00:09 - We're joined today by justin douglas democrat

00:12 - for pennsylvania congressional district ten

00:14 - why are you running for this office.

00:17 - Look emo sitting county commissioner in dauphin county which is part of the district

00:21 - and.

00:23 - In may of last year.

00:26 - I sat with families of the bhutanese nepali community.

00:29 - Five individuals were facing deportation.

00:32 - Journeyed through

00:34 - their experience with the federal government

00:37 - and

00:38 - the unprecedented reality of deporting refugees back to a country that.

00:43 - Ethnically cleanse them

00:44 - decades before.

00:47 - And had no interest in running for congress at that time.

00:52 - But

00:53 - saw.

00:54 - The realities

00:56 - of.

00:57 - Our immigration enforcement right now and

01:00 - the individuals it's harming

01:01 - many who have

01:02 - no criminal record or

01:04 - maybe a dui.

01:06 - In some cases of dui a decade ago that they served for and you know

01:11 - and are ultimately been contributors to the community.

01:14 - I brokered a meeting with

01:17 - a local county

01:18 - warden

01:19 - to ensure that those families got to visit

01:20 - their family members for the last time and I

01:23 - drove out with them as they.

01:25 - Said goodbye to their family members maybe for the last time

01:28 - that was a pretty eye opening experience to the

01:30 - harms that are being done by this administration

01:33 - and then I was approached she few months later to consider running.

01:38 - Because of my position on immigration and my experience

01:41 - that I'd had as a county commissioner.

01:43 - It was something I initially kind of was like that's not now's not the right time

01:47 - kind of situation.

01:49 - And then over the course of some.

01:51 - Thoughts prayers thinking about it

01:53 - considering it

01:54 - and

01:55 - lots of conversations with my wife.

01:58 - Came to the conclusion that like we need fighters in washington right now

02:00 - that's where the fight is and

02:03 - saturday throw my hat in the ring.

02:05 - You touched on it a little bit but what area of the state does the tenth

02:08 - congressional district cafe central pennsylvania harrisburg

02:11 - is part of the district york carlisle all part of the district so

02:14 - all of dauphin county most of the cumberland

02:16 - and

02:17 - the northern pa part of of york

02:19 - and the city

02:20 - yeah

02:21 - you touched on being a chairman of the dauphin county commissioners

02:25 - are you to public service.

02:27 - So I was a pastor for twenty years before I became

02:31 - an elected official

02:32 - and I've always had a

02:34 - heart to serve people.

02:36 - In that capacity

02:37 - a lot of social justice work around on housing issues lgbt issues and

02:43 - prison issues and other things of that likened.

02:46 - Begin to realize

02:48 - that there was

02:50 - a potential option to to do a lot

02:52 - in.

02:53 - An elected official capacity

02:55 - and

02:56 - you know one of the things that I saw as a pastor was you know.

03:00 - I share the story of two people walking down a trail

03:02 - along a river

03:04 - and they're walking along a trail

03:06 - along the river ever

03:07 - and one of them spots a kid

03:09 - coming down the river drowning.

03:11 - Dives in saves the kid.

03:13 - Seriously saves the kid there's another kid coming

03:15 - down the other guy jumps in and saves the kid

03:17 - and

03:18 - this goes on

03:19 - for

03:20 - twenty minutes

03:22 - and

03:22 - one of them

03:23 - just starts walking.

03:25 - On the trail

03:25 - and leaves

03:26 - in the other the ones they're like trying his best to

03:29 - rescue these kids out of the river

03:31 - because where are you going

03:32 - he's gone.

03:33 - I'm going up the river to see who keeps throwing kids in the river

03:35 - and I think when we talk about policy.

03:38 - You know as a pastor I've seen.

03:40 - The outcomes

03:41 - of bad policy

03:42 - and.

03:44 - Being somewhat of a policy maker as a county commissioner.

03:47 - Has allowed me to work for more just

03:49 - efforts in that

03:50 - and I think

03:51 - in washington

03:52 - we're seeing a lot of bad outcomes to bad policies right now

03:55 - and the opportunity to address that

03:57 - at the national stages something that I'm interested in

04:01 - what experience besides being a pastor would you bring to

04:04 - this role in congress.

04:06 - I think the biggest experience I bring experience

04:08 - being a principled leader.

