05/14/2026
Below is a statement from our Chair, Senator Steve Santarsiero, regarding an anti-semitic mailer sent out by a Republican affiliated PAC in the Senate District 16 Primary:
Dear Bucks County Democrats:
The Bucks County Democratic Party did not endorse a candidate in the State Senate District 16 primary, but we need to speak out about the fact that a Republican SuperPAC, deceptively named “Protecting Our Democracy PAC”, is trying to influence that race.
So far it has sent four mailings to voters attacking one of the candidates, Bradley Merkl-Gump, and, in its most recent mailing, supporting the other candidate, Mark Pinsley. Even more troubling, the mailings have perpetuated a well-known antisemitic trope, accusing me – a convert to Judaism – of being an ‘Israel First” party boss, due to my support of the right of the Jewish People to have a homeland (for the record, I do not support either Benjamin Netanyahu or his right-wing government and do support the creation of a Palestinian state). The use of the term Israel First is antisemitic because it buys into the lie that Jews cannot be trusted to be loyal Americans, since their first loyalty is allegedly to Israel.
We must call out antisemitism whenever it occurs, and as Democrats we should speak out against Republicans who try to manipulate our primaries.
I have called on both Mark Pinsley and State Senator Jarrett Coleman to renounce these mailings. Pinsley has refused to do so. Coleman has remained silent.
We live in troubling times. This most recent antisemitic mailing in SD 16 comes on the heels of this week’s revelation that I and over 20 of my state legislative colleagues were on a “hit list” by a deranged man in Lebanon County who planned to kill us on Memorial Day (apparently because we were outspoken on the need to stop gun violence). As Democrats, I believe we must do all we can to reject the normalization of violence, antisemitism and racism in our politics. I hope you will join me in that work, no matter what candidate you support. We can yet turn the corner toward a better day.
Thank you.
