The District: The 99th is one of the most conservative districts in all of Lancaster County, comprising mostly rural parts of the county’s northeast. Its voters went overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump in 2016, and likely will do the same in 2020.
Represents: Akron, Ephrata, New Holland and Terre Hill boroughs; Ephrata, Earl, East Earl, Caernarvon and Salisbury townships
Candidate: David Zimmerman (incumbent)
- Party: Republican.
- Age: 64.
- Residence: East Earl Township.
- Occupation: Legislator since 2015.
- Education: Agriculture courses at Penn State University and Purdue University, but no degrees.
1. Why are you running? What is your pitch to voters?
I am running today for the same reason I ran originally: to be a strong voice for our community in Harrisburg. As representative, I have worked hard to address the issues that the people I serve have told me are important — things like protecting taxpayers, promoting and protecting agriculture, growing our economy, improving education and health care, and keeping our community safe — and I have achieved results.
With the support of voters again this year, I will continue this record of success in the future.
2. What are your priorities to help the state recover from the economic and human toll the coronavirus pandemic has taken?
The best way to help the state recover from the economic and human toll of the pandemic is to restart our economy in a safe and responsible manner that follows health guidelines while allowing Pennsylvanians to return to work so they can provide for themselves and their families.
We must also ensure that our long-term care and nursing homes are fully supported to ensure that we do not see a re-occurrence of the tragic early loss of life seen there when the administration forced COVID-19 positive patients back into these facilities; at-risk populations must also be given support to keep them out of harm’s way.
I believe most Pennsylvanians understood early steps taken to address the coronavirus when much was unknown. Now, however, I believe a more transparent and cooperative decision-making process that includes stakeholders from every segment of Pennsylvania, should be put in place.
3. Can you briefly describe what you would do to address what residents have told us are the issues they are most concerned about: health care, the state budget and school property taxes? Given the 200-word limit, you may choose to respond to a single topic instead of all three.
While I believe the issues mentioned are no doubt important, the single biggest issue I hear from the people of the 99th District is the need to safely return life to normal and restart our state’s economy. People are willing to follow health guidelines to control the spread of COVID-19, but they also want and need to return to work, to visiting their loved ones, to going to church, and life’s other daily activities.
Regarding the issues you mention, I am proud to have a record that includes supporting record funding for education, fighting for property tax relief and elimination, and supporting new, bipartisan legislation and laws aimed at increasing health care accessibility and affordability.
4. Surveys show that partisanship is increasing and people of different political views are growing less trustworthy of one another. How will you seek to build bridges to voters who don’t support you or share your views?
As representative, I refuse to allow the partisan nature of national politics trickle down to our local level and my service. The fact is my record shows that I am willing and able to work across the aisle to build common ground on issues and get results; that is why the vast majority of the legislative initiatives I have voted in favor of enjoy broad bipartisan support and become law.
Candidate: Rick Hodge
- Party: Democrat.
- Age: 27.
- Residence: New Holland Borough.
- Occupation: Cabinet maker.
- Education: High school, and I am two years into my degree in government and political affairs with a minor in economics.
- Family: Single, no children.
1. Why are you running? What is your pitch to voters?
Both major political parties routinely ignore the needs of working-class people like us who live in small towns and rural areas, yet they manage to keep us divided and fighting with each other.
I’m running to unite our community across party lines and give a voice to the everyday people who have been shut out of the conversation in Harrisburg for too long. If we reject the status quo of leaving politics to the wealthy and well-connected, if we speak to our neighbors instead of staying divided, and if we put our faith in each other like we were raised to, we can create a state government that is more reflective of our values and that is better prepared to fulfill our needs.
Elanco is through with being controlled by out-of-touch, corrupt politicians whose entire careers are built on keeping our community divided. Everyday people deserve an advocate who not only understands the challenges they face in their daily lives, but has a personal stake in their well-being.
As a manufacturing worker myself, I will bring to Harrisburg the lived reality of being a small-town, working-class Pennsylvanian, and a comprehensive knowledge of what it is that everyday Pennsylvanians need.
2. What are your priorities to help the state recover from the economic and human toll the coronavirus pandemic has taken?
This spring, our representatives sat on millions of dollars in federal aid meant to keep us safe, and presented us with a false choice: go back to work and risk spreading a deadly virus to our families, or get fired and evicted.
For generations, our elected officials have been chipping away at our labor rights to appease their corporate donors, and this has resulted in a work culture where we are not only expected to go to work while showing symptoms of an illness, but where we are so close to financial ruin at any given time that we couldn’t afford to take time off if we were allowed.
This pandemic has affirmed our dire need for representation that prioritizes workers’ needs —our needs — over the greed and hubris of our representatives in Harrisburg.
In office, I will get to work immediately to fight for state-sponsored health insurance, paid sick and family leave, rent relief, and a moratorium on COVID-19 related evictions, because nobody should have to choose between their bills and their life when our government has the funds to keep us all safe.
3. Can you briefly describe what you would do to address what residents have told us are the issues they are most concerned about: health care, the state budget and school property taxes? Given the 200-word limit, you may choose to respond to a single topic instead of all three.
Pennsylvania’s taxation system is one of the most regressive in our country. Pennsylvanians who make less pay a higher percentage of their income in various taxes than wealthier people do.
I support a graduated income tax, which means lowering income taxes for lower- and middle-class Pennsylvanians to 2.5% and raising income taxes on the wealthy to 4%. This will bolster our state budget by increasing tax revenue while simultaneously supporting working families to afford their everyday needs with less reliance on state programs.
In addition to balancing the state budget, a progressive property tax system will keep more of our neighbors in their homes and expand opportunities for students in our state’s public education system.
It is wrong that the quality of our young people’s education can be predicted by their ZIP code. I support full implementation of the Fair Funding Formula and increased state funding for public education (excluding charter schools, which siphon funds from under-resourced school districts with little accountability for student outcomes).
All of these changes together will contribute to stronger, responsibly funded public education as well as financial relief and housing stability for seniors and working-class families.
4. Surveys show that partisanship is increasing and people of different political views are growing less trustworthy of one another. How will you seek to build bridges to voters who don’t support you or share your views?
Everyday Pennsylvanians have much more in common with one another than the wealthy and well-connected — and the politicians who serve them — have allowed us to think. Elanco Democrats and Republicans alike suffer in the face of stagnant wages and a skyrocketing cost of living. Living paycheck-to-paycheck while our bosses and politicians get richer and richer off our labor and hardships is an experience shared by Republicans and Democrats alike.
Career politicians use highly divisive issues to keep us distracted and fighting each other so we never think to ask them to make real changes that will make all of our lives easier. Let’s face it: most of these issues have no real bearing on our day-to-day lives, and are distractions from the real problems our friends and families face.
Reminding people that we are united by our working-class identity will do more for us than playing into partisan theatrics ever has. This campaign has set out to start conversations in our neighborhoods that encourage people to express their needs and find common ground in our Lancaster County values. Once we show our state representatives that we will no longer be divided, they will finally feel pressured to listen to us — the everyday people.
