WATCH VIDEO: Win or lose in November, Rothfus won't represent Johnstown area in 2019
By Dave Sutor, originally published in the Tribune-Democrat
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Keith Rothfus started coming to the Johnstown area in 2011, meeting with voters and working to establish a political base within the local Republican Party.
His hometown of Sewickley, Allegheny County, had been drawn into the 12th Congressional District, not long after he had lost a 2010 U.S. House of Representatives general election race – by less than 4,000 votes – to U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, a Democrat.
There were meet-and-greet gatherings with only a few people at first, countless handshakes and conversations at local events and one-on-one discussions with power brokers and everyday concerned citizens. The process was slow – but steady – and eventually fruitful.
Rothfus, a Republican, unseated U.S. Rep. Mark Critz, a Democrat from Johnstown, in 2012.
He was originally an outsider, following U.S. Reps. John Saylor (1949-1973), John Murtha (1974-2010) and Critz (2010-2013), who all lived in the local area.
But, ever since then, Rothfus has represented the 12th, a six-county territory that includes parts of Somerset and Cambria – specifically Johnstown – which he considers to be “a very special place.”
“What always impressed me was the will of the people who want to make it the best community it can be and the collaboration between people and business, the nonprofit sector and government – all having that common vision,” Rothfus said during an interview inside the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 6.
“Certainly, they have differences of opinion, but they treat each other with respect,” he said. “They appreciate what Johnstown is, what it has to offer.”
But his relationship with the region is about to change.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled that the commonwealth’s congressional district map used in 2012 and subsequent elections was gerrymandered to the point where it “clearly, plainly and palpably” violated the state constitution. The court ruled that the map gave Republicans a disproportionate advantage in which they had won 13 of 18 seats, although statewide vote totals were never that one-sided.
The court redrew the map, which placed Rothfus into the new 17th Congressional District that includes all of Beaver County, about half of Allegheny and a small piece of Butler.
So, as of January 2019, whether he wins re-election or not, Rothfus will no longer represent the Johnstown region in the House.
He will be replaced by the winners of the races between Republican John Joyce and Democrat Brent Ottaway in the new 13th, and U.S. Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-Centre, and Democrat Susan Boser in the 15th.
Robert Gleason, former chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and longtime Westmont resident, said of Rothfus: “He told me that he was disappointed in the redistricting because he really got to like and know the people of Cambria County.”
Reagan influence
The United States was struggling with uncertainty in the 1970s: economic stagnation, the Iran hostage crisis, political division.
President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, took office in January 1980, which, in Rothfus’ opinion, provided a positive light for the nation.
“Your political views are somewhat formed in the era in which you grow up,” said Rothfus, who was born on April 25, 1962. “I think that’s a generational thing. And so we saw President Reagan come in with a new approach to government, to put more power into the American people, as opposed to power in Washington, D.C. Then you saw an economy thrive.”
His interest in Reagan’s presidency was an extension of his childhood spent being exposed to political and social issues.
“I’ve always had an interest in things political,” Rothfus said. “It goes back to probably being a kid. Dinner was at 5:30 or 6, and then you sat down and watched John Chancellor on “NBC Nightly News.” That was the family routine. Throughout the 1970s, that was what I did.”
Rothfus, who holds a law degree from the University of Notre Dame, possesses a world view rooted in his Roman Catholic faith.
“He’s a highly principled person, who relies an awful lot on his religious beliefs as to doing the right things,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, a fellow Republican and Catholic, from Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District. “He’s not a compromise guy from the standpoint where he will compromise his ethics or his principles. Now, will he compromise in order to get legislation passed that’s almost exactly what he wanted, but maybe not quite there? I think he’s able to do those things.”
‘I’m an American’
Rothfus, in his role as a representative, has worked to replace a lost Purple Heart for a dying veteran, visited troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and joined bipartisan delegations to honor veterans at Arlington National Cemetery.
“Those are the moments that really stand out for me,” Rothfus said.
He attended more than 500 events throughout Cambria and Somerset counties from 2013 to 2017, according to records compiled by his Johnstown office.
The congressman’s staff has worked on almost 2,500 constituent service cases in those two counties alone from the start of 2013 until today.
“The constituent work is so important,” Rothfus said. “It tends to be very rewarding when you do that.”
He has made an effort to be cognizant of keeping politics out of the constituent services part of the job.
“I’ve always liked to try to switch paradigms,” Rothfus said. “In fact, very often people will ask me if I’m a Republican or a Democrat, and my first response is ‘I’m an American’ because I think that’s important. I think people need to meet each other where they’re at. I’ll eventually tell folks I’m a Republican, but why start a conversation where you may turn off half of your audience?”
Rothfus has taken an active role in Showcase for Commerce, the city’s annual defense contracting exposition.
“If it’s things like the Showcase, he’s fully engaged – both he and his staff,” said Edward Sheehan Jr., president and chief executive officer of Concurrent Technologies Corp., a local defense contracting company.
“They help drive the speaker selection. He is there personally through many of the events, which I certainly appreciate.”
Rothfus has also helped first responders acquire funding, brought the need for river wall maintenance in the city to the attention of federal officials, and recently played a major role in helping the Cambria County Drug Coalition get a $650,000 federal grant through the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Drug-Free Communities Support Program.
“One of the best things about Congressman Rothfus is he’s been very accessible,” Johnstown Mayor Frank Janakovic said.
“Anytime we’ve needed anything in the city – whether that be advice, support – he’s been there for us. You don’t often see a congressman giving you his personal cell phone number to call him if and when you need something. He’s been a big supporter of Johnstown and not just Johnstown but our entire region here throughout Cambria County.”
