Iraq War vet announces Republican candidacy for Tom Marino’s 12th Congressional District seat

A decorated Iraq War veteran said Tuesday that she’ll seek the Republican nomination for ex-U.S. Tom Marino’s 12th Congressional District seat.

Stacy Garrity, of Athens, Pa., in Bradford County, served three deployments in the Middle East, winning two Bronze Stars and the Legion of Merit, her campaign said in a statement. She retired from the Army reserve as colonel.

Garrity currently serves as the vice-president of two divisions of Global Tungsten, the first of two women to be named vice-president at the 650-employee company, her campaign said.

“As a businesswoman, I have focused on creating jobs here in northeast Pennsylvania. I am committed to focusing on those same goals in Congress,” she said in a statement.

Marino, a 5-term incumbent, resigned Jan. 23, just weeks after the new session of Congress began, saying he was taking a job in the private sector. In a recent interview with The Daily Item of Sunbury, Marino said health issues had prompted his resignation.

“I am not well,” Marino said to the Daily Item. “But I am getting better. I had surgery and they found my lining in my kidney was deteriorating and tissue was blocking everything so they went in and cleaned everything out.”

He added that, “I knew I couldn’t serve my 15 counties and if I needed to be in a hospital. I wanted to be home with my family. “I wanted to try to keep my sickness private but it was out there and people were concerned and asking. I still have a tumor but it is not growing. So I am fine for now but that could change in a week or in a year.”

The special election for Marino’s seat is May 21, the same day as the 2019 primary election.  Candidates are stepping up in the heavily Republican district. Former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate against Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey last fall, has ruled out a bid for his old friend’s seat, PolticsPA reported.

Democrat Mark Friedenberg, who lost the November election to Marino’s seat last fall, has announced that he’ll take another shot at winning his party’s nod to run in the May special election.