Pennsylvania Democrats have selected Manheim Township School Board Chairwoman Nikki Rivera as their candidate for the Lancaster County House of Representatives seat that Rep. Mike Sturla is vacating at the end of his term this year.
The unexpected news of Sturla’s retirement earlier this week has local Democratic Party officials scrambling ahead to the upcoming Democratic National Convention and Thursday’s filing deadline for replacement candidates.
Sturla cited the desire to spend more time with his wife and adolescent grandchildren as the reason for his decision to retire after 34 years representing parts of Lancaster and its suburbs.
Sturla told the Capital-Star this week that he believes the time is right to leave the Legislature after helping education reform advocates and lawmakers establish a framework for school funding equity in this year’s budget.
Rivera, who was first elected to the school board in 2016, told the Capital-Star this week that she had been considering running for the House of Representatives since last year. She approached Sturla and told him she was interested in running for his 96th Legislative District seat when he was ready to retire.
Lancaster County Democratic Committee Chairman Tom O’Brien said that given the tight schedule, the party gave county residents interested in the nomination until Wednesday to submit resumes and statements of interest. Five people expressed interest, but only Rivera formally applied. The committee unanimously selected her, and the state Democratic Party executive committee approved her nomination Thursday, O’Brien said.
Rivera will face Republican Eric Beezer, who is running on a platform of legalizing recreational marijuana apply. Beezer, who owns a Lancaster County business that sells hemp-derived CBD products, is running without a party endorsement and could not be reached Friday. Beezer was registered as a Democrat as recently as December.
Rivera is a Spanish teacher at Warwick High School in Lititz. Rivera said her nearly 30 years of experience as a teacher have given her an understanding of people’s needs and the importance of ensuring those needs are met. A job in the state Legislature would allow her to continue that work on a larger scale, she said.
As Rivera told the Capital-Star, one of her priorities will be to continue Sturla’s work to advance equitable education funding.
Rivera said she also wants to work to protect women’s reproductive rights and address housing issues in the state, both for those who lack sufficient resources and those who have the means to purchase or rent an apartment but struggle to find adequate housing close to their workplace.
O’Brien said he expects the Democratic Party to easily shift its support for Sturla to Rivera, who is well-liked by her community. He said he has no concerns about Beezer winning the seat.
House Democrats have a one-seat majority they hope to maintain or expand in November, while Republicans are strategically targeting Democratic members of the House.
“They have a strategically flawed candidate who shouldn’t be running for office in the first place,” O’Brien said. “Forgetting all the issues and forgetting that we think she’s right on all the issues, she’s well-liked, she’s going to win a lot of independent votes, she’s going to win a lot of Republican votes, and she’s going to wipe this guy’s clock.”
