The numbers are certainly working against Nancy Mannion.
The Democratic candidate for the 11th Congressional District is opposing a five-term Republican incumbent in Lloyd Smucker who is in line to become the chair of the House Budget Committee, should the GOP maintain its majority in the chamber.
The District, comprised of Lancaster and York counties, is reliably red as 52% of registered voters signed up as Republicans, compared to 29.5% that lined up with her party.
Smucker has raised more than $1.88 million in this election cycle, while Mannion has brought in just under $325,000.
Yet, that has not diminished her resolve that change is necessary in Washington and she can be part of that. And that it says something that Gov. Josh Shapiro would come to Lancaster to stump alongside her.
“It means a lot to have the support of the highest officer in the state and to say that he has confidence in me,” she said. “I see myself as an ally to the governor and to the state of Pennsylvania, and that’s what I intend to do.”
Although the 11th District is not one that national Democrats have tied their wagon to, Mannion says that she has made headway with voters over the same issues as those candidates in PA-01, PA-07, PA-08, and PA-10.
“Everybody’s feeling the same pinch at the gas pump, whether it is a Democrat or Republican,” said Mannion. “Everybody’s paying the same high price for gasoline. You don’t get a discount because you’re a Republican. You don’t get a discount at the grocery store, and so it’s not been difficult to make the case that affordability is really what’s on everybody’s mind.
“It’s tied to the policies and actions of the president, creating a war where we didn’t need to start a war with unintended consequences around the Strait of Hormuz, choking fuel supply, fertilizer supply for the farmers, and grocery costs rising because of all of that. So, people get it; they connect the dots, and they’re doing it on their own.”
Smucker has closely aligned himself to the policies of President Donald Trump and Shapiro and Mannion see that as a plus in her quest to unseat the incumbent.
“510,000 Pennsylvanians are losing healthcare and another 143,000 are losing access to SNAP,” said Shapiro. “You know who voted for it? Your congressman, Smucker. He knew that 20,000 people here in Lancaster County, his constituents, were going to lose healthcare just to give a tax cut to the richest at the very top. That’s downright cruel. That’s why we need Nancy Mannion in our caucus.”
“I think our current congressman has failed the constituents of this district by not standing up and protesting the things that are harming them,” she said. The retired nurse and healthcare executive said she hears from people constantly about their healthcare problems.
“So people are worried. They want to know that they can see a doctor when they can’t,” Mannion continued. “They can’t even afford basic healthcare insurance, and they’re doing without. My background is in emergency nursing, so I know what happens when people can’t afford their medicine, and they start to get really sick with their disease, and they come to the hospital in crisis, get through a hospitalization if they’re lucky, and they don’t die, and then leave the hospital with hundreds of 1000s of medical and medical bills, and that’s wrong.
“It doesn’t have to be this way. We can create a better pathway. We can spend the money to build a healthcare system that everybody can access, and it will be better and more efficient than what we’re doing right now.”
Mannion has been criticized by her opponent about her personal bankruptcy, as Smucker says that she should not be trusted with the federal budget. While she understands that your life becomes public when you become a candidate, it is not something that she has ever tried to hide and has become stronger because of it.
“In that experience, I have become stronger, more capable, and it makes me very compassionate to people who are today facing similar situations because of circumstances outside their own control,” said Mannion. “I’ve had a number of people write me that they have been through divorce or they’ve had a business failure, and they stand with me and that it wasn’t something that would disqualify me.”
In fact, she says in her travels, the pronouncement by Smucker has not had his desired result.
“It made me all the more capable of being in a position as congresswoman and being responsible for the finances of the United States. I think it’s backfired quite a bit on him.”
Mannion says that Congress has abdicated its responsibility as a check on presidential powers and that her opponent has played a large role in that.
“It’s time to put some reins and control and guardrails around democracy. We need to control the executive branch. Congress has, by and large, not been doing that. They’ve rolled over and said whatever the president wants to do is fine. And I say, Congress has a constitutional job. If the person in the seat doesn’t want to do that job, they should step aside and let someone in who will do it.”
