58th District candidates preparing for two elections

By Rich Cholodofsky

Trib Total Media

Robert Prah Jr. has been campaigning for more than a year, and he’s got the Army-green notebook to prove it.

Prah, a Democrat from Rostraver Township, will appear on the ballot during a special election March 17 to fill the remaining nine months of the vacant state House seat representing the 58th District, which stretches from Monessen to Jeannette.

In that notebook, Prah keeps information about nearly every voter he has encountered on the campaign trail.

“I carry it around everywhere I go to write down comments and issues, along with names and numbers of everyone I meet with. I want to know who my constituents are after the election to be able to talk about the issues with them,” Prah said.

To do that, Prah will have to defeat two other candidates to fill the vacancy left by the resignation in early January of state Rep. Justin Walsh, who was elected the Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas.

Republican Eric Davanzo and Libertarian Ken Bach, both of South Huntingdon, want to replace Walsh in Harrisburg. None of the candidates are facing opposition in their party’s primaries in April and, as a result, are likely to make up the field of candidates seeking a full two-year term in the November general election.

To read the rest of this story, please see a copy of Monday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.