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A Rural Progressive in a Red Area: Switching From A State House Race to a Countywide Row Office Race [1]

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Date: 2023-04-09  

Hi all:

Let me introduce myself. My name is Robert Zeigler and I was the Democratic Candidate for PA House, the 171st District (voting trends had been moving red, at least 72% of people vote Republican in the district and it was higher before 2022), in 2022. I ran on a platform of accountability, responsibility, and transparency. I called out the need for folks to have a living wage, to fund education fairly, pass a gift ban on legislators and ban corporate PAC money out of politics, legalize marijuana, and so on (I’m a working-class progressive after all). I'm currently running a county row office, Recorder of Deeds, in Centre County. My goal is to serve the public at a higher capacity, but that doesn't stop me from doing community work like it does for some politicians (I'm a public servant).

A brief recap of myself in terms of governance: I'm a local councilman in a small town called Millheim in Centre County. We have done some impressive things in an area that is almost 60% Republican: 1) got high speed internet, 1 GB to about 2000 households/businesses in the area, 2) Got Millheim Borough (the municipal properties) on 100% solar energy and we're the 4th municipality in PA to do that, 3) Passed resolutions on Anti-Corruption (gift ban notably), Fair Housing, and LGBTQ+ rights, 4) implemented a $15 minimum wage for our employees and expanded their benefits, 5) improved infrastructure, and 6) cut taxes. It's not everything... but I would say it's not bad for some guy in a town of about 900 people.

I've also been vocal about supporting the LGBTQ+ community (as have most of my peers), fighting against corporatism, elitism, racism, etc. Oh, and I attended a protest at Penn State calling out the Proud Boys for being Fascists. Needless to say, I am a guy who lives by his morals and does it politically as well.

So, how did I do? I raised more cash than any challenger in the 171st District did before me (and it was much bluer before). Our campaign ended up doing over 25k door knocks, 87k calls, etc. I have a lot of information about the district from the people and I had to knock on a lot of Republican doors and also overcome a lot of... well extremism.

I raised and spent about $75k... my opponent spent about $400k in district the last two months. I lost, 72% to 28% but cleaned up a lot of information about voters (the one county was horribly incorrect with data). I also got a lot of people talking on both sides. Realized that the regular GOP voter favors a higher minimum wage, supports some gun control, believes in some cooperative police enforcement (mental health related), and like working class candidates. They also don't like people in office a long time. However, inflation was a main killer for me as most of my area wasn't the most well versed on economics and blamed Biden and other Democrats for policies killing the economy or creating inflation. Democrats got the blame for economic issues, as unfair as it is, that’s how it goes.

So, yes, I got my butt handed to me. But here are some positives: 1) I made the Majority Leader of the PA House spend a lot of the money he raised in his district, this led to some other tight races not getting extra GOP funds, and led to Dems getting the slight majority in the PA House; 2) He's no longer in leadership; 3) Compared to the candidate in 2020 and other margins, Dem turnout and margins improved by 2 to 8% in almost every single precinct (1 stayed the same). This helped Shapiro become our Governor and Fetterman become a U.S. Senator. Honestly, my work shifted approximately 1000 votes from red to blue (at least); 4) I got people involved who never got involved before, and 5) I made my opponent lose where he has lived for about 2 decades for the first time in his political career.

It's also led to people coming to me about how to address corrupt people running for office (it's weird, yet awesome, getting conservatives approaching me for this) or how to run campaigns "the right way" (I don't know if my way was right, but it felt right and I was genuine).

We, as progressive folks, know the work is never done and we need to continue to make progress by taking more steps forward. I decided to run for a county seat (Centre County in PA has a slight Dem lean to it, thanks Penn State) and I went for a row office. This gives me the "9 to 5" job within government so I know what's happening at a larger level, while giving me the weeknights and weekends to continue my political/activism/community work. I believe utilizing my connections and engagement to help candidates up and down the ballot, including myself, is the key to continue to protect our Democracy against extremists or people who don't really want to do the work to better communities. I chose the Recorder of Deeds due to its indirect influence on handling properties that are blighted and with affordable housing.

The best thing about it all was realizing how much rural people wanted to be heard and how skeptical they were of some guy knocking their doors. The sheer neglect made people wary of the guy trying to get to know them. We have a lot of outreach to do in rural areas and I plan to keep doing that. In other words, I’m not a candidate of just words, I’m one of action. I don’t plan on having the office dictating me as a candidate, I plan on shaping the role of the office.

So now here's the ask:

My website is quite simple, www.zeiglerforpa.com and it had the basic information about me and what I want to do with the office (and you can always ask questions, please do). I am a firm believer that the candidate should make the office, the office shouldn't make the candidate. I am going to be an advocate for affordable housing (because we definitely need more in this county) but also for working people while in office (I already am, but to be clear, the office won't change that about me). Any support is appreciated. My volunteer form is here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1agZqj2juxBcEuAPBpauTiBFKSxOlxncOLB0nuTwjYdw/ and my ActBlue is here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/zeiglerwebsite or you want to come to a fundraiser event in Central PA that I am having to also help raise funds for municipal and other county level candidates, the ActBlue for that one is here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/havefunwithzeigler

I believe that my campaign should never be just about me, but rather all of us.

At any rate, a few bucks a month goes a long way so any help there works.

Calling or texting some folks helps us out, too.

Sharing things on social media gets the word out (@ZeiglerForPA on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).

At any rate, I love reading what people write here and how the community supports others within it. I think we all just need to remember that the rural areas like progressive ideas too, they just need it to be communicated early and often.

In Solidarity,

Robert L. Zeigler

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/9/2163065/-A-Rural-Progressive-in-a-Red-Area-Switching-From-A-State-House-Race-to-a-Countywide-Row-Office-Race

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