(Editor’s note: This story focuses on Democratic candidate Margie Brown, who is seeking the 25th District state senate seat. A story on Republican candidate Cris Dush ran in Thursday’s edition of The Era.)
Margie Brown, who is running for the 25th District seat in the Pennsylvania State Senate on the Democratic ticket, continues to campaign despite roadblocks set by COVID-19.
The St. Marys resident explained her campaign efforts include putting out signs, sending postcards and daily posts to social media.
“We don’t have the same reach with broadband as you might in other places in PA, in other campaigns. Of course, it’s not the same reach as it used to be by telephone. People don’t take calls. So we are focusing more on reaching them by print,” Brown said.
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, Brown’s plans for her campaign have taken a different path. She explained that, following a large turnout for her campaign launch and petition signing events, coronavirus restrictions brought large events to a halt. Also, her campaign took a door-to-door approach initially, allowing her to talk to constituents. That too, hit a roadblock when concerns about the pandemic interfered.
“The party has discouraged door-to-door, and we can’t gather in large groups,” Brown said. Instead, lit drops are a current focus, which is a bag filled with literature on the Democratic candidates running for various races within the county, which is hung from a door handle or left on a porch. This limits the reach of the message somewhat, as there are some areas that don’t receive the information this way.
Brown said part of her continuing campaign is continuing to answer Political Action Committees (PACs) and organizations that send questionnaires and surveys.
“It’s interesting. I am learning a lot just like when I was a reporter, learning about stuff I wouldn’t have gravitated to necessarily on my own,” Brown said. “I read, research and formulate my answer for what I would do as a legislator.
“I like new stuff and being challenged, which is why I was always drawn to reporting and government — it’s not the same job every day.”
Brown had examples of her learning experiences, noting that within the last week she completed a questionnaire about nursing, looking at various bills that had been presented, some that passed and some that did not. She was asked what she would have done if she were in office at the time, and she had a followup interview to discuss her answers to the questionnaire.
“There was another candidate from the Democratic Party running in a different part of the state who was being interviewed as well. It was interesting to hear how she responded,” Brown said. “For the questionnaire, I responded in a way they weren’t expecting, and I had an opportunity to explain in the interview.”
She also completed a questionnaire for Realtors prior to the pandemic shutdowns, which allowed her to see the differences in campaign interaction. Her followup interview pre-COVID-19 was in person, while the one more recently was held via Zoom.
“I don’t think there was any real deficit, I always worry there will be. I worry I’ll get cut off and not be able to fully explain myself. That is a potential issue with our connectivity,” Brown said.
One primary focus for Brown upon taking office would be resolving the issues related to broadband access in her district’s rural reaches.
“I’ve done a lot of background research on lack of connectivity throughout PA for broadband. When I lived in Bradford, I had cable and assumed everybody did or had a chance to get high-speed internet,” she stated. “Yet, countries we consider less than us are 100% connected. I have learned about the rural expansion of telephones and electricity, how that occurred, and I can see parallels with cable and how important it is right now with our economy — business growth, education, telemedicine. I know how easily we could do this and how important it is. There are lots of proposals, there are ways to get it done. In the next term, we could actually get this executed, and this is something that should have been done yesterday.”
Brown noted the effort is key to our area, as it would be a boost for jobs in both installation and the availability of connectivity to all residents.
“After everything I have done and read, after interviewing people as well, I know this is something we can do. We even have the funding to do it,” Brown said. “The funding is already there to some degree, although the pandemic messed things up a little bit, as there was a bill to redirect money to be used as a tax credit.”
Internet access could draw more people to move here, she added.
“Young people tell me they have moved to this area, and they can’t find homes with connectivity they need to do the business they need. We could expand jobs in this area just by having that connectivity, we have to have those accommodations for people,” Brown said. “That is a huge one, and that covers the other areas of my platform: health care, economic expansion, education.”
Brown noted it would also be helpful for job training, as many agencies offer training through the internet now.
“The pandemic highlighted the needs for broadband as well. It is really, really important that we get this done.”
Brown explained she is scheduled for attendance of small fundraisers in Elk County in the coming weeks, with other possible events slated as the election draws closer. Brown will be working with Ryan Grimm, who is running to become the State Representative for the 75th District, the seat currently held by Rep. Matt Gabler, (R-DuBois); Lee Griffin, who is running for the 12th District Congressional seat, and Joe Waltz, who is running for the 76th District seat in the state House, to hold events where the campaign grounds overlap.
