Lavallee wouldn't change bid for Congress
Throughout his entire congressional campaign, Dan LaVallee was encouraged that he would win, saying the people he talked to were tired of partisanship and bickering in Washington, D.C.
“I had confidence the entire time,” LaVallee, 26, of Cranberry Township said.
However, the Democrat on Tuesday lost his bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, of Butler. Kelly, who has represented the 3rd Congressional District since 2011, defeated LaVallee 112,588 to 73,274 in votes.
LaVallee was a first-time candidate for any office. He decided in December 2013 to run. He said seeing how many of his friends had struggled to find work and seeing how health care could be improved from the experience he had taking care of his grandmother made him want to run.
He said he saw nothing getting accomplished in Washington and started to think about the future.
“What do I want for my kids some day?” LaVallee said.
He said the overall experience of running a campaign is exciting.Although he is young, he said he had voters telling him otherwise on Election Day.“You're not too young. We need a fresh face,” LaVallee said voters would tell him.He said his campaign showed young people can step up and try to make a difference.“That's a step in the direction that we want to go,” LaVallee said.He announced his campaign at the end of January. However, two other Democrats, Matt Ryan of Cranberry Township and Rob Joswiak of Concord Township, declared shortly before he did.But LaVallee was not surprised that he initially had competition.“They felt the same thing that I did,” LaVallee said.However, Ryan and Joswiak both dropped out, leaving LaVallee unopposed in May's Democratic primary.Before running, he was a deputy director for America's Health Insurance Plans and worked both in Pittsburgh and Washington. He quit his job to run for election.LaVallee's campaign had a paid staff of four and hundreds of volunteers. He began working to get a staff together as soon as the campaign started.
Volunteers started with friends and family, but he said his base grew larger just from sharing his vision. LaVallee said he enjoyed sitting with his grandmother, who helped fold and stuff envelopes.During the campaign, LaVallee estimates he met or talked to about 50,000 people in the district, either at events or from going door-to-door.He said he put “thousands” of miles on his car, traveling throughout the district and going 100 miles up and down Interstate 79 to different locations.“That was another thing we did regularly,” LaVallee said, noting he tried to calculate the exact number of miles he traveled but could not.Eating while constantly on the road was a challenge, but he said he lived on peanut butter and bananas.LaVallee said he raised nearly $500,000 from 1,000 donors, primarily individuals. He said asking for money was difficult, but also exciting, saying he understood how important having money is for a major campaign.“It was hard, but it was necessary,” LaVallee said.The campaign had 1,000 signs made, and LaVallee, his staff and volunteers put them up around the district. His campaign produced a television ad that ran on Pittsburgh cable stations and Erie broadcast stations.LaVallee and Kelly met for their only debate on Oct. 30 in Erie. He said he did some preparation work specifically for the debate, but said the real preparation came from his nine months of campaigning,He said he used the debate to get across what people in the district had told him. He said it was exciting to go back and forth with Kelly.“We were able to have a discussion,” LaVallee said.
He said the most fun aspect of the campaign was sitting down with his family and a few close volunteers at the end of the day and talk about the people he met that day, being able to enjoy the work.“It was fun to talk about folks. It was fun and exciting ... to be able to fight as hard as we could,” LaVallee said.He said the hardest part was hearing from people who were suffering, such as those who lost living wages and families that were struggling.“It was hard hearing that and not being able to immediately do something to help,” LaVallee said.When Election Day finally came, LaVallee visited all seven counties in the district. He enjoyed talking to people at the polls and see “the process work” as people voted.“I loved it,” LaVallee said.That evening, he settled into his campaign's Erie office with his family, staff and volunteers. They ordered food and spent time talking about why they believed in what they were doing.As the results came in, LaVallee said he was anxious, but calm. Win or lose, he said, he knew he grew as a person and had developed more desire to serve.When the results showed that Kelly was winning by a significant margin about 10 p.m., LaVallee took a moment and called Kelly to concede. He congratulated him and thanked him for his service in Congress.“It was very positive,” LaVallee said.LaVallee and Kelly plan to have lunch or dinner together to share their common values and desires to serve, and LaVallee said he is looking forward to it.He went to see his grandmother on Wednesday at her rehabilitation facility. Although she was sad he lost, LaVallee said he could see her smiling as she walked down the hallway, proud at what he accomplished.“That's the lasting image I will have of family support,” LaVallee said.
With the election over, he said he has one thing he wants to do first and foremost.“For me, it's honeymoon now,” LaVallee said.LaVallee got engaged to his now wife, Terrina, in May 2013, and he had no idea he would be running for office at the end of the year. But they already had set a wedding date of Sept. 27 this year, which was in the busiest time of the campaign.After the campaign started, LaVallee immediately decided he would keep the wedding date, no matter how difficult it would be. He said he was not going to change himself for the campaign, saying that family comes first to him.“We looked at it as a blessing to get married in a tough time,” LaVallee said.He said his wife's family supported keeping the wedding date and his campaign, noting her family has several U.S. Marine Corps veterans.“It takes a lot to throw them for a loop,” LaVallee said.The couple does not have set honeymoon plans yet, but they said it likely will be in December.Additionally, he said he will resume volunteering at the Caring Place, will coach some basketball and will find a job that includes community involvement.He could not say if he will run for Congress again or for another office, but he said he wants to be involved in the community.“I will always carry the energy and enthusiasm,” LaVallee said.The 3rd District includes all of Butler, Armstrong and Mercer counties, all of Crawford County except Titusville, and parts of Clarion, Erie and Lawrence counties.
