ST. CLAIR — Governor Josh Shapiro and Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis brought their statewide campaign bus tour to Schuylkill County’s St. Clair Fish and Game Club on Thursday, October 29, rallying support for local Democratic candidates as speakers and attendees raised concerns about household costs, development and government accountability.
The state leaders joined Rachel Wallace, the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District, John Deatrich, the Democratic candidate for the 123rd Legislative District, and Schuylkill County Commissioner Gary Hess ahead of the November 3 election.
The rally connected statewide policy priorities with local debates over landfill operations, truck traffic, data centers and a proposed immigration detention facility, while emphasizing the importance of Schuylkill County voters.
Wallace Focuses on Affordability and Accessible Representation
Wallace, a Pottsville native and former White House Office of Management and Budget staffer, focused her remarks on affordability and the need for accessible representation. She also spoke about returning home after her mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
“This is about how high the costs are at the grocery store, at the gas pump, at the doctor’s office, on our electricity bills,” Wallace said.
Wallace said home heating oil prices had increased more than 70 percent compared with the previous year and that approximately one-third of district households depend on the fuel.
“This is a crisis for our part of the state,” she said.
She criticized incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Dan Meuser’s accessibility and argued that elected officials should be more responsive to residents facing economic strain. Wallace also criticized support for artificial intelligence data center developers.
“We know what it means when you stand with AI data center developers,” she said. “It means you’re not standing with us.”
That emphasis on showing up for residents resonated with attendee Mary Beth Matz, treasurer of the Schuylkill County Democratic Women’s League.
Matz expressed support for Shapiro, Davis and “our own hometown girl, Rachel Wallace,” praising Wallace’s participation in community gatherings opposing proposed immigration detention centers in Schuylkill and northern Berks counties.
Matz credited Shapiro’s intervention and Wallace’s involvement in that fight, while criticizing what she described as Meuser’s absence and a lack of public town halls.
She said she planned to attend an upcoming “Mondays with Meuser” demonstration at the Lebanon County Courthouse, which she described as the group’s 87th gathering, with Wallace also expected to attend.
Development and Environmental Concerns Draw Local Attention
Deatrich emphasized his experience as a teacher and father of six, saying his family understands the pressures facing working households. His wife, Danielle, is a nurse at Penn State Hershey.
“They need someone in Harrisburg that feels the burden of the middle class. And I am the middle class,” Deatrich said. “People need to stop electing politicians that are pretending to be regular people and start electing regular people who want to be politicians.”
Deatrich also raised concerns about BRADS Landfill and truck traffic affecting the St. Clair area. He called for answers to residents’ health and safety questions and accused decision-makers of placing corporate interests ahead of the community.
The Blythe Recycling and Demolition Site, known as BRADS, is located in neighboring Blythe Township. St. Clair Borough has formally opposed its ongoing operations and has provided residents with information about reporting odors and participating in air monitoring.
Similar concerns brought attendee Chris Melusky to the event. A registered Republican, Melusky said environmental and quality-of-life issues are central to his voting decisions, including biosolids, landfills and incoming data center developments affecting Schuylkill County’s West End.
Before the rally, attendees were allowed to sign the outside of Shapiro and Davis’s tour bus. Melusky used the opportunity to leave a message: “Support Schuylkill, Don't forget about us, please!”
“I believe sometimes we feel as constituents that we are a dumping ground for Pennsylvania,” Melusky said.
Melusky said he is firmly supporting Wallace, but his support does not extend automatically to the entire Democratic ticket.
“I will stand behind Rachel 100%,” he said. “As a registered Republican, however, with Josh, I’m on the fence yet, so he has to earn my vote.”
Melusky said he previously voted for Shapiro and wants tangible results and sustained attention to Schuylkill County’s concerns.
Hess and Davis Highlight Administration’s Record and Priorities
Hess argued that the administration has demonstrated that attention, pointing to what he described as promises delivered since Shapiro visited the same building four years ago.
The commissioner highlighted support for police, firefighters and emergency medical services, along with school breakfast, early childhood education and agricultural investments.
Hess urged attendees to carry that message into the campaign’s final days.
“It’s the fourth quarter and we’re down to the last seconds,” he said. “Are you ready to carry this team across the finish line?”
Davis highlighted the administration’s Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit, education funding and public safety investments. He also outlined priorities he said Democrats could advance with control of the governor’s office and both chambers of the General Assembly.
Those priorities included raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, codifying reproductive rights and advancing Shapiro’s housing action plan.
Davis emphasized that statewide Democratic victories depend on improving the party’s performance in rural counties.
“We don’t win big races because of big cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh,” he said. “We win them because we close the margins in places like Schuylkill County.”
Shapiro Discusses Local Actions and Appeals to Undecided Voters
Shapiro’s remarks combined criticism of national economic policies with examples of actions he said had benefited local families.
He highlighted the repeal of Pennsylvania’s longstanding general prohibition on Sunday hunting, saying the change created more opportunities for families to spend time together. Shapiro signed the repeal into law in July 2025.
The governor also pointed to his administration’s opposition to plans to convert warehouses into immigration detention centers, including a proposed facility in Tremont Township.
“When ICE went and bought those buildings down the road, I went there. I saw it with my own eyes. I got on the phone. I fought back,” Shapiro said.
In July, the administration announced that the Department of Homeland Security had confirmed proposed facilities in Schuylkill and Berks counties would not be used as detention centers. State environmental orders restricting infrastructure needed for the conversions remained in place.
Shapiro criticized tariffs and energy costs as part of what he called a “chaos tax,” while urging supporters to approach undecided voters with respect.
“Don’t talk to them with judgment in your voice or in your heart,” he said. “Now’s the time to tell them that we welcome them in our coalition.”
Invoking Benjamin Franklin’s description of the nation as “a republic if you can keep it,” Shapiro told attendees that preserving democratic institutions requires participation from the current generation.
“There’s no generation coming to do this work for us right now,” he said. “It is on us.”
Shapiro also urged supporters to remain hopeful through the campaign’s final days.
“Do not let them take away our spirit of hope and optimism,” he said. “Do not do that.”
Video From the St. Clair Campaign Rally
St. Clair Rally Photo Gallery
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