A political newcomer is looking to earn his first elective office as a state senator.

Jake Roberts, 31, of Ross will be facing state Rep. Lori Mizgorski, 55, of Shaler for the Republican nomination in the state 38th Senatorial District race.

Both candidates have similar views on abortion following the news of a leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion showing the overturn of Roe v. Wade and returning to states the power to regulate abortion.

Roberts said he would push for legislation restricting access to abortion and said he would further research the issue before finalizing his views.

“I am happy to be one of those strong voices to put an end to these practices,” he said.

Mizgorski said the privacy breach in the Supreme Court is disturbing and should be investigated no matter the topic. Mizgorski said she is pro-life but wanted to note, even if Roe v. Wade is overturned, abortion will still be legal in Pennsylvania unless legislative action is taken.

“I believe the less babies aborted is better for society as a whole,” she said.

The winner of the Republican nomination in Tuesday’s primary will compete against the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Lindsey Williams, 38, of West View in November’s general election.

Williams favors legal abortion, believing it must not become illegal in Pennsylvania or across the country. She was upset by the draft decision from the Supreme Court.

“I am thinking about all the people who may die because they cannot make the decision to receive a necessary abortion in consultation with their medical provider,” she said, “or those who will seek unsafe abortion because it’s their only option in a crisis.”

The 38th District includes all the Alle-Kiski Valley communities in Allegheny County, and Pittsburgh’s northern suburbs from Fox Chapel to Marshall.

Lori Mizgorski

Mizgorski was elected as state representative of the 30th District in 2018. With the recent redistricting after the census, her Shaler district was taken out of the 30th District.

A Shaler Area High School graduate, she earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Hood College in Frederick, Md. She served as a township commissioner in Shaler for more than a decade.

Mizgorski said she is passionate about funding education, expanding health care access and protecting taxpayers.

As a township commissioner, Mizgorski said she never raised taxes and wants to keep it that way.

“When we do the budget for state, we are thinking about what people have to pay. At home, we stick to a budget, and at state we need to do that, as well,” she said.

With safety as a top priority, Mizgorski said she wants to encourage continuing to fund police and find ways to recruit more people to become officers. There are fewer and fewer people who want to work in law enforcement, she said.

Making health care more accessible and affordable is important, she said.

Mizgorski said she has been working to make tele-health visits accessible, especially regarding mental health issues. She said she has helped push legislation that brought transparency and lower costs of prescription drugs.

Jake Roberts

Roberts wanted to run to ensure a solid conservative voice is on the ballot, he said.

“When I found out those were the only two candidates on ballot, I decided I needed to step up to the plate and make sure those important conservative issues were discussed,” he said.

Roberts has not held an elected position. He served for three years on the Ross Township Building Appeals Board. He worked as an Assistant Public Defender in Allegheny County from 2017 to 2020. He currently is the chief public defender in Clarion County.

Having three children of his own, he wants to ensure students are getting a quality education, which is why he wants parents to be able to have a say in what’s best for their children, he said.

“If the school isn’t getting the job done, then those parents’ tax dollars should not go to that school,” he said. “They should have the option of taking them out and putting their child in the best environment. Their tax dollars should follow that student.”

Roberts prides himself on not shying away from addressing hot-button topics, he said. He seeks to push legislation to ban critical race theory from being taught in public schools, end vaccine and masks mandates, repeal the Act 77 voting law, ensure a Pennsylvanian’s lawful right to carry a gun without a permit and require voters to show photo ID to cast their vote, he said.

“So many politicians want to walk on eggshells. I think our voters are getting tired of people saying one thing to their face and another to others,” he said.

Lindsey Williams

Williams was elected as state senator in 2018. She is running unopposed in the primary.

She earned her undergraduate degree from Dickinson College and her law degree from Duquesne University. Before her Senate position, she worked as the director of advocacy at the National Whistleblowers Center and for Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers.

She believes in investing in public schools and ensuring students are receiving a quality education, she said. The first step to doing that is providing mental health support in schools, she said. Williams said she has worked on a couple of bills that will put more mental health workers in classrooms.

“We have a real struggle. Kids are coming into school with a lot of problems,” she said.

The pandemic has pushed her office to put its efforts toward assisting with unemployment, she said. She said she receives 100 calls a day from people talking about backlogging or fraud.

“We should absolutely be investing more in unemployment offices. Those workers are doing the best they can,” she said.

Her time at the National Whistleblowers Center emphasized her focus of being transparent and holding accountable. She regularly updates the expenses she spends on her website. She has proposed legislation to make that standard for both House and Senate.

“People want to see what their elected officials are using their tax money on,” she said.

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