Fuhs challenges O'Pake for state Senate seat

The only elected Republican official in the City of Reading has announced he will take on Democratic state Sen. Michael A. O'Pake, who has been in Harrisburg for nearly 40 years.

Stephen P. Fuhs, a retired community banking manager serving his first term in Reading City Council, told the Reading Eagle that "entrenched politicians" like O'Pake is a big part of the problem with state government.

O'Pake, 68, has held the 11th District Senate seat since 1973 and before that was in the state House from 1969-1972. O'Pake, who also maintains a law practice in Reading, is second-ranking Democrat in the Senate.

This is O'Pake's first time facing Berks County voters since O'Pake voted himself a pay raise in July 2005 and took the money as unvouchered expenses, a practice rule illegal by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

O'Pake also spent 20 years on the board of directors of PHEAA, the troubled state student loan agency that has wasted millions of dollars on lavish trips and gifts for employees and directors.

Fuhs told the newspaper that tax reform is his No. 1 priority. O'Pake has also been promising property tax relief for the past 40 years, but hasn't been able to deliver. He told the same newspaper last month that he needs another four years to work on property tax reform.

Fuhs, 56, told reporter Mary Young that he will keep his promises.

"I don’t go along to get along," Fuhs told the newspaper. "If I can't get the job done, I will get out of the way and make room for somebody who can. One person can work on it, but to succeed, the voters have to make sure they send the right people to Harrisburg from across the commonwealth. People have to take their government back."