Delaware County’s newest state legislator had baptism by fire Tuesday. Within three hours of being installed as representative for the 161st legislative district, Democrat Leanne Krueger-Braneky was on the House floor debating issues surrounding the long-overdue state budget.

By 6:30 p.m. she already had voted on 9 of 22 line items vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf that the Republican-dominated House was attempting to override.

“The Republicans are attempting to override the governor’s budget veto, line by line, which is unconstitutional according to the Legislative Research Bureau,” said Krueger-Braneky during a break Tuesday evening. “Everyone agrees that we need a budget but we need one that works for the people.”

Last week Republican legislators staged a press conference in Delaware County asking Wolf to release essential human service funds while budget negotiations continue, a maneuver that the governor’s spokesman dismissed as “political theater.”

“Right now I am just seeing smoke and mirrors,” Krueger-Braneky maintained about four hours after taking her seat on the House floor.

The 38-year-old was sworn in as the state representative for Delaware County’s 161st district around 11:45 a.m. Tuesday by Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Victor P. Stabile on the floor of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives at the state Capitol in Harrisburg. Four other new representatives also took the oath of office including Democrat Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia, who replaced state Rep. Ron Waters, D-191. Waters, whose district included Darby and Yeadon, resigned in June after pleading guilty to public corruption charges.

Krueger-Braneky scored 48.9 percent of the vote with 4,791 votes over Republican Paul Mullen of Aston who earned 41.6 percent of the vote with 4,268 votes in a special Aug. 4 election to replace Republican Joe Hackett of Ridley Township. Write-in tea party candidate Lisa Esler of Aston took 9.5 percent of the vote with more than 900 votes. Hackett announced April 2 he was resigning April 30 to return to law enforcement after beating Krueger-Braneky last November by 2,700 votes to win a third term.

Krueger-Braneky was director of strategy and development for the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies until April 21 when she resigned to take office. She lives in Swarthmore with her husband, the Rev. David Braneky, an American Baptist pastor, and their 3-year-old son Wendell, who held the Bible while she took the oath of office. She was also joined by her mother and father, Lorraine and Walt Krueger, her in-laws, Frieda and Stephen Braneky, Swarthmore Mayor Tim Kearney, Brookhaven Councilwoman Janice Sawicki and Delaware County Democratic Party Vice Chair Beth Alois. Also in attendance was Swarthmore attorney Bryan Lentz, a Democrat who held Krueger-Braneky’s post from 2006 until 2010 after unseating longtime Republican incumbent Tom Gannon. Lentz left the state Legislature when he ran unsuccessfully for the 7th District seat of the U.S. House of Representatives against Republican Patrick Meehan.

A total of 50 of Krueger-Braneky’s supporters and volunteers took a bus to Harrisburg to witness her installation after which they were treated to a luncheon and tour of the state Capitol before Krueger-Braneky set to work around 2:30 p.m. Immediately after she took the oath of office. Krueger-Braneky met with members of the Public Citizens for Children and Youth who were rallying on the state Capitol rotunda steps in support of Wolf’s proposed $410 million increase for basic education funding.

“Education was my No. 1 issue. I believe we need a budget that works for schools, kids and parents,” said Krueger-Braneky. “It’s a big responsibility we’ve got here in the Legislature.”

Delaware County Daily Times – August 25, 2015 – Read article online