04:10 - Right now I think we need

04:11 - I already said fighters but I think fighters who have a track record of

04:14 - standing up for what they believe in even when it was hard

04:17 - I was a pastor and hummels town down

04:19 - we also had a

04:20 - satellite campus in harrisburg in two thousand and nineteen and.

04:24 - I took a stand for lgbt people being welcomed in our church

04:27 - when the denomination.

04:29 - Was not in favor of that stand

04:31 - and ultimately lost my license and my job

04:34 - for that

04:35 - and that meant I lost my income and my house was a part of my income

04:39 - so myself my wife and my three kids had to move out of the house

04:42 - and

04:42 - had no income and also the church lost all of its assets so immediately went into

04:47 - church planting phase with that same community

04:50 - with different resources

04:52 - and drove uber and

04:54 - was a crossfit coach

04:56 - so I was working three jobs

04:58 - it was a real burden on our family

05:00 - but it was something that.

05:02 - I felt was the right thing to do

05:04 - and so I have a history of staying ring up.

05:06 - For my convictions

05:08 - and I think

05:09 - we need leaders in washington right now

05:11 - who have a track record of standing up for their

05:13 - convictions even when it cost them something

05:15 - and I think that's probably the best experience I can bring

05:18 - what issues are on the top of your agenda.

05:21 - So I mean number one right now we have money in politics as an issue

05:25 - we have billionaires running our country

05:27 - influencing politics at a level that's unprecedented

05:30 - but I think that happened because of citizens united

05:32 - and

05:33 - look we can't change citizens united

05:35 - ruling of the supreme court will take a

05:36 - constitutional amendment so there's a long game there

05:39 - but there's a lot of short term ones we can get on that so dave even.

05:42 - If I were grace to be the congressman of the tenth district

05:45 - I would

05:46 - co-sponsor

05:47 - a bill to ban congressional stock trading.

05:50 - For members of congress and their families just

05:53 - to ensure that no ones profiting off their seat

05:55 - were there as servants of the people

05:57 - were there to represent the people not our pocketbooks and

06:00 - I think we've seen on both sides

06:02 - I'll be critical of the democrats and republicans on this one.

06:04 - We've seen on both sides people enrich themselves

06:07 - with the information they

06:08 - gather from the role that they have

06:10 - in congress

06:11 - so that that loophole needs to be closed but even more

06:14 - we need to work to ensure that the people are represented

06:18 - in congress and so

06:19 - you know

06:20 - the the leading cause of banker see in america right now

06:23 - is medical debt.

06:24 - We need medicare for all our system like it

06:27 - something that's going to

06:29 - ensure

06:30 - that

06:30 - americans have quality healthcare.

06:33 - Accessible healthcare

06:34 - and that it's not breaking the bank

06:36 - and what we saw last year with the big beautiful bill

06:39 - ultimately continued to shift that burden onto the american people all while giving

06:42 - billionaires even more tax breaks when they already know every loophole that exists

06:46 - because

06:47 - they basically get a right the legislation

06:49 - they make the campaign contributions

06:51 - and then they

06:52 - ask for the legislation on the back end

06:54 - we're not taking any corporate pac money

06:56 - that puts us at a disadvantage we understand that we're

06:58 - not going to have the amount of resources that other

07:00 - candidates do.

07:02 - What it does is it means if we get there the right way

07:05 - we are able to represent the people when we get

07:06 - there as opposed to representing special interests

07:09 - so so money in politics

07:11 - healthcare

07:11 - big one and then already addressed immigration

07:14 - but I think we need

07:15 - real reform for ice right now.

07:19 - You know the number one tool we give law enforcement is trust and we're seeing that

07:23 - trust violated over and over and over again.

07:25 - We need to

07:27 - ensure that congress is doing everything in it's authority

07:30 - to rein this in.

07:32 - What would you do to increase jobs in your district

07:35 - increase jobs in my district look.

07:37 - There's a lot of opportunity here

07:38 - there's there's a lot of opportunity in pa ten

07:41 - when it comes to jobs look I'll work with anybody I'll work with

07:44 - any corporation

07:46 - that wants to come to our region and

07:48 - consider how we can make it

07:49 - easier.

07:50 - For people

07:51 - to come to our region the governor's done some really good work on this he's done

07:54 - some good work to attract businesses to pennsylvania.

