Robert Zeigler – Pennsylvania – State House – District 171
Tell us a little bit about your yourself and your background.
I am born and raised rural Pennsylvanian. I am married with three kids (two are stepchildren, all are boys), two cats, and two dogs. I have over 20 years of management and job trainer experience between food service, hospitality, and retail. I have a B.A. in Political Science, an MBA/MPA, and was working on my Doctorate in Management (ABD). I have over three years of local governing experience and believe that we should strive for what people considering to be impossible and find ways to make the impossible happen.
Why are you running for Office?
I believe that smaller rural municipalities are neglected or taken for granted by the state legislature. I want to change that.
What are the 3 biggest issues facing your community?
1) Economic justice (need to increase minimum wage, workers’ rights, etc);
2) Environmental justice (clean water, air, reducing carbon footprint, etc), and
3) Election/Campaign reform (gift ban, end Corporate PAC money, etc).
How do you propose to solve those problems?
I believe being an relentless advocate for such issues, highlighting facts, and pushing forward along with activists are key to resolving issues. Constant engagement with opposing views makes an impact as well.
What is your stance on environmental and climate concerns that are facing your community?
We need to address environmental concerns. We need to stop legislating like it’s 1990 and legislate to get us to 2090.
What common sense gun safety measures would have the most impact on your community?
I think red flag laws and ensuring domestic abusers do not have the capability to have firearms would drastically reduce gun-related crimes.
How would criminal justice reforms impact your community?
Legalizing marijuana, streamlining the pardoning process, and treating mental health/substance abuse like a public health issue instead of a criminal issue would be a good start. Portugal has a good program in place that our country should adopt regarding substance abuse.
How would you work to protect a woman’s reproductive health?
Advocate on behalf of women and work with advocacy groups to ensure that a woman’s rights are protected. Fight bills that attack reproductive rights with everything I have.
What measures would you advocate for to ensure that your constituents have the right to vote?
I think we expand voting rights such as allowing independents to vote in primaries (they choose which party’s primary they wish to participate in), enable ranked choice voting for all elected positions, expand mail-in ballots with an opt-out clause, enable same day voter registration, allow for counting of mail-in ballots to begin sooner, expand on ballot drop boxes, and even provide for the postage of mail-in ballots.
Personal Take
Because I have the space… #UnionYes #UnionStrong #ForABetterTomorrow
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