Constitution Party Plans to Build from the Ground Up in Clarion County
By Ron Wilshire
CLARION – There is no doubt that a new billboard on Route 322 for the Constitution Party of Clarion County near Hollenbaugh’s Hometown Meat Market leans toward Fisher.
Marty Selker, chair of the local party, (photo right) lives in Fisher and hopes to build the Constitution Party from the ground up in Clarion County.
“All government starts at the local level and gets weaker as you move to the federal level,” Selker said. “We believe in a strict interpretation of the constitution because our forefathers wrote it for us. They made us citizens of this country, not subjects to be ruled over. That means we run the government and not the government ruling over us.”
Selker compared his view of no interpretation of the constitution to Moses and the ten commandments. “They are both pretty simple and direct. No interpretation is needed.”
Constitutional amendments are recognized, but Selker believes that some of them are more complicated and even encourage interpretation
In terms of local constitution party candidates, Selker plans to run as a write-in campaign for the Clarion-Limestone School Board. He changed his party registration from Republican to the Constitution Party too late to be included in the elections this year. According to Selker, Connie Rex is also running for a constable position.
“We’re going to build his party from the ground up, right?” Selker continued. “When you build a house, you put in the footer and you build a basement wall, sidewalls, a roof, and things like that.
“At this moment, probably best way to get started is with school boards, township supervisors, and then the county commissioners and state officials. A small party is going to have good people that people know and will vote for in elections.”
Clarion County has a local website at https://www.constitutionpartypa.com/clarion.html that connects to the Constitution Party of Pennsylvania.
According to Selker, once the Clarion Party has been successfully established it will be pursuing startups of five more counties, including Armstrong, Butler, Venango, Forrest, and Jefferson.
“We plan to have candidates for local, state, and federal positions in 2022 from the ground up,” said Selker. “Our candidates will be made to represent the constitution and not rule over the people. We will hold the candidates accountable.”
Meetings are held the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at Joe’s Gym, Route 322 in Clarion.
“We’re also going to have our first public speaker Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. We’re going to fight for the public. I’m going to invite every school board member in Clarion County to come to hear her talk about how critical race theory fits into the country’s fabric.”
Some of the activities planned for the Constitution Party include the following:
• Billboards on route 322 between Clarion and Strattanville and route 68 south of Zacherle Motors.
• An information table was available at the recent Clarion County Fair and staffed for the entire week.
• Representation at the Knox Horsethief Days.
• Planning appearances for the Autumn Leaf Festival including the Car Show and Crafters Day.
Asked why he was planning to run for CL School Board, Selker, a 1975 graduate, said “In the last two years you could pick your subjects. I never got hardly anything I asked for. In my senior year, I got very little. I had like six study halls because I had all of my credits and they bumped me for somebody else.
“Well, that’s a heck of a way to run a teaching system. It about drove me nuts. I’d have teachers come up and say you’re supposed to be studying. I said I have two subjects today out of eight periods. I asked for a mechanical drawing class, metal shop, woodshop, and practical stuff you could use.”