07:57 - Meant we were losing many businesses to ohio

07:59 - and so and even other surrounding states and so

08:03 - I've been impressed with his leadership I know one of the things he had

08:06 - that and

08:07 - I'm looking forward to

08:08 - seeing the outcomes in the impacts of is

08:10 - the pad ready sites basically.

08:13 - You know these are.

08:14 - Sites that are ready to be built on

08:16 - because a lot of the things that.

08:18 - Can get in the way

08:19 - of a business come into the region

08:21 - building a space

08:22 - is all the codes and all the things and if you have

08:25 - the

08:25 - pad ready site

08:26 - and it's permitted and ready to go

08:28 - it's it's a real quick

08:30 - you know ability for people to invest here.

08:32 - So.

08:33 - Look I I would look forward to partnering with the governor and

08:35 - hearing what his agenda is

08:37 - and then doing my best to represent that in congress.

08:40 - How would you

08:41 - vote on bills regarding abortion.

08:43 - I would vote in favor of woman's right to choose.

08:47 - Look I have a

08:48 - sixteen year old daughter

08:49 - and she has less reds now

08:50 - than she would have when I was growing up

08:52 - and I think that's really concerning

08:53 - I think

08:55 - that should be between her and her doctor

08:57 - and I don't think I should get in the way of that or any other legislator should.

09:00 - How would you make housing more affordable in your district.

09:04 - Yeah so this is an interesting one I think.

09:06 - We're in an affordability crisis across the board

09:08 - but we're certainly in an affordability crisis

09:11 - as it relates to.

09:14 - Housing.

09:15 - I don't own a house

09:16 - I rent still.

09:18 - You know part of that is the challenge of being a pastor and having my.

09:21 - You know part of my salary be a house I didn't build equity when I was younger

09:25 - but I probably

09:26 - might not have even one the opportunity to build equity when I was.

09:29 - Younger

09:30 - with that I think we need more

09:33 - affordable housing.

09:35 - Stock in our region

09:36 - but we also need more market rate housing stock in

09:38 - our region because that drives down the market rate

09:41 - and so

09:42 - we need investment

09:43 - this is another thing where we can

09:45 - work with our municipalities

09:47 - to ultimately.

09:49 - You don't make

09:51 - the permitting

09:52 - easier fast-track some of that not cut corners but

09:55 - a collective collaborative effort

09:58 - and I think at the federal level we need to be looking at this

10:01 - as the whole united states like

10:03 - this is something that people are dealing with everywhere

10:06 - and so.

10:09 - We we can't think of a world where like I think of my parents

10:12 - they were able to buy a home much earlier than I was and the more and more I talked

10:16 - to people in their thirties and forties.

10:18 - They were much later

10:20 - in buying their first house

10:21 - then.

10:23 - Than their parents and so I think we work with hud and we found a way

10:25 - to get people into these you know in dauphin county I had the privilege have

10:29 - our first time homebuyers program that we have in dolphin county when I got there

10:32 - it was a three thousand dollar assistance on your downpayment now it's six thousand

10:36 - but we need to change the caps they haven't really

10:38 - gone with the reality of the market

10:41 - and so that just means.

10:43 - You know your caps on how much you make in your caps on

10:45 - the cost of the home

10:47 - those need to continue to be raised

10:49 - to to reflect the market.

10:50 - U s term limits reports that you are in support of turn

10:53 - term limits for congress how many terms which state by.

10:57 - The report that I that I signed was was three

10:59 - but I didn't say that I would stay for only three I said I would support legislation

11:03 - and then once that legislation goes into effect I would

11:05 - I'm not going to have rules for me and not everybody else

11:07 - and

11:08 - I think we need

11:09 - to.

11:10 - To pass that legislation

11:11 - we need to make it clear that

11:13 - representatives shouldn't be looking for a career in washington they should be

11:16 - looking to serve the public and then move on

11:18 - because one of the things we've seen

11:20 - is.

11:21 - The age of congress

11:23 - is such and the you know institutionalization of

11:25 - individuals which can be a benefit let me be clear.

11:29 - Why people have decades of service in a particular field

11:31 - they clearly know the work

11:33 - but it also means they might be insulated from the real problems in their district

11:37 - and so

11:38 - I I think

11:39 - three terms

11:40 - for

11:41 - three or four terms for congressmen sounds good to me

11:44 - and two for a senator.

