Dziados, Reschenthaler vie for District 14 seat in U.S. House

The two candidates seeking to represent Pennsylvania’s 14th Congressional District couldn’t be further apart on key issues.

Three-term Republican incumbent Guy Reschenthaler has become a key member among the GOP’s power structure in the U.S. House, serving as deputy whip and an attack dog pushing his party’s agenda that he said is focused on border security and combating what he said is a struggling economy.

“As soon as you talk to people, it’s all about, ‘I can’t afford groceries, I can’t afford gasoline.’ They’re worried about crime, especially in some areas of my district. They’re upset about the chaos of the southern border. So, trust me, they (voters) are giving us the issues,” Reschenthaler said.

Democrat Chris Dziados is an Indiana County native who returned to his home district and took up residence in Washington County after retiring in late December after a more than two-decade career in the Army. Dziados said the incumbent’s views don’t mesh with the interests of those who live in the district.

“America is ready to move forward, and we’ve found ourselves in this tenuous position where there is no room for compromise,” Dziados said. “We’ve lost the art of coming to the table and to make small, incremental steps forward. I am ready to do that.”

Reschenthaler served as a state senator, representing a district based in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mt. Lebanon, after serving as a district judge. A 2007 graduate of Duquesne University Law School, he served in the Navy as a JAG officer (lawyer) and prosecuted terrorists in Iraq. He was elected to Congress in 2018 and was reelected in 2020 and again in 2022.

Dziados, before his retirement, served multiple deployments to Iraq and served on the staff for the undersecretary of Defense. During his last year in the service, he was a member of the U.S. Space Force staff. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He has master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University in systems engineering and finance.

On the issues

Issues involving the southern border and immigration are among the top priorities for both candidates.

Reschenthaler said he backs a return to the immigration and border policies of former President Donald Trump. He rejected the bipartisan deal that was scuttled in Congress, saying it was insufficient and toothless.

“Reinstate ‘remain in Mexico ‘and end ‘catch and release,’ and make sure that we complete the border wall in the places that makes sense,” Reschenthaler said. “And also, we had (House Resolution) 2, which was the first piece of legislation we’d passed on border security since the mid-’90s. I think in the next Congress we can get that passed again, get that to the Senate and signed by, hopefully, President Trump.”

Reschenthaler said he is pro-life but said he favors having the abortion issue settled by the states rather than through federal legislation.

He said he not has backed any final decisions on the proposed sale of U.S. Steel to Japanese owners. He said he will support what is best for local steelworkers and an outcome that allows it to remain headquartered in Pittsburgh and retain its identity.

He also continues to be a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s economic policies, which he blames for rising food and housing costs.

Reschenthaler has been a strong supporter of Trump and sponsored a bill this year to rename Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., for the former president.

Dziados said he will back the bipartisan border deal if it is again considered by the next Congress.

“I am all for strong borders, and that deal was a missed opportunity and was a chance to move forward,” he said. “It provided more money to fund the border patrol, more judges, and it did a lot more to deal with the issues that we need to address on this issue.”

Dziados said the proposed sale of U.S. Steel is a national security issue, one that Congress should step in with the oversight to ensure the company remains owned by U.S. interests.

Dziados opposes any efforts to enact a national abortion ban, saying he wants to ensure women have a continued right to choose and make a decision in the best interests of their health.

Republican-dominated district

Political watchers say the 14th District favors the Republican candidate.

The district consists of voters from Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and the eastern and southern portions of Westmoreland counties, with Republicans accounting for about 56% of registered voters. Democrats, according to the latest voter registration figures released by the state, account for just less than 36% of voters in the district.

The largest population centers in the district are in Westmoreland and Washington counties, which account for more than 60% of the district.

Reschenthaler is the better financed of the two candidates.

According to campaign financial reports, Reschenthaler has raised and spent more than $3.4 million in his reelection bid since the start of 2023. Dziados has raised just more than $255,000; through mid-October, he spent about $182,000 for his campaign.

Dziados has criticized Reschenthaler over his vote against certifying election results in 2020. He blasted the incumbent, who, earlier this month, along with other Republican lawmakers, sued Pennsylvania seeking to bar the state from counting mail-in ballots submitted by overseas voters.

“Now is not the time to file a lawsuit like this. It injects more chaos into the system. He’s had four years to put forward legislation to address his concerns, and he chose not to do that. His message is wrong. There is no widespread incidents of voter fraud,” Dziados said.

Reschenthaler defended his stance regarding the 2020 election.

“We can’t sustain ourselves as a democracy if we have both parties claiming that the election was not valid. You could do a lot to alleviate that by having … voter integrity, which would at least get people to believe that the election was fair,” Reschenthaler said. “And I want to be clear: Every vote needs counted, but also every vote needs to be legally cast. That’s just as important because having an illegal vote cast dilutes the power of legally cast votes.”

He said unmonitored drop boxes and a lack of voter ID and signature verification remain problematic ahead of the 2024 election.

“So it’s better than it was in 2020, but the problem’s far from being fixed,” he said.

This story is updated to reflect that a word was omitted from a quote from Rep. Guy Reschenthaler as he described his views on U.S. immigration. Reschenthaler said, “Reinstate ‘remain in Mexico‘ and end ‘catch and release,’ and make sure that we complete the border wall in the places that makes sense.”