In Delco, a unexpected three-way race for House seat

Delaware County Republican leaders passed over Lisa Esler as a candidate in the 161st state House District for someone they believed could better maintain the party's tight control over the seat.

But the jilted Republican decided to run anyway - making their goal a little more complicated.

A special election for the seat is Tuesday, and 45,000 district voters find themselves with more options than expected. Paul Mullen, the GOP's chosen nominee, must fend off not only Democrat Leanne Krueger-Braneky on the left but Esler, who is mounting a write-in campaign to the right of Mullen.

The summer election, prompted when incumbent Joe Hackett abruptly resigned this spring, isn't likely to draw throngs to the polls.

The election's outcome could have implications for the county's political landscape. In 2013, Republicans lost their long-held dominance among registered voters. The GOP now holds five House seats in the county; Democrats have four.

But in the 161st, which includes municipalities such as Aston, Ridley, and Swarthmore, Republicans have the edge.

Krueger-Braneky, 38, a Swarthmore businesswoman, is running on momentum. She lost to Hackett in November by 2,700 votes.

As she did last year, she is advocating property-tax relief, support for small businesses, and better education funding. She also supports Gov. Wolf's budget proposal, which Republican leaders in Harrisburg have staunchly opposed, leading to a stalemate.

"We have a system that is skewed away from supporting local businesses and local communities and toward supporting multinational corporations that make big political contributions in Harrisburg," she said.

Esler, a Penn-Delco school board member, said she is running because voters "are ready for a change, ready to be done with the GOP machine."

She has the backing of the Citizens' Alliance of Pennsylvania, the political group that backed State Sen. Scott Wagner, who won a 2014 special election for his York County seat.

Esler runs on the far right, and is opposed to several pillars of Wolf's budget proposal - increases in sales and income taxes, and a new tax on extracted natural gas.

In between the two candidates - by policies alone - sits Mullen, the head of Delaware County AFL-CIO. For years, he said, he has been heavily involved in the GOP.

Many of Mullen's policies, however, trend left. The Aston resident supports a tax on extracted natural gas to boost education funding and is hesitant to privatize liquor - a priority of some Republicans in Harrisburg.

Still, he said, he's as loyal to the party as ever.

"I'm right there with [Republicans] on just about all the other issues," he said. "The person I want to be is someone who listens to both sides."

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