Michael Blichar Jr.

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Michael Blichar Jr.

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2017-05

Graduate

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2020-05

Personal

Birthplace

Allentown, Pa.

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Michael Blichar Jr. (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to represent District 187. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Blichar completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Michael Blichar Jr. was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science with minors in international studies, women's and gender studies, and public administration from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania in 2017 and a master's degree in student affairs in higher education from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania in 2020. Blichar’s career experience includes working as a graduate assistant for the Kutztown University GLBTQ Resource Center & Women's Center and as a supervisor at the YMCA. He has served on the State Government Commission Committee on Student Suicide in Higher Education and as a precinct committee person with the Berks County Democratic Committee.

Elections

2020

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 187

Incumbent Gary Day defeated Michael Blichar Jr. in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 187 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gary Day (R)	61.5	23,335
		Michael Blichar Jr. (D)	38.5	14,602

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 37,937
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 187

Michael Blichar Jr. advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 187 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Michael Blichar Jr.	100.0	6,140

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,140
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 187

Incumbent Gary Day advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 187 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gary Day	100.0	7,015

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,015
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 187

Incumbent Gary Day defeated Michael Blichar Jr. in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 187 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gary Day (R)	59.3	16,018
		Michael Blichar Jr. (D)	40.7	10,972

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 26,990
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Archie Follweiler (D)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 187

Archie Follweiler advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 187 on May 15, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Archie Follweiler	100.0	2,905

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 2,905
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 187

Incumbent Gary Day advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 187 on May 15, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gary Day	100.0	3,881

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 3,881
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2020

Candidate Conversations

Moderated by journalist and political commentator Greta Van Susteren, Candidate Conversations is a virtual debate format that allows voters to easily get to know their candidates through a short video Q&A. Click below to watch the conversation for this race.

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Michael Blichar Jr. completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Blichar's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Michael Blichar Jr., 25, was born in Lehigh County and raised in rural Pennsylvania to a working-class family. Ever since he was a child, Michael has always had a passion for effective government that works for all people and went on to graduate from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania in 2017 with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. He is a current and proud resident of the district, where he has spent time engaging with local and regional communities to bring district-wide issues to the forefront. Michael is a fervent advocate for social justice, voter rights, education, & healthcare. Michael served as the Democratic Candidate for State Representative in the 187th district in 2018 and is running again to put the peoples' voice back into the state legislature and to create the change needed to move the 187 and the Commonwealth in the right direction. He holds the strong belief that the people should be the most important stakeholders in politics, not the political establishment or special interests. Michael is a progressive leader in his community and the region having advocated on various issues including LGBTQ rights, women's rights, sexual assault prevention, and voter and redistricting reform. Currently, he serves as Secretary for the Kutztown Borough Planning Commission and works as an Academic Coach at Northampton Community College. In 2016, Michael was appointed by Governor Tom Wolf to serve on the Kutztown University Council of Trustees.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Fighting for Democracy & Accountability
• Fighting for an Economy that Works for Everyone
• Supporting Education at All Levels

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Passing the Anti-Corruption Act

Ending gerrymandering and establishing an independent citizens commission
Fighting for property tax relief
Supporting policies that strengthen our local farming communities
Raising the minimum wage
Fighting the Opioid Epidemic
Protecting Pennsylvanians from discrimination and addressing inequality
Protecting Medicaid and Medicare and lowering the cost of prescription drug prices
Fighting for full-practice authority

Supporting our state system of higher education and our state community colleges

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

An elected official should have genuine care and compassion for the people of their district. They should be able to show a level of empathy for peoples' concerns and understand how to advocate on their behalf. My whole life, I have believed that government should work for the people and that our elected officials should never be beholden to their big donors, party politics, or lobbyists. I grew up in a working-class family where we experienced the struggle between affording to put food on the table and paying the bills. I learned that government can be a powerful force for good to help uplift those most vulnerable in our society. As such an elected official must have integrity and must have good intentions going into the role. Selflessness and taking the moral high ground are of utmost importance, especially in the current political climate that we live in. I am going to bring back that integrity and transparency to our legislature and truly be a voice for the people.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I do believe that it is beneficial to have prior government experience or at the very least experience running for office. However, I believe the most important qualification is experience understanding the people of your community and working to advocate for the policies that address their most important concerns. Being an advocate and understanding people is a significant part of the job a legislator has as they ultimately provide constituent services.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

