As you probably know, Pennsylvania voters will be choosing a new governor this year because incumbent Democrat Tom Wolf will be completing his second four-year term at the end of the year, and there is a two-term limit on this office.

Anytime the incumbent is not running for re-election, you can be sure that there will be a large number of candidates seeking the job, and this year is no exception.

There are 14 Republican hopefuls. You no doubt have heard of some of the major Republican candidates such as Lou Barletta, former mayor of Hazleton and ex-U.S. representative; Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman of Centre County; controversial Donald Trump supporter Sen. Doug Mastriano of Franklin County, former state senator and U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart of Allegheny County and Republican National Committeeman Charlie Gerow of Cumberland County, but have you heard of Shawn Berger of Palmerton and Dr. Nche Zama of Pocono? Probably not, but they are GOP candidates, too, although realistically their chances of winning the nomination are about as good as mine, and I’m not a candidate.

Berger, 38, who owns several businesses, including a restaurant in Wind Gap, Northampton County, projects himself as a self-made businessman who started his first business - VIP Landscaping - when he was 20 years old. He is also the owner of Berger’s Construction and American Environmental Vacuum Truck Service as well as the American Lobster restaurant.

He contends that he defied the state’s order for restaurants to stop serving food indoors during the height of the pandemic because his employees needed their jobs, and he said his defiance was rewarded by a 400% jump in business from hungry patrons looking for a place to eat indoors.

He’s an advocate for clean energy and a clean environment. He also is opposed to COVID-19 mandates and believes the virus should be allowed to run its course. He believes medical professionals are profiting by the number of COVID patients they designate as having died from the virus. He called the COVID pandemic “bogus” and insists that lots of information is being “covered up” by government officials and medical professionals.

Berger’s campaign slogan “United We Stand, Divided We Fall” is meant to inspire unity. “Together we can enforce transparency and expose government corruption,” he proclaims prominently on his home page.

His campaign platform consists of nine planks, including one that calls for the audit of election boards, ensure citizens’ right to observe ballot-counting, require voter ID and place heavier restrictions on mail-in ballots.

Another plank that is guaranteed to get cheers is his demand to revoke the property tax and decrease income and gas taxes, although the plank has no suggested replacement for the revenue these taxes generate. He also favors the decriminalization of marijuana and is a pro-life advocate.

Zama, 65, a native of Cameroon in northwest Africa bordered by Nigeria and the Central African Republic, said he came to the United States as a 14-year-old with just $20 to his name.

He is a retired cardiothoracic surgeon who trained at the Cleveland Clinic and Harvard University. He claims Pennsylvania’s education system is “very sick and needs a doctor.”

Referring to our educational system as “mediocre” when compared to most industrialized countries of the western world, Zama said the system is “getting worse every year” and has been for “a very long time.”

As a physician, Zama believes that COVID-19 deaths have occurred largely among the elderly and those with serious pre-existing conditions. One of his goals is to make Pennsylvania “the healthiest state in the nation.”

At a meeting with Cambria County Republicans in the Johnstown area recently, Zama said the Wolf administration has been myopic because of its focus on “vaccines, vaccines, vaccines.” Contending that he is not anti-vaccines, he added, I think there are other options that we should have used … nutritional intervention being one of them, cessation of cigarette smoking being the other, instructions of better management of diabetes, which is so prevalent it’s almost epidemic in our state.” He said the Wolf administration “mismanaged” the pandemic which ultimately led to “thousands of preventable deaths.” He also said he would not have ordered shutdowns, because “it’s been shown this has destroyed the economy and destroyed lives to no benefit.”

If elected, he wants to establish a “high-performance team” that would serve as a preventive medicine and pandemic council.

On the Democratic side, there is no glut of candidates as there are on the Republican said, because state Attorney General Josh Shapiro is almost assured of the nomination. Along with the major party candidates, Joe Soloski of Centre County is running for governor under the Libertarian Party banner, while Christina “Tina” Olson of Hellertown, Northampton County, is running as the Green Party’s choice.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.