Lancaster County Democrats selected Manheim Township School Board President Nikki Rivera to replace retiring state Rep. Mike Sturla in the Pennsylvania House 96th District race. (Contributed photo)
Pennsylvania Democrats have selected Manheim Township School Board President Nikki Rivera to run for the Lancaster County state House seat that Rep. Mike Sturla is leaving at the end of his term this year.
Sturla’s unexpected retirement announcement earlier this week set local Democratic officials scrambling ahead of the Democratic National Convention next week and a Thursday state deadline for ballot replacements.
Sturla cited a desire to spend more time with his wife and young grandchildren as the impetus for his decision to retire after 34 years representing part of Lancaster city and its suburbs.
Sturla also told the Capital-Star this week that he felt it was the right time to leave the legislature after helping to lead education reform advocates and lawmakers in establishing a framework for school funding equity in this year’s budget.
Rivera, who was first elected as a school director in 2016, told the Capital-Star this week she has been considering running for the House since last year. She approached Sturla and told him that she was interested in running for his 96th Legislative District seat when he was ready to retire.
Lancaster County Democratic Committee Chairperson Tom O’Brien said that given the tight schedule, the party gave residents of the district who were interested in the nomination until Wednesday to submit resumes and statements. Five people expressed interest but only Rivera formally applied. The committee unanimously selected her and the state Democratic Party executive committee approved her nomination Thursday, O’Brien said.
Rivera will face Republican Eric Beezer, who is running on a platform of legalizing recreational cannabis use. Beezer, who owns a Lancaster County business selling hemp-derived CBD products, is running without his party’s endorsement and could not be reached Friday. Beezer was registered as a Democrat as recently as December.
Rivera is a Spanish teacher at Warwick High School in Lititz. Rivera said her nearly 30 years of experience as a teacher has led her to understand the needs of people and the importance of ensuring those needs are met. Serving in the state Legislature would allow her to continue that work on a broader scale, she said.
Continuing Sturla’s work among champions of fair education funding would be among her priorities, Rivera told the Capital-Star.
Rivera said she also wants to work on protecting women’s reproductive rights and addressing the state’s housing problems, both for people who lack resources and those who have the means to buy or rent but struggle to find appropriate homes close to their jobs.
O’Brien said he expects the Democratic Party to easily transition its support for Sturla to Rivera, who is well-liked by her community. He said there’s little concern that Beezer could win the seat.
Democrats in the state House have a one-seat majority they hope to maintain or expand in November, while Republicans are strategically targeting Democratic House members.
“They have a strategically flawed candidate who shouldn’t even be running for office,” O’Brien said. “Forgetting all the issues and forgetting that we think she’s right on all the issues, she is well liked and she is going to get a lot of independent votes and she is going to get a lot of Republican votes and she is going to clean this guy’s clock.”
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