BROCKWAY, Pa. (EYT) – Dinner and politics aligned Wednesday at the Brockwayville Depot as the Jefferson County Democratic Party hosts its “Dinner With Democrats” event.
Organizers said they had 90 reservations for the event, and the room was filled with few empty places. Candidates for the local district as well as Congress and lieutenant governor mingled with the crowd and took a few minutes to speak.
John Fetterman, candidate for lieutenant governor, speaks to a crowd in Brockway.
“This is less about party and more about issues,” explained Jefferson County Democrats Chairperson Melinda Hall. “This party can be home to everybody. We care about the community and do have ideas. We want to solve the problems facing everybody, and we’ll talk to anyone to do that.”
The candidates had a consistent theme, which seemed to resonate with the people in attendance. They talked about finding ways of bringing new jobs to Pennsylvania, improving healthcare access, and strengthening unions and worker protections.
The first candidate to speak was Kerith Strano Taylor, who is challenging State Rep. Cris Dush (R). She talked about transparency, hoping to be connected to those who voted for her. She also talked about being willing to discuss issues with people who disagree with her.
“Cris Dush is a lovely person,” she said of her opponent. “He does not want to debate with me. When asked about it, he said he does not want to face off against ‘that woman’ again. If he’s not willing to face me, how much do you think he’ll stand up to people in Harrisburg?”
Strano Taylor said that Dush does not give his constituents reasons for why he votes the way he does. She said that he also refused to speak to the senior citizens at the Brookville Heritage House along with turning down three opportunities to debate her.
“The last time he debated me was at Brockway Area Junior-Senior High School,” she said. “The students there are very prepared. They have two civics teachers who are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, and both of them stress being educated and voting.”
Strano Taylor sees hope in the upcoming election because of the response she is getting when she talks to crowds.
“People are starting to expect more from their elected officials,” Strano Taylor said. “This is an exciting year and an exciting election.”
That message of hope continued with Susan Boser, who is running for Republican Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson’s seat in the 15th Congressional District. Boser is a professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has a Ph.D in social policy. She said that while the nation is talking about prosperity – lower unemployment, stock market soaring, GDP improving, the 15th is suffering with lower-than-state-average incomes, high unemployment, and high suicide rates among older white males.
“Rural areas are ignored in Congress,” she said. “We have problems here, but those problems can be fixed. I believe that it is possible to make policies that help everyone.”
Boser explained that her favorite plan is a high-speed broadband internet for ruaral areas. She said that there is hope for a better future in the area, focusing on policies that help create jobs and combat poverty and the opioid crisis.
“At a Rotary luncheon early, I had a woman come up to me with tears in her eyes,” Boser said. “She said she didn’t have this much hope in a long time.”
The final speaker, John Fetterman, compared his policies with the Republican challenger for governor, Scott Wagner. Fetterman is running for lieutenant governor, and asked the audience if they like social security, Medicare, unions, and education.
“I’m closing in on 70,000 miles on my truck driving across the state,” Fetterman said. “My goal is to talk to people in every county in Pennsylvania. Every county, every vote.”
Fetterman called Wagner an “equal-opportunity offender,” referring to Wagner’s interactions with voters.
“He calls young people naïve and he calls older generations greedy,” Fetterman said. “These aren’t obscure, esoteric policy issues. This is black-and-white. What I see everywhere I go in Pennsylvania – there’s enthusiasm and energy, but I don’t count on it. We have to keep going until November 6.”
Fetterman called the dinner “remarkable” and said he was honored to be invited. He also pointed out a feature at the event that may have otherwise escaped notice.
“This is the first time in my political career that I took a picture of a cookie!” he said, holding up cookies shaped like voting pins.
“Folks are interested in who’s running,” Hall said. “People are excited, too. The number one thing is to educate oneself on the candidates. Issues matter. It’s less important that there’s a D or an R behind the name than it does how you imagine our collective future. Who do we want to be and where are we going?”
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