading: " Energy 'off the charts' at Republican National Convention, Westmoreland attendees say " (Patrick Varine, TribLIVE)
WESA Candidate Survey
Davon MagwoodDavon Magwood's comedy was political long before he launched his write-in campaign for the Democratic nomination for the 55th state House District, skewering Westboro Baptist Church and the likes of Ann Coulter . But he says his interest in politics started earlier. He co-founded his high school's "Youth & Government" Club after listening to family stories about participating in sit-ins in the South. Now a father of three, Magwood says he could do more for his community — such as bringing a supermarket to a food desert — as a state representative: "That means more than me calling as a regular citizen for a meeting with Aldi corporate."
: Democratic Place of residence: New Kensington : Schenley High School Current occupation: Kitchen manager Related experience: Judge of elections (2018-2023) Supporters/endorsements: Run For Something, AFL-CIO : Website | Twitter | Instagram
Total fundraising (reported as of 9/30/24): $610 $215.13
Further reading: " New Kensington's Davon Magwood looks to go from comedy clubs and restaurant kitchens to the state House " (Tawna Panizzi, TribLIVE)
WESA Candidate Survey
To improve Pennsylvania's economy, I would push to lower the Corporate Net Income (CNI) tax and invest in expanding broadband access and improving transportation infrastructure. I also want to focus on vocational training and apprenticeship opportunities, which are crucial for upward economic mobility, by increasing them and tailoring them to industry demands in partnership with community colleges. Warehousing, logistics, renewable energy and carpentry all would make sense as sectors to focus on. And we need to address the urban-rural divide to ensure balanced economic growth across the state.
Just as the state lottery benefits senior citizens, we should earmark a specific sales tax to fund Pennsylvania's public schools (if/once legalized, recreational cannabis for adults could work). Doing so would allow us to decrease our reliance on property taxes to fund public education, as that tends to exacerbate disparities between wealthy and less affluent districts.
I support the legalization of recreational cannabis for adults in Pennsylvania. It's an important issue and has to be handled thoughtfully. We should avoid selling it through the state Liquor Control Board, as some have suggested, and instead create a separate entity to independently set up guidelines and then oversee the distribution and sale of cannabis. Again, we can earmark a portion of state sales taxes generated to help fund public schools to decrease reliance on local property taxes and the subsequent exacerbation of socioeconomic inequality among districts.
Arguments over voting provisions — such as mail-in balloting, "drop boxes" and voter verification requirements — have become a part of the electoral landscape. How well do you think our election systems work now, and what, if any, changes to our state voting laws would you support?
I was an election judge for several years and believe our current election systems are secure and function well, though there is room for improvement. Mail-in ballots and drop boxes have increased accessibility and voter participation in Pennsylvania, but we need to expand that so it's consistent across the state and available to voters in all counties. For that and early voting, Washington state could be a good model. We also need to be thoughtful about voter ID requirements to avoid disenfranchising eligible voters. The goal of any change should be to make it easier for eligible voters to cast their ballots.
