Dauphin County, Pennsylvania — State Rep. Tom Mehaffie (R-Dauphin Co.) has publicly responded to allegations made by Swatara Township Commissioner Tom Connolly in a letter read aloud by Dauphin County Commissioner Mike Pries during a public meeting this week. Pries began by saying that he has never done this before, suggesting his reading of a letter in someone’s defense was unorthodox. Mehaffie was not present at the meeting.
Last week, Commissioner Connolly alleged Rep. Mehaffie intentionally diverted K9 funding from Swatara Township in 2018. Mehaffie disputes those claims in his written response read aloud by Pries.
In his statement, Mehaffie defended his relationship with a politically connected consultant and other candidates, and said he was insulted by the claims made about defunding the K9 unit. Mehaffie cited his longterm record of contribution toward public works projects and a $1,000 donation from his beer store to support the K9 fund in 2018. (Mehaffie owns Breski Beverage Distributors in Swatara Township.) Mehaffie said these claims are “an attempt to smear my campaign, and are desperate and dishonest.” Mehaffie also thanked Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo for working with him to secure funding for violent crimes task force.
Following the meeting Connolly reached out to Harrisburg100 to provide insight. Connolly said his allegations are further verified by the new statement of Mehaffie, and he described a political alliance harboring corruption within the county gaming board involving Mehaffie’s consultant Mike Musser, Commissioner George Hartwick, and former Commissioner Jeff Haste.
Dauphin County resident Bobby Jeffries also offered his response to Rep. Mehaffie’s written statement, saying, “Mehaffie doesn’t deny his ongoing connections to Mike Musser. There is evidence of him using Musser’s same address as his political campaign’s mailing address. And there is also evidence of him using Musser’s services as recently as April 23th 2025,” he said. Jeffries provided extensive financial data and other evidence linking the association of Mehaffie and Musser.
Connolly went public with his claims in 2018, and then at last week’s public meeting he presented new developments that verify his original claims alleging Mehaffie’s actions were political retribution following a fierce showdown in the Swatara Township municipal election where Mehaffie and his campaign consultant Mike Musser endorsed the opponent running against Connolly for commissioner. Connolly said slashing funding for the K9 program was political payback. In 2018, after Connolly was first elected, Swatara Township suddenly received less than 8% of the baseline standard for funding. In comparison, $218,000 was received for the K9 program in Swatara Township this year. He said $13,000 for the K9 unit in 2018 was an exceptionally low amount for such a large municipality like Swatara Township, and it has never happened before or since. Connolly said his political opponents intentionally withheld gaming money to punish him politically.
Commissioner Connelly responded for comment claiming that Mehaffie actions to under-fund the K9 unit was political payback to punish Connolly and derail his future efforts.
“Mehaffie did address my main point that when the award was cut to $13,000 for a major municipality in his legislative district, he said he had no ties or influence with Musser, the gaming board consultant,” he said.
“It was retribution for both winning the election and being president, combined with not being involved with their corruption.” Connolly said, “Mehaffie should be removed from his gaming oversight at the House for using gaming funds for political retribution.”
Connolly also provided extensive evidence of the association of Mehaffie with Musser. He reiterated that Mehaffie’s campaign mailers are sent from Musser’s Steelton office. “Musser has been fired by the law firm McNees, removed from all county boards and is being investigated for corruption,” Connolly said.
Harrisburg100 
Expose the corrupt!
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It seems like I always see the most corrupt people in the area using McNees. I assume the corrupt can pay the highest hourly fees?
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https://www.abc27.com/local-news/derry-township-official-resigns-after-arrest/
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Most of this is news to me. What I am familiar with though is Commissioner Connolly listening to, learning the facts about, and then standing up for fathers, mothers, and most of all their children, while those paid to protect them choose to profit from hardships families face instead. Connolly did not have to focus any of his time on these families but still did so because, “It’s the right thing to do. No family should endure what these families are. It’s despicable.) If Connolly says something smells rotten, it’s a safe bet that it is.
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