The new 34th ties together most of Cumberland County, all of Perry County, and the northern tier of Dauphin County in an open-seat district that has no sitting incumbent. Assuming the current district lines survive court challenges, it projects as a strong Republican-leaning district in terms of recent voter performance, but Coplen said Tuesday he intends to be the kind of lawmaker for whom party labels become secondary.
A West Point graduate, Coplen served as a combat veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division in Panama, a V Corps peacekeeping soldier in Bosnia, and a 2nd Infantry Division soldier on the Korean DMZ. “As state Senator, I will work hard to ensure that Pennsylvania finally invests fully and fairly in the education of all public-school children, including those in our rural areas that have gotten the short end of the stick for far too long.”