Economy on upswing?
Rothfus currently serves on the House Committee on Financial Services and House Committee on the Judiciary. As a member of those committees, he has been able to contribute to policy dealing with local banking through Financial Services and the region’s opioid epidemic through Judiciary.
“You want to be on a committee that’s going to help not only your region, but would fit in with some of your interests,” he said.
Rothfus often receives high marks from conservative organizations, including a 95 percent rating from FreedomWorks, 93 percent from Americans for Prosperity and 81 percent from The Club for Growth, along with conversely low grades from progressive organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Human Rights Campaign.
He has been the primary sponsor of three bills that have been enacted, according to govtrack.us: Federal Savings Association Charter Flexibility Act of 2017, Medicare Beneficiary Preservation of Choice Act of 2015 and a resolution dealing with final arbitration pertaining to consumer finance contracts. The congressman also authored the Satisfying Energy Needs and Saving the Environment Act, which would modify Environmental Protection Agency regulations for power plants that convert coal refuse into energy. The SENSE Act has passed the House, but has never gotten through the Senate.
Rothfus points to passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which he, along with President Donald Trump, supported, as one of the most important actions taken by Congress during his time in office, feeling it has spurred growth.
“I think you have to take a look at the remarkable economic achievements over the last year and a half,” Rothfus said.
“When you had elites across the country saying that the secular stagnation of sub-2 percent growth was the new normal – and so we’re supposed to resign ourselves to fewer jobs and not having wage growth – I’ve always rejected that. I believe that with a growing economy there is more opportunity, more prosperity for everybody. And we’re certainly seeing that right now. The president does like to tweet from time to time. That tends to be covered on the front pages and all the talk shows. But, meanwhile, this is the best economy we’ve had in 20 years.”
Opponents have decried the tax plan as little more than a windfall for the wealthiest people and businesses in the nation.
“When Rothfus supported the tax cut, that was more of the trickle-down hokey-pokey,” said Mary Lou Davis, co-founder of Indivisible Johnstown.
Davis, a Republican turned Democrat, elaborated: “I’m not seeing the jobs expanding here in the area because of that. The data that I have read in regards to the tax cuts is that these companies are taking that money and they’re buying back their shares. The CEOs – people at the top of the food chain – are the ones that are benefitting from it.”
She said “Congressman Rothfus was always in line with Trump and the agenda.”
In 2017, Indivisible Johnstown extended an invitation to Rothfus to attend a town hall meeting, which he declined. “The other thing about the congressman was his lack of meeting with constituents,” Davis said. “And he was notorious for that.”
Ideology and politics
Rothfus won re-election in 2014 and 2016, defeating Erin McClelland, a Democrat from the Alle-Kiski Valley, by margins of 18.6 percentage points and 23.5, respectively.
He carried Cambria by almost 30 percentage points and Somerset by just shy of 50 in 2016.
McClelland came away from those races with a high level of personal respect for Rothfus.
“He was the kindest, most gracious, most respectful, classiest opponent I had in the four years that I ran,” McClelland said. “It was really an honor to run against him.”
But they had deep differences on policy, as many Democrats do with Rothfus.
“I always had to say that he was such a gentleman and a nice man to campaign against, but fundamentally, politically, he ran the Tea Party, RNC (Republican National Committee) playbook to a T,” McClelland said. “He really didn’t demonstrate a lot of his own ideas or his own views. He really stuck to the party line. Everything was repeal it, defund it, shut it down or find somebody to blame it on.”
McClelland added: “He really came from the plutocratic idea that prosperity trickles down from the wealthy, and I was coming from an argument that it trickles out from the working, that the greatest thing that we can do for this country to make it better and to make it stronger is improve and empower our middle class. He wanted to improve and empower the economic welfare of the upper 1 percent. I think that was the argument that we were making. Unfortunately, we made it in a very Republican, quite gerrymandered district.”
In comparison, Rothfus described his approach to economics by saying, “It’s only through a healthy, growing economy that you can do this. You cannot do it through a redistribution economy, which is what the hard left has been proposing and trying to impose on the American people.”
‘Running on results’
Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District race is expected to be one of the most watched contests during this year’s midterms.
It pits two sitting congressmen – Rothfus and U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, a Democrat from the 18th District – against each other in a district that neither one of them currently represents. Lamb gained national attention earlier this year when he won a special election in the 18th, a district that Trump carried by nearly 20 percentage points during his 2016 victory. That race used the pre-Supreme Court ruling map.
The new map drew both Rothfus and Lamb, who lives in Mount Lebanon, Allegheny County, into the 17th.
A recent Monmouth University Poll had Lamb ahead by 12 percentage points. The National Republican Congressional Committee recently pulled an ad buy to support Rothfus in the Pittsburgh market, although America First Action, a Pro-Trump PAC, announced recently that it plans to invest $726,000 supporting him.
McClelland, a resident of the 17th, has supported Lamb and feels he is likely to win the general election.
“We’ll be seeing his tenure come to an end because we have Conor Lamb up by double digits in that race,” McClelland said. “I think he’s no longer going to be a congressman after November 9.”
When assessing his campaign strategy, Rothfus said, “This has been a very productive Congress – the most productive in years. We have the statistics to demonstrate that with the legislation that’s been passed by this House, substantive legislation that’s getting this economy rolling again. So, while there is lot of cacophony and noise out there, there are a lot of results. In November, you’re looking at do you want to run on results or do you want to run on resistance? We’re running on results.”