page_title: Dennis C. Wolff
section_title: Campaign for Congress
hierarchical_section_title: Dennis C. Wolff / Campaign for Congress
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of new Congressional district PA-9
context_page_description: Dennis C. "Denny" Wolff is an American farmer, non-profit founder, and former public official who was the 2018 Democratic nominee for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania's 9th Congressional District.
  Wolff is a former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, where he served in the cabinet of Governor Edward G. Rendell.
  On October 12, 2017, Wolff, a Columbia County dairy farmer, announced his candidacy for Congress. After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the congressional map put in place in 2011, the Court crafted a new map to eliminate the gerrymandering of the previous version, and Columbia County was placed in the new 9th congressional district.
  Wolff is also the founder and president of The Nicholas Wolff Foundation, a non-profit which operates as Camp Victory. Camp Victory is a summer camp for chronically ill children and their families.
context_section_description: On October 12, 2017, Wolff announced his candidacy for Congress. Wolff's campaign slogan was simple: "Send a Farmer."
  In his announcement, Wolff stated that "When I look at the United States Congress, I don’t see many people that have lived the same kind of life that I have, the same kind of life my neighbors have.”  Drawing attention as a qualified candidate and moderate rural Democrat running in a district drawn to favor a Republican, PoliticsPA in October 2017 added this race to their list of vulnerable districts in the 2018 election cycle, noting that "party officials are high on Dennis Wolff, a dairy farmer and former state secretary of agriculture."  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in November 2017 placed the district on their "battleground" lists for the 2018 election cycle.
  Wolff is a Blue Dog Democrat, a coalition of moderate and conservative Democrats, often from rural areas. Wolff was formally endorsed by the Blue Dogs on February 8, 2018.  Wolff was only one of two Congressional candidates endorsed by the Blue Dogs in Pennsylvania during the 2018 election cycle, the other being Conor Lamb.  Another prominent Blue Dog from Pennsylvania is former Congressman Tim Holden, a Schuylkill County resident.
  After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the 2011 congressional map on January 22, 2018, the Court put in place a redrawn "remedial" congressional map on February 19, 2018.  Wolff indicated that regardless of other factors, he would run in whichever district his home in Columbia County was placed in.  Columbia County was subsequently placed into the new 9th Congressional district, which includes all of Carbon, Columbia, Montour, Schuylkill and Lebanon counties.  It's also includes parts of Berks, Luzerne and Northumberland counties.  The new 9th district was rated as having a Partisan Voting Index (PVI) of R+14, among the most conservative congressional districts in the country.  The additional Republican registration advantage between the old 11th district and the new 9th district were significant, and the remedial map gave the 9th district Republican nominee a seemingly insurmountable advantage in the general election.      
  On May 15, 2018, Wolff won the Democratic primary for the 9th Congressional District, taking in 41% of the vote, compared to Gary Wegman's 31% and Laura Quick's 28%.  Wolff won every county in the district except Wegman and Quick's home counties.
  Although not a resident of the new 9th congressional district, candidate Dan Meuser won the Republican nomination the same evening.  Meuser, born in Long Island, New York and a resident of Dallas, Pennsylvania, lives in Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district. The 8th District is significantly more balanced district in terms of voter registration, with a Partisan Voting Index (PVI) rating of R+1 (versus R+14 in the 9th district) and had an incumbent Democratic congressman, Matt Cartwright.  Cartwright has strong name I.D. and financial backing.  It was heavily speculated that Meuser chose to run in the 9th district instead of his own district because winning an election in his own district would have been significantly more challenging.  Meuser, in August 2018, purchased a condominium in the 9th district for $210,000 to alleviate criticism that he does not live in the 9th district.  It is unknown if Meuser actually moved himself and his family from their nearby house into the condominium.  Meuser, who also unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2008, was plagued then by criticism when he also sought elected office in a district that he did not live in.   
  Wolff received several endorsements during his campaign, particularly from the agricultural and labor sectors.  Wolff received the support of agricultural equipment manufacturer John Deere and the National Farmers Union.  “It’s an exceptional thing for the [National Farmers Union] PAC to make a primary endorsement, but Denny Wolff is an exceptional candidate," said National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson.  Wolff also received multiple blue-collar labor endorsements, inclu
caption: The new 9th Congressional District, which includes all of Carbon, Columbia, Lebanon, Montour, and Schuylkill counties.  It also includes parts of Berks, Luzerne, and Northumberland counties.(Partisan Voting Index: R+14)
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