By Josh Wengler

MILFORD — With a spate of recent Republican entries into the 10th District US Congressional race, the primary election is beginning to shape up on the GOP side.

Tom Marino, former Lycoming County District Attorney and United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced his entry into the race last week, joining at least four others already vying for the nomination, including one from Pike  and another from Wayne County.

While the race is rife with contenders claiming to be the one who will bring a change in the way Washington works for our district, Marino is the likely favorite for the GOP nod, having approached the national Republican Party for their approval before entering the race, and having held high-level public office. However, he is not a shoe-in for the nomination.

Marino may be facing stiff opposition in the form of Malcolm Derk, a 27-year-old Snyder County Commissioner who has already received several crucial endorsements.

State Senator John Gordner (R-27), State Representative Merle Phillips (R-108), and State Representative Russ Fairchild (R-85) have all come out recently to throw their weight behind Derk, of Freeburg, who announced his bid in December. He has been Vice-Chairman of the Snyder County Board of Commissioners since 2007 and currently serves as the Public Relations Co-Chair of the Snyder County Republican Committee.

Other early players in the race include former Luzerne County chiropractor David Madeira, Lehman Township resident Ted Yale, and Lake Ariel accountant Steven Solieri.

Solieri is marketing himself as a conservative non-politician, a financial expert who says he “Just wants to lend my skills at a time when they are sorely needed in the financial area in this country.” With a doctoral degree in the field, Solieri has done extensive research into Chris Carney’s House record, and says the bills the Congressman has voted for, including the hot-button health care bill, the stimulus and others, are “a slap in the face” to citizens of the 10th district. He says he has a prescription for the district and the country cut from the Ronald Reagan fiscal cloth: a program of business incentives and tax cuts designed to alleviate the tax load from small businesses and individuals, which he says will stimulate the economy and create jobs.

Yale, another newcomer to the political scene, is optimistic but knows he is a long shot candidate. He has never held public office, but thinks his ambition will make up for the lack of experience.

“I know I am the underdog here,” Yale said in a recent press release, “The Democratic establishment will be throwing millions of dollars at this campaign. The only way to win will be to connect with voters one-on-one and at a community level. Pennsylvania voters aren’t stupid.  Carney got lucky in the past two elections, but when people see an opportunity to send a genuine conservative who really cares about them and their families to represent them in Washington, they’ll take it.  I know I would.”

Yale may have an insurmountable problem, though, as a search of voter records in Lehman Township notes that a Ted Yale, who shares the same April birthday Yale claims for his own on his Facebook page, is only 23 years old; the Constitution requires that congressmen be 25 years old. Yale could not be reached for comment on the age issue by press time.

Madeira was once a chiropractor, but gave up cracking backs after 20 years to take up politics. He ran unsuccessfully against Lisa Baker for her Senate seat in 2006, and nearly ran against Carney in 2008, but instead chose to take a top position in the doomed Hackett campaign against the incumbent. According to his blog ‘Could we please have our country back now?’, Madeira spent the last week calling Republican leaders across the district asking for their support. “I’ve been very encouraged by their responses and will be announcing endorsements as the weeks go by,” He posts. “In the coming weeks I’ll also be laying out the policies that I think will pull us back from the brink the current Congress is trying to rush us over.”

For his part, the incumbent is focused on the task at hand. “There will be plenty of time for politics down the road,” Carney spokesman Josh Drobnyk said in a prepared statement. “Right now, Congressman Carney is concentrating on creating jobs in our region and listening to the people from all 14 counties. He is fighting for tax cuts for small businesses and the middle class and working to get area projects the funding they so badly need. Congressman Carney is proud of his bipartisan record in Congress and was flattered to have recently been approached by Sen. John McCain and other Republican leaders about switching parties. He believes, however, that his job is not about a political party. It is about doing the right thing every day for the people he represents.”

The GOP candidates in the 10th District Congressional race and other races will be at the Riverview Inn in Matamoras February 16 for the annual Lincoln Day Dinner at 6 p.m.

The 10th Congressional District includes all of Bradford, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Union, Wayne and Wyoming Counties as well as parts of Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming and Tioga.