In the 16th, new PAC targets Merkl-Gump with mailer calling him a 'party boss puppet'
By Charles Malinchak
A new political action committee, chaired by a vending company owner who opposes state Gaming Control Board oversight of skill games, mailed a flier to voters in Bucks and Lehigh counties calling Democrat Bradley Merkl-Gump, a candidate in the 16th Senate District, “a party boss puppet.”
Protecting Our Democracy registered with the state as a PAC April 15 and is chaired by Joseph Calla, owner of Capital Vending Co. in Harrisburg, which supplies coin-operated amusement devices used in skill games. Its first campaign finance report isn’t due until May 8.
Merkl-Gump is a teacher who also serves on the Pennridge School Board. He is running against Lehigh County controller Mark Pinsley in the Democratic primary in the 16th, which includes western Lehigh County and Upper Bucks County.
The seat is held by Republican Jarrett Coleman, who is unchallenged in the May 19 primary election. Coleman is opposed to taxing skill games, saying in a July op-ed that such a levy would financially hurt social clubs that serve veterans.
Coleman’s campaign committee received $395,000 from executives from Pace-O-Matic, the state’s leading provider of skill game terminals, and a political action committee affiliated with the company called Operators for Skill PAC.
Calla is listed as having donated $156,000 to Operators for Skill PAC, according to Transparency USA, an organization that tracks political contributions. Douglas Rickards of Harrisburg is listed as the treasurer for Protecting Our Democracy and Operators for Skill.
Skill games are found in social clubs, bars and convenience stores. More similar to video games than slot machines, they are unregulated and untaxed in Pennsylvania. Like slot machines, however, players can win cash prizes.
It’s unclear why Protecting Our Democracy was created and why Merkl-Gump is being targeted with fliers. Messages left on the phone number listed on the state site as the contact for the PAC were not returned.
In a Jan. 14 opinion piece in PennLive, Calla said he and others in the industry, including Pace-O-Matic, have sought clear, fair regulation and taxation with oversight going to the state Department of Revenue not the state Gaming Control Board.
“We have met with lawmakers, testified at hearings, written letters and explained repeatedly what workable oversight should look like. Unfortunately, some elected officials simply refuse to listen,” he said.
He said the Gaming Control Board “has a long history of opposing the skill game industry. No industry can thrive under a regulator that actively works against it,’’ Calla wrote.
Merkl-Gump said he doesn’t know why people connected to the skill games industry are targeting him. “I have never taken a position on skill games because I am a school board director,’’ he told Armchair Lehigh Valley in an email.
Kevin Foster, who is part of Merkl-Gump’s campaign team, speculated, “Probably because they fund Jarrett Coleman and they believe Bradley is a stronger general election opponent than Pinsley and they’d rather face Mark.’’
Pinsley lost to Coleman in 2022 and lost to his predecessor Republican Pat Browne in 2018.
The district is about 46% Republican, 35% Democrat and 19% independent or third party.
Merkl-Gump was elected to the Pennridge School Board in 2023 when five Democrats won all five seats. The wins followed the board’s decision to hire a consultant linked to a conservative Christian college to rewrite the district’s curriculum. Democrats have since grown their board majority to 8-1.
A spokesman at the Bucks County Republican Committee in Doylestown said they are not at all familiar with or heard of Protecting Our Democracy.
What the mailer says
Protecting Our Democracy’s mailer alleges the Democratic Party is dominated by corporations and that the party tried to have a single primary candidate on the May 19 ballot. PACs do not coordinate their spending with candidates they support.
“From the very beginning, the corporate-dominated Democratic party bosses were trying to deny you a choice and shove their hand-picked candidate down your throat,” it says.
In 16th, two Democrats want chance to face Coleman in November
The flier is referring to a straw poll taken in February by Democratic committees in Bucks and Lehigh on whether it would be best served to have one Democrat on the primary ballot.
At the time, Richlandtown Mayor Wayne Codner and business owner Juan Vargas also were in the race. They later dropped out: Codner because he didn’t see a clear path to victory, and Vargas due to time constraints involved in running.
Lehigh County Democratic Committee chairperson Lori McFarland previously said the poll was conducted more to get a feel for how the electorate was leaning. She also said a one-person primary was a means of conserving money for the November election. Patriots for Coleman — Coleman’s campaign committee — started the year with $853,429 in the bank.
The four candidates balked at the idea and continued to collect signatures on their nomination petitions. She said she was unfamiliar with the mailer.
The mailer also takes issue with Merkl-Gump’s endorsement by Bucks state Sen. Steve Santarsiero, accusing him of trying to push the other candidates out of the race. “Sounds like something Donald Trump would do,” the flier says. Santarsiero could not be reached for comment.
It’s not unusual for elected officials to back candidates or give donations from their own campaign committees. Merkl-Gump also has been endorsed by state party leader Sen. Jay Costa (43rd), Lehigh lawmakers including Sen. Nick Miller (14th) and Reps. Mike Schlossberg (132nd) and Peter Schweyer (133rd), and Bucks Reps. Tim Brennan (29th), Tina Davis (141st) Perry Warren (31st), Jim Prokopiak (140st) and Brian Munroe (144th).
The campaign flier comes as there are several proposals to tax skill games in Pennsylvania – none of which were sponsored or co-sponsored by Santarsiero.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, in his 2026-2027 budget plan, proposes limiting the gaming terminals to 40,000 from the estimated 70,000 already in use statewide. It would also include taxing revenue at 52%. The state Gaming Control Board would be in charge of regulating the industry.
A proposal by state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-23, would tax the revenue from the terminals at 16%. His bill would also require an initial license application fee of $1 million for skill video game distributors, $25,000 for operators and $250 for establishments, and an annual renewal fee. Oversight would be given to the state Department of Revenue, which also oversees the Pennsylvania Lottery.
Yaw introduced the bill in November, where it was referred to the Senate Community, Economic & Recreational Development Committee, where he and Coleman are members.
A proposed bill by state Sen. Chris Gebhard would establish a 35% tax on revenue with oversight given to the state Gaming Control Board.
Neither bill has gone to the Senate for a vote nor has Shapiro’s budget been passed.