Tina Davis Pitted Against Incumbent Tommy Tomlinson In Competitive State Senate Race

One of the most heated races of the local election cycle has been the fight for the Sixth Senate District.

Democratic State Rep. Tina Davis of Bristol Township, who has held her seat since 2010, is battling to snatch away the seat held since 1994 by incumbent Republican State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson of Bensalem.

The politicians acknowledged something needs to be done to fix the current property tax system and the school funding.

Davis called the two issues some of the most important facing the state. In summer, Davis proposed using tax proceeds from legal sporting betting to help qualified homeowners pay property taxes, taking some burden off of senior citizens on fixed incomes. She said school funding needs a fix and she has ideas about also using revenues from a potential natural gas severance tax to reduce the property tax burden.

“I’m the only candidate in this race to do anything about property taxes. In my gaming bill, I dedicated a portion of gaming proceeds to property taxes,” Tomlinson said.

The veteran state senator also said he is supportive of revamping the property tax system to keep property tax revenue in the area where it was generated.

Both candidates support a severance tax for natural gas and want to direct the proceeds to different causes. Davis voiced support for putting it toward reducing the property tax burden for senior citizens and Tomlinson has previously proposed using new revenue from the proposed tax to pay down pension obligation bonds.

Davis, who is also running to keep her current state representative seat, and Tomlinson’s campaigns have pushed the platforms that they want to create jobs through investment in infrastructure and supporting business growth.

As a female legislator, Davis said she has seen first hand the issues that impact women in the workplace and she supports efforts to equalize pay and protect people in the workplace from discrimination.

“These problems don’t just impact women,” she said of discrimination, adding that entire families can feel the impact.

Davis said she has heard across the district from families who are being weighed down by taxes, health care rates, and higher education costs. She wants to focus on ways to help those families at the state level, including looking at innovative new programs.

Tomlinson touted his work on getting the Gaming Act created. The legislation, he said, has supported the creation of 25,000 jobs and generated $13 billion in local and state tax revenue from casinos, including Parx Casino in Bensalem. He also noted his work to get funding for local infrastructure projects and the massive I-95 and Pennsylvania Turnpike connector.

“While the Transportation Act was a tough vote, I have never ran away from a tough vote and I am proud of it. Without that vote we wouldn’t have the transportation improvements that we have in our community,” he said.

The close election has been filled with commercial spots that air online and on TV. Both Davis and Tomlinson said they have tried to focus issues and not attacks.

“I’m so disappointed in my opponent for going to the point where it wasn’t based on issues,” Davis said, adding she has worked hard to run a clean campaign.

“I have tried to run a positive campaign, but unfortunately that has proven difficult facing the constant lies from my opponent,” Tomlinson said.

Tomlinson, whose family operates a funeral home, said he was insulted by recent Democratic campaign ads that claimed he wrote a funeral home bill that would benefit him to the tunes of “millions.” He said the bill was not authored by him and focused on stopping illegal practices while protecting consumer trust funds that were at being taken advantage of by large cemetery companies. The incumbent further stated the bill never became law.

Davis said she was upset that Republicans used a misleading ad that implied that she did something illegal relating to her husband’s recent criminal landlord case. The case ended recently when charges were withdrawn after her husband paid back more than $30,000 for not following a contract for a government-subsidized tenant who lived in a rental home they own in Croydon. The ad said Davis was a “key part of the fraud scheme,” which court papers filed by law enforcement said was not the case.

The 30-second spot was run through Republican Anthony Sposato, who is running against Davis in her House district. The money for the spot came from $250,000 paid by Sposato’s “Friends of Tony Sposato” campaign committee. Shortly before the ad started running, Sposato received his first recorded financial contribution, $250,000 from the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, campaign finance records state.

Davis’s campaign asked a county judge for an injunction to get the misleading ad off the air but it was denied.

Leading up the court hearing on the ad, Davis’ campaign called Sposato’s campaign a pass-through for funds from the state Republicans to hurt the Democratic candidate in the larger race against Tomlinson.

Tomlinson’s campaign told the Bucks County Courier Times last week that he had nothing to do with the ad.

When asked why she is running for both the House and the competitive State Senate seat, Davis said she is within the confines of the law.

State rules dictate that if she wins both races, she will only be able to serve in one office and the other seat will have to be filled.