Pennsylvania State Senate District 40

Brown

Sen. Rosemary Brown was first elected to that post in 2022, after serving since 2010 in the house of representatives. Brown said she decided to run for re-election “to continue the commonsense, pragmatic approach to leadership that has defined my time in public service.”

Brown divides her legislative accomplishments into two buckets: policy accomplishments, and personal accomplishments. On the policy side, she highlights her efforts to assist property taxpayers, saying she fought to eliminate property tax statewide (though that effort was unsuccessful) as well as to increase state educational funding, which translates directly into property tax relief.

“From the 2020-21 through the 2026-27 state budgets, Pennsylvania increased K-12 public school funding by $5.1 billion, because increasing the state’s share of education funding is important not only for supporting our students and teachers, but also for reducing the financial burden on local property taxpayers,” she said. 

Additionally, she supports increased regulation for cyber charter schools, and has advanced cyber charter legislation including stronger ethics and financial disclosure requirements, $100 million in reimbursements to school districts and around $190 million in changes to the special education funding formula. “While I believe in school choice, the funding system must be fair and sustainable for taxpayers and traditional public schools,” she said. 

Brown mentioned Paul Miller Jr.’s Law and Greg Moyer’s Law as more personal accomplishments. Paul Miller Jr. died when a distracted tractor-trailer driver hit his vehicle; Brown got legislation passed to require hands-free cell phone technology while driving. Greg Moyer died following a sudden cardiac arrest at a high school basketball game, where there was not an AED on site; Brown passed legislation to require AEDs be available at school athletic events. 

“In both of these cases, I worked closely with mothers who experienced the unimaginable loss of a child. Together, we turned their tragedies into meaningful legislative action aimed at preventing other families from experiencing the same heartache,” she said. 

Brown said she has been a “leading voice” on data centers, having called for a statewide moratorium earlier this year. She says she has spoken with hundreds of residents and created a Residents First legislative package, restricting data centers to industrially zoned areas, mandating independent water studies and mandating utility “will-serve” letters, among other provisions. “I do not support economic development at the expense of our residents or their quality of life. I remain committed to putting residents first, prioritizing local control and ensuring that decisions today do not create unnecessary costs or consequences for our communities in the future,” she said. 

Brown additionally highlighted a range of initiatives that could help with PA residents’ affordability concerns, saying, “I believe we must approach affordability from several directions rather than expecting one policy to solve everything.” She highlighted efforts to reduce energy and transportation costs, including efforts to reduce Pennsylvania’s gas tax as well as efforts to expand access to affordable housing, eliminate unnecessary vehicle emissions testing requirements and reduce college costs, among other measures. 

“Affordability is one of the most pressing concerns facing Pennsylvania families, particularly in rural communities where residents often travel longer distances for work, health care and everyday necessities,” she said. “I consistently hear concerns about the rising costs of groceries, housing, utilities and gasoline, and I believe Harrisburg must do more to provide meaningful relief.”

Wrightston

Brian Wrightston was raised in Jessup, to a family that worked in local unions in the mines and a sheet metal shop. 

In his professional career, Wrightston has worked in telecommunications, technology, emergency management, public safety, education and economic development. In addition to working in the private sector, Wrightston has worked in the Lackawanna County Government, and served as the director of emergency services for the American Red Cross. Currently, he owns and operates Fire Tower Communications, managing communications infrastructure and broadband expansion. 

According to his website, “Brian Wrightson is running for State Senate because he believes life has become too expensive for too many people, and because too many politicians are disconnected from the realities working families face.”

“He believes the biggest challenges facing District 40—affordability, health care access, transportation, utilities, housing, clean energy, and broadband—are all connected. When one part fails, the whole community feels it. His approach is practical and rooted in listening,” it reads. 

Wrightston says he supports a stop on new, large-scale data center development in Northeast Pennsylvania. 

“Residents are being told they must sacrifice thousands of acres of land, enormous amounts of electricity, and millions of gallons of water in the name of ‘progress.’ But who is really benefiting?” reads a statement on his website.

“The truth is that many of these projects create relatively few permanent jobs while permanently transforming our communities. Forests are cleared. Farmland disappears. Rural landscapes become industrial zones. Residents are left to deal with the consequences while developers and investors collect the profits,” it reads.