Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Mailers decried by a bipartisan coalition of Pennsylvania officials as antisemitic have been circulating to voters just days ahead of a competitive Democratic primary for a state Senate district in suburban Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
The Protecting Our Democracy PAC, which received $25,000 from a pro-skill games PAC <\/b>and is chaired by the owner of Capital Vending, a supplier of coin-operated games in Pennsylvania, sent out at least three different mailers in recent weeks targeting Bradley Merkl-Gump, a teacher and Pennridge School Board member who is facing Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley in Tuesday\u2019s <\/b>16th District Democratic primary. <\/p>\n
The winner will face Republican incumbent State Sen. Jarrett Coleman in November as Democrats<\/a> contend to flip the state Senate blue.<\/p>\n In an earlier mailer, the PAC, which was formed last month, described Merkl-Gump as a <\/b>\u201cParty Boss Puppet,\u201d referring to a straw poll Bucks County<\/a> Democrats held earlier this year, which Merkl-Gump won<\/a>. <\/p>\n But a new ad getting more attention calls the Pennridge School Board member the \u201chand-picked candidate of the corporate, Israel-first Democratic party boss and insiders.\u201d <\/p>\n The <\/b>mailer shows a photo of Merkl-Gump flanked by images of U.S. Sen. John Fetterman<\/a> (D., Pa), a staunch supporter of Israel, and Bucks County Democratic Chair state Sen. Steven J. Santarsiero, who is Jewish and is supporting Merkl-Gump\u2019s campaign. The photo of Santarsiero features an Israeli flag symbol. Santarsiero posted a similar photo to his Facebook account in 2023.<\/p>\n An additional set of mailers, paid for by Protecting Our Democracy with similar messaging, were provided to The Inquirer Friday.<\/p>\n I released the following statement with@SenJudySchwank<\/a>, as cochairs of the PA Legislative Jewish Caucus, in reference to the materials arriving in folks’ mailboxes in the Lehigh Valley pic.twitter.com\/A6uH61vHOK<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 State Rep. Dan Frankel (@RepDanFrankel) May 14, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a trope that\u2019s been used by others in the past to suggest that Jews put Israel before the United States. That we\u2019re not loyal Americans, that we\u2019re not loyal Pennsylvanians, that we\u2019re not loyal to our communities, that we have some outside loyalty that transcends all of those things, and that is in its most bare form, antisemitic,\u201d Santarsiero said Thursday. <\/p>\n Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday<\/a>, a Republican, also joined Democrats in condemning the ad as antisemitic, saying in a statement<\/a>, \u201cIts language and use of an Israeli flag that targeted a Jewish state senator inappropriately suggests disloyalty to America.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is the type of antisemitic action and rhetoric that must be called out, condemned, and shunned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The PAC\u2019s exact thinking behind this mailer remains unclear \u2014 both Chair Joseph Calla and Treasurer Douglas Rickards did not respond to requests for comment \u2014 but Israel and the country\u2019s war in Gaza has emerged as a flashpoint in this year\u2019s election cycle elsewhere in the Philadelphia<\/a> region and across the country. <\/p>\n Santarsiero introduced a bipartisan bill in 2024<\/a> that would financially punish Pennsylvania universities if, for political reasons, they boycott or divest from Israel. But legislation supporting Israel, <\/b>he said Thursday, does not indicate he puts the country before the United States or his communities. <\/p>\n Rhetoric like that used in the mailer, said <\/b>Jason Holtzman, chief of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, <\/b>has become more prevalent in political campaigns. <\/p>\n \u201cDressing it up in political attack ad language does not make it any less offensive or dangerous,\u201d Holtzman said. \u201cIt is completely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n Brendan Welch, Merkl-Gump\u2019s campaign spokesperson, said in a statement that the candidate was focused on issues important to voters, such as \u201caffordability, healthcare access, and quality education.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sickening,\u201d Welch added, \u201cthat a mysterious PAC is running a hateful campaign with antisemitic rhetoric, trying to distract voters and stoke prejudices. We insist that these types of attacks stop right now.\u201d<\/p>\n The attack ad positions Merkl-Gump\u2019s opponent, Pinsley, as \u201cThe ONLY true Democrat in the race\u2026 with a record to prove it!\u201d The mailer goes on to list the controller\u2019s accomplishments and pillars of his campaign.<\/p>\n Pinsley, who is also Jewish, said Thursday that he has \u201cnot seen anything in this mailer that I would personally label antisemitic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPeople can disagree strongly over Israeli government policy or legislation related to speech on college campuses without that automatically being antisemitism,\u201d Pinsley said. \u201cWe should be careful and responsible with that term. <\/p>\n \u201cCriticizing the actions of a government is not the same thing as attacking Jewish people. We should be able to have discussions about policy and human rights without assuming hatred, while also being clear that actual antisemitism is real and unacceptable,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n He added that \u201cbig money groups\u201d pouring outside resources and divisive rhetoric into elections is one of the biggest problems in politics. <\/p>\n Coleman, the GOP state senator, did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Though the Pa. Department of State does not yet have a campaign filing from Protecting Our Democracy, financial reports from Operators for Skill PAC, which is associated with skill games manufacturer Pace-O-Matic, donated $25,000 to the committee earlier this month. <\/p>\n Skill games have been the subject of debate among Pa. lawmakers.<\/a><\/p>\n Calla, of Mechanicsburg, and the owner of Capital Vending, <\/b>made an $80,000 contribution in April to the Operators for Skill PAC. The PAC\u2019s campaign finance reports also show that Calla is the creditor for a $50,000 loan from November to the committee. <\/p>\n Operators for Skill have donated to various Pennsylvania officials \u2014 both Republicans and Democrats<\/a> \u2014 over the years. Campaign finance reports show the PAC donated $300,000 in support of Coleman through the \u201cPatriots for Coleman\u201d committee in January and gave another $5,000 in March. <\/p>\n Rickards is the treasurer of the Operators for Skill PAC, and has also served in that role for various GOP political committees, including the 2024 campaign committee for Attorney General Sunday, who denounced the 16th District mailer.<\/p>\n\n