PO Box 5128
Harrisburg, PA 17110

PRESS RELEASE

On Thursday, February 16, 2012, the First for PA Senate campaign filed the necessary paperwork to run for the 15th senate district, presently represented by retiring state senator Jeff Piccola.

Petitions with about 850 Republican signatures were submitted, far above the 500 signature requirement.

"These signatures are from registered Republican voters living across the senate district who want Josh to be on the ballot. Our volunteers worked hard over a short time, a full week shorter than that enjoyed by our competitors, to gather these signatures by going door-to-door and meeting citizens, introducing them to Josh First, and explaining why Josh is going to be replacing Senator Piccola as Dauphin County’s new senator on April 24th," said Isaiah Cohen, of Susquehanna Township, the campaign’s volunteer coordinator, referring to the April primary election day, which comes early this year.

The campaign began abruptly on January 26th, after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected the 2011 redistricting maps and singled out the 15th Senate District as being an especially egregious example of partisan over-reaching in implementing the Constitutionally required reapportionment of political representation across the nation.

"We went from standing at stock- still zero, looking the other way down the street, so to speak, to all-out, full-bore, 100 miles-per-hour political campaign mode in 24 hours," says First, a 47-year-old small business owner from Harrisburg. "Only with super-dedicated volunteers did we get up and running in such short notice."

"The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision caught everyone by surprise. Although I had previously expected to run for this senate seat, under the 2011 map I found myself living outside the district. Neither I nor any of the volunteers from our 2010 congressional race were ready when the court shifted the districts back to the 2001 lines. We hit the ground running fast, and I am incredibly proud of our volunteers for getting us across this first critical goal line," says First.

In 2010, First garnered a whopping 24% of the Republican vote in a four-way primary race while spending $11,000 (a relatively small amount by election standards and also compared to what his opponents spent) and employing a large, highly motivated volunteer force across the then-Pennsylvania 17th Congressional District. First won 48% of the vote in Dauphin County and 50% of the vote in Perry County in that race, against more experienced opponents who spent far more money.

Part of the reason for Josh First’s success in 2010 is that he is a product of Central Pennsylvania farm country, State College, and Harrisburg, and he fits the Central Pennsylvania mold to a "T." Voters here can relate to him.

He is a lifelong hunter, fisherman, and outdoorsman, a long-time NRA member, a conservationist with a stellar track record for conserving open land, and a small business owner. He has worked for the Federal government in Washington, DC, for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources in Harrisburg in the Tom Ridge Administration, as well as for two land conservation groups, the Conservation Fund and the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy. First is a Penn State (Main Campus) graduate, and is the founder of Appalachian Land & Conservation Services, a boutique land investment and consulting business he started in 2004. He drives a ten-year-old pickup truck and likes being a simple family man. He is married to Vivian, and they have three children.

"God and guns, that’s me and I am proud of it," says First.

"I am also proud of my work record and of all of the significant accomplishments I have achieved over the course of my career, including protecting one of the last private parcels of Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, leading the effort to protect the Flight 93 crash site with the National Park Service, and leading the effort to protect the Susquehanna River’s land corridor from Harrisburg south to Conowingo," he says.

Appalachian Land & Conservation Services has clients in the timber, natural gas, road construction, mining, real estate development, and land conservation sectors.

"We expect to win this senate race by building on our 2010 election success, and indeed, we are now encountering many voters who remember meeting me and who voted for me in 2010," says First. "It is highly encouraging to meet voters who appreciate my authenticity and who say they will vote for me again," he said.

However, First and his supporters also acknowledge that his campaign is off to a late start, beginning as a bare-bones, grass-roots effort. Political campaigns typically require months or years of preparation, which First’s campaign did not get.

"We are the underdog, no question about it, but our team has also proven that we can win this race, we should win this race, if we are given a fighting chance," says Gabriel Bartash, a veteran Republican volunteer from Middle Paxton Township and long-time supporter of First. "People here like Josh when they meet him, because they see that he is a real person, a working person, not artificial, not the product of a political party machine or of focus groups. Josh is very much a Central Pennsylvania guy."