I do believe that it is important for legislators to build relationships throughout their chamber. While each of us represent our own unique districts and areas, there are bound to be policies that could benefit our constituents in multiple areas. State legislators are tasked with moving the state forward in the right direction while keeping in mind the concerns and interests of the people that they represent. The balance between the two are crucial, however relationships allow communities to work together and lay the groundwork for bi-partisan support on important bills.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

There are a number of committees that I would have an immense interest in serving on including the Government Oversight, State Government, Human Services, & Agriculture and Rural Affairs committees.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2020 Elections

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External links

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Joanna McClinton

Majority Leader:Kerry Benninghoff

Minority Leader:Jesse Topper

Representatives

District 1

Patrick Harkins (D)

District 2

Robert Merski (D)

District 3

Ryan Bizzarro (D)

District 4

Jake Banta (R)

District 5

Eric Weaknecht (R)

District 6

Bradley Roae (R)

District 7

Parke Wentling (R)

District 8

Aaron Bernstine (R)

District 9

Marla Brown (R)

District 10

Amen Brown (D)

District 11

Marci Mustello (R)

District 12

Stephenie Scialabba (R)

District 13

John Lawrence (R)

District 14

Roman Kozak (R)

District 15

Joshua Kail (R)

District 16

Robert Matzie (D)

District 17

Tim Bonner (R)

District 18

K.C. Tomlinson (R)

District 19

Aerion Abney (D)

District 20

Emily Kinkead (D)

District 21

Lindsay Powell (D)

District 22

Joshua Siegel (D)

District 23

Dan Frankel (D)

District 24

La'Tasha Mayes (D)

District 25

Brandon Markosek (D)

District 26

Paul Friel (D)

District 27

Daniel Deasy (D)

District 28

Jeremy Shaffer (R)

District 29

Tim Brennan (D)

District 30

Arvind Venkat (D)

District 31

Perry Warren (D)

District 32

Joe McAndrew (D)

District 33

Mandy Steele (D)

District 34

Abigail Salisbury (D)

District 35

Dan Goughnour (D)

District 36

Jessica Benham (D)

District 37

Mindy Fee (R)

District 38

John Inglis (D)

District 39

Andrew Kuzma (R)

District 40

Natalie Mihalek (R)

District 41

Brett Miller (R)

District 42

Dan Miller (D)

District 43

Keith Greiner (R)

District 44

Valerie Gaydos (R)

District 45

Anita Kulik (D)

District 46

Jason Ortitay (R)

District 47

Joe D'Orsie (R)

District 48

Timothy O'Neal (R)

District 49

Ismail Smith-Wade-El (D)

District 50

Bud Cook (R)

District 51

Charity Grimm Krupa (R)

District 52

Ryan Warner (R)

District 53

Steven Malagari (D)

District 54

Greg Scott (D)

District 55

Jill Cooper (R)

District 56

Brian Rasel (R)

District 57

Eric Nelson (R)

District 58

Eric Davanzo (R)

District 59

Leslie Rossi (R)

District 60

Abby Major (R)

District 61

Liz Hanbidge (D)

District 62

James Struzzi (R)

District 63

Josh Bashline (R)

District 64

R. James (R)

District 65

Kathy Rapp (R)

District 66

Brian Smith (R)

District 67

Martin Causer (R)

District 68

Clint Owlett (R)

District 69

Carl Metzgar (R)

District 70

Matthew Bradford (D)

District 71

Jim Rigby (R)

District 72

Frank Burns (D)

District 73

Dallas Kephart (R)

District 74

Dan Williams (D)

District 75

Mike Armanini (R)

District 76

Stephanie Borowicz (R)

District 77

Scott Conklin (D)

District 78

Jesse Topper (R)

District 79

Louis Schmitt (R)

District 80

Scott Barger (R)

District 81

Richard Irvin (R)

District 82

Paul Takac (D)

District 83

Jamie Flick (R)

District 84

Joe Hamm (R)

District 85

David Rowe (R)

District 86

Perry Stambaugh (R)

District 87

Thomas Kutz (R)

District 88

Sheryl Delozier (R)

District 89

Rob Kauffman (R)

District 90

Chad Reichard (R)

District 91

Dan Moul (R)

District 92

Marc Anderson (R)

District 93

Mike Jones (R)

