Three Republicans vying for the right to face Democratic U.S. Rep. Matt Cartright in the primary race on May 20 presented their platform to the Lehighton 9/12 Project Thursday at the Beaver Rod Rod and Gun Club.

The candidates, Bethlehem Township racing team owner Matt Connelly, Schuylkill County Coroner Dr. David J. Moylan and Wind Gap pilot Matt Dietz hope to represent parts of Carbon, Monroe, Northampton, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wind Gap, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Bethlehem Township and all of Schuylkill County in Congress.Sandy Dellicker, president of the Lehighton 9/12 Project, served as moderator.Dellicker noted that Cartright was not invited to the session because this debate was between the Republican candidates and since Cartright does not have an opponent in the primary election, she said he wasn't invited this time.She said he would be invited to a debate sometime before the general election.Each of the candidates were given 10 minutes to present their views on the big issues, such as ObamaCare, the U.S. Energy Policy, welfare, taxes and regulation and big government, pro-life and the Second Amendment rights to hold and bear arms.Taken alphabetically, Connelly was the first to speak. He believes that ObamaCare should be repealed because it cannot be fixed."The federal government should not be between any patient and their doctor," said Connelly.On energy, Connelly believes the U.S. has the ability to become completely energy independent. On the issue of taxes and regulation, his view focused on lowering corporate taxes so that companies don't leave the country because of high taxes.On big government, Connelly believes that government has been too intrusive in peoples' lives.Dietz focused on ObamaCare, tax reform, pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, eliminating wasteful spending and balancing the federal budget.He said that he wants to work on creating jobs and believes that people need to work for a living. His view on ObamaCare is that it is horrible and the costs need to be reigned in."I would invest in technology in the health field and that would bring health care costs down," he said. He said that his father was recently in the hospital and that many tests had to be rerun because the health care field lacks the technology to share information.His view is that each state should handle the health care issue."It would give us 50 different experiments and then lets see what works," said Dietz.He also believes that there should be reciprocating laws for guns across the states.Dr. David Moylan focused on Pro-Life issues. He said, "Nothing is more sacred then human life." Moylan said that there should not be any elective abortions after 20 weeks. He also said he was skeptical about global warming."I am promoting carbon-based energy sources," he said.He also spoke on health care recovery and the problem with casual marijuana use.The candidates also fielded questions about their views on illegal aliens, the purpose of Homeland Security and energy efficiency.At the end of the presentation, Connelly announced that he had just received word that he was endorsed for his candidacy by the Independent Hall Political Action Committee Tea Party.