Blair Co. Tea Party to Hold Forum for 80th District Candidates

The Blair County Tea Party will host a forum for candidates vying for the 80th District’s state representative seat at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 26, at the Bavarian Hall in Altoona (112 South 13th Street). Democrat Kimberly Capenos and Republican Trish Haight have both confirmed they’ll attend. Incumbent Rep. Jim Gregory was invited, but has said he is unable to attend due to his obligations in Harrisburg. The BCTP offered Rep. Gregory a different date to accommodate his schedule, but no reply was forthcoming.

“The BCTP has a track record of holding nonpartisan, informative candidate events for local elections,” said BCTP Vice-President Jason Gardner. “We feel Rep. Gregory should make every effort to attend so voters have clear information about the choice they are making.”

Before he was elected, Gregory participated in a BCTP candidate forum with a bipartisan group of candidates for the 80th and 79th Districts in March 2018. The BCTP also held bipartisan candidate events for the 13th Congressional District in April 2018, the 30th State Senate District in October 2018, and the Blair County commissioners seats in October 2019.

Capenos previously ran for Tyrone Borough Council in 2021 and works as an advocate for children with special needs. Haight is founder of the pro-life charity Love Them Both and was previously the president of Blair County Republican Women.

The candidates will field questions both from the public and the BCTP board. Each candidate will be given equal time to respond and given time at the end for a closing statement.

Questions must be submitted prior to April 23 and will be selected by the board to cover a variety of topics within the available time. Those who would like to submit a question, please make it clear and succinct. Questions can be sent to [email protected].

The 80th District encompasses most of Blair County outside of Altoona. Gregory defeated Democrat Laura Burke to win the seat in 2018 and ran unopposed in 2020.

This event is free and open to the public.