First is a long-time Republican campaign volunteer, having served on the 2000 and 2006 Rick Santorum for Senate campaigns, the 2004 and 2008 Jeff Piccola for Senate campaigns, among many others, and served on the Tom Corbett for Governor Campaign Energy and Environment Committee as well as the Corbett Administration Transition Team in 2010 – 2011.

First has vowed to not take a state pension if he is elected, nor will he take a state car, state health care insurance, nor per diem payments.

"Any benefits beyond paying me for my part-time work in the state senate is a mis-appropriation of taxpayer money," says First, "and I will not take those benefits. Mister and Missus Pennsylvania – that is your money. It belongs to you. You earned it, you should keep it, and you should spend it the way you want, not give it to the government," First says.

First is running on his remarkable record and strong resume, as well as on a return to the traditional American values that make our nation great.

"Our nation has lost its way, and we need a renaissance," says First. "We must return to our beginnings, to a simpler, leaner, more humble way of running government. If elected, I will lead the way to that simplicity here in Central Pennsylvania."

The First for PA Senate campaign is welcoming volunteers as well as donations of any amount, either by check or through the website www.joshfirst.com. The campaign can be reached at 717 232-8335, or by email at info@joshfirst.com.

"Naturally, our campaign applauds the federal court’s decision, and we enjoy knowing that our efforts to get on the ballot and run in the primary race are not in vain," said state senate candidate Josh First.

First lives in Harrisburg and is the only SD-15 Republican candidate from the city.

"Furthermore, if the legislature develops a new map that once again excludes Harrisburg from the 15th senate district, and thereby mysteriously happens to also eliminate the strongest candidate from the district, then we are prepared to litigate.  We just won’t tolerate any more political shenanigans, and Lord knows with the Dauphin County Republican Committee endorsement process alone we’ve already seen a lifetime’s worth of shenanigans," said First.

First is the only candidate for the SD-15 seat who says he will not take a pension or state health care package.

First for Senate
PO Box 5128
Harrisburg, PA 17110

February 8, 2012

Hon. Mr. Jeff Haste, Chairman
Dauphin County Republican Committee
2255 Paxton Church Road
Harrisburg, PA 17110

Dear Jeff,

It pains me to write this, but it must be said.

The December 2011 endorsement by the DCRC of a candidate for the recently redistricted senate district no longer stands. That endorsement is null and void as a result of two court decisions.

Both the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (two weeks ago) and a Federal Court (today) have rejected the mangled mess that was presented as redistricting, with the 15th Senate District specifically cited as an egregious example. Clearly those of us in the 2001 version of the 15th Pennsylvania Senate District will be in that district for some time to come, probably a year, or more. My candidacy for that senate seat is well known, and we have collected far more ballot petition signatures than are necessary to be certified to the primary ballot next week.

Thus, the endorsement of immediate DCRC past-chairman John McNally does not stand, and the expenditure of DCRC money on his campaign is both unethical and illegal. It is unethical because I have not been considered for the same endorsement in the actual district, and illegal because that district no longer exists.

I request that DCRC immediately cease the expenditure of party money on the McNally campaign. Additionally, I am sending a similar letter to the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee, which funded the robo-calls last week, inviting Republicans to McNally headquarters. State Republican Party money is also off limits.

If a lawsuit is necessary to enforce this, I will pursue it. I also expect to be invited to any new endorsement meeting, where I will speak against party endorsements in the primary race, and where I will ask John McNally to reject any endorsement.

Using Republican Party money to promote one Republican candidate over another in a primary race is destructive and wasteful. Actually, it is outrageous and corrupt. That money must be used to defeat President Obama in the fall. Republican donors and voters deserve better than this. The Republican Party must stay out of primary races. Let the people choose without the party machine coloring their choices.

I look forward to your response, to info@joshfirst.com or my cell, which you have. Thank you.

Respectfully,

Josh First
Candidate

The Pennsylvania 15th Senate District is a beautiful place, really the heartland of America. It also includes Harrisburg, the state capital and one of the major Underground Railroad thruways, with one of the nation’s most majestic public edifices, the capitol building.
It is an honor to declare my candidacy for the 15th Senate District.
Please let me know if you can volunteer to circulate petitions, which are due by February 15th.

Email: info@joshfirst.com, or call 717 232-8335.

Thank you!

–Josh

Josh First