District 94

Wendy Fink (R)

District 95

Carol Hill-Evans (D)

District 96

Nikki Rivera (D)

District 97

Steven Mentzer (R)

District 98

Tom Jones (R)

District 99

David Zimmerman (R)

District 100

Bryan Cutler (R)

District 101

John Schlegel (R)

District 102

Russell Diamond (R)

District 103

Nate Davidson (D)

District 104

Dave Madsen (D)

District 105

Justin Fleming (D)

District 106

Thomas Mehaffie (R)

District 107

Joanne Stehr (R)

District 108

Michael Stender (R)

District 109

Robert Leadbeter (R)

District 110

Tina Pickett (R)

District 111

Jonathan Fritz (R)

District 112

Kyle Mullins (D)

District 113

Kyle Donahue (D)

District 114

Bridget Malloy Kosierowski (D)

District 115

Maureen Madden (D)

District 116

Dane Watro (R)

District 117

Jamie Walsh (R)

District 118

James Haddock (D)

District 119

Alec Ryncavage (R)

District 120

Brenda Pugh (R)

District 121

Eddie Pashinski (D)

District 122

Doyle Heffley (R)

District 123

Tim Twardzik (R)

District 124

Jamie Barton (R)

District 125

Joe Kerwin (R)

District 126

Jacklyn Rusnock (D)

District 127

Manuel Guzman (D)

District 128

Mark Gillen (R)

District 129

Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz (D)

District 130

David Maloney (R)

District 131

Milou Mackenzie (R)

District 132

Michael Schlossberg (D)

District 133

Jeanne McNeill (D)

District 134

Peter Schweyer (D)

District 135

Steve Samuelson (D)

District 136

Robert Freeman (D)

District 137

Joe Emrick (R)

District 138

Ann Flood (R)

District 139

Jeff Olsommer (R)

District 140

Jim Prokopiak (D)

District 141

Tina Davis (D)

District 142

Joseph Hogan (R)

District 143

Shelby Labs (R)

District 144

Brian Munroe (D)

District 145

Craig Staats (R)

District 146

Joseph Ciresi (D)

District 147

Donna Scheuren (R)

District 148

Mary Daley (D)

District 149

Tim Briggs (D)

District 150

Joseph Webster (D)

District 151

Melissa Cerrato (D)

District 152

Nancy Guenst (D)

District 153

Ben Sanchez (D)

District 154

Napoleon Nelson (D)

District 155

Danielle Friel Otten (D)

District 156

Christopher Pielli (D)

District 157

Melissa Shusterman (D)

District 158

Christina Sappey (D)

District 159

Carol Kazeem (D)

District 160

Craig Williams (R)

District 161

Leanne Krueger (D)

District 162

David Delloso (D)

District 163

Heather Boyd (D)

District 164

Gina Curry (D)

District 165

Jennifer O'Mara (D)

District 166

Gregory Vitali (D)

District 167

Kristine Howard (D)

District 168

Lisa Borowski (D)

District 169

Kate Klunk (R)

District 170

Martina White (R)

District 171

Kerry Benninghoff (R)

District 172

Sean Dougherty (D)

District 173

Patrick Gallagher (D)

District 174

Ed Neilson (D)

District 175

Mary Isaacson (D)

District 176

Jack Rader (R)

District 177

Joseph Hohenstein (D)

District 178

Kristin Marcell (R)

District 179

Jason Dawkins (D)

District 180

Jose Giral (D)

District 181

Malcolm Kenyatta (D)

District 182

Benjamin Waxman (D)

District 183

Zachary Mako (R)

District 184

Elizabeth Fiedler (D)

District 185

Regina Young (D)

District 186

Jordan Harris (D)

District 187

Gary Day (R)

District 188

Rick Krajewski (D)

District 189

Tarah Probst (D)

District 190

Roni Green (D)

District 191

Joanna McClinton (D)

District 192

Morgan Cephas (D)

District 193

Torren Ecker (R)

District 194

Tarik Khan (D)

District 195

Keith Harris (D)

District 196

Seth Grove (R)

District 197

Danilo Burgos (D)

District 198

Darisha Parker (D)

District 199

Barbara Gleim (R)

District 200

Christopher Rabb (D)

District 201

Andre Carroll (D)

District 202

Jared Solomon (D)

District 203

Anthony Bellmon (D)

Democratic Party (102)

Republican Party (101)