11:46 - Sounds fair

11:47 - where do you stand on energy policy see.

11:50 - Look I think first and foremost we need to protect our environment

11:53 - and so when we talk about energy

11:54 - how how do we do our best to ensure that we're protecting our environment.

11:58 - You know seeing this administration's divestment from renewables is really.

12:02 - Concerning.

12:03 - We have you know

12:05 - we had so many solar projects in the works

12:07 - and other projects like that wind and others that you know we're going to

12:11 - help us diversify the grid

12:13 - we need to get those back online

12:14 - and we need to expedite them.

12:17 - And then I think the bigger concern I have is you know

12:20 - with many of these data centers going in and the energy that they're going to require

12:23 - what's this you know

12:24 - a lot of people are concerned about the environmental impacts of those which I am but

12:27 - I'm also concerned about the impact on constituents how high you know

12:31 - when these take all this energy off the grid.

12:35 - That's going to mean energy is going to be more expensive for the average person and

12:38 - energy is already expensive and it already continues to be more and more expensive so

12:42 - I think we need to ensure that our energy policy

12:44 - is something that is thinking about the end user

12:47 - and thinking about their experience and the cost to them

12:50 - and then diversifying to the extent that

12:52 - we are we're doing that in protecting the environment

12:55 - how would you work to

12:56 - make your district seat back.

12:59 - I'll speak to the ways I've done that as a commissioner

13:01 - you know in our.

13:03 - In our budget.

13:04 - Not

13:05 - this year's budget but the year before.

13:07 - We invested in

13:09 - two new members of our gang violence task force.

13:12 - So

13:13 - I think there's there's you know community policing

13:16 - and

13:17 - I think in

13:18 - continuing to invest in nine one one

13:20 - one of the things that we've seen.

13:23 - You know most people don't know this but when

13:25 - you call nine one one the county picks up.

13:27 - So that's who that's who does that

13:29 - and continuing to see.

13:31 - Divestments from the federal level

13:33 - all these cuts

13:34 - are typically costs shifts to the counties

13:36 - so I have a unique perspective

13:38 - if I were to get in

13:39 - to congress

13:41 - to be able to think about who the you know.

13:44 - County commissioners aren't how they're going to experience the cut

13:47 - is it a cut that's just going to be

13:49 - you know

13:50 - you could make a cut at the federal level and

13:52 - take a victory lap about how you cut a budget

13:54 - but really you may have just shifted the cost onto the

13:56 - property tax on it you know the the people who own property

13:59 - in the region because

14:00 - those are mandates to require

14:03 - that you cut the funding at the federal level and so

14:05 - it's going to be paid for somehow by the american people

14:08 - and so I think

14:09 - ensuring that.

14:10 - All of those public safety

14:12 - and

14:13 - you know funds that exist at the federal level

14:15 - that we're investing in them

14:17 - and especially.

14:18 - Ensuring counties have the resources they need

14:21 - to deploy them well

14:22 - how would you help education

14:23 - elected to this position

14:25 - yes so my wife's a third grade educator in harrisburg city

14:28 - so this is a passion of mine all three of my kids are products of public school

14:33 - in lord often.

14:35 - Look

14:36 - at.

14:36 - Our teachers are not paid enough

14:37 - let's just start there we solve you know fifty thousand dollar bonuses going to ice.

14:42 - I've never seen a proposal for fifty thousand dollar bonus for every teacher in

14:45 - america but the work that they're doing is critical

14:48 - to the next generation

14:50 - and and many of them are not just teachers they're

14:52 - also counselors they're also you know mentors and

14:56 - and I think it's

14:57 - important that we resource them I know every year

15:00 - when my wife is getting her classroom ready

15:02 - she's you know

15:04 - she's paying it out of our checking account you know what I mean and and I think

15:08 - teachers need the resources to make their classrooms ready

15:11 - so I would support

15:12 - funding first of all the department of education which has been gutted right now

15:16 - especially ensuring that.

15:18 - Many of the specialist roles that have been cut

15:21 - are are refunded

15:23 - and low look I think we need to ensure that you know especially here in the tenth

15:28 - we've seen a lot of underfunding for

15:30 - minority school districts

15:32 - there they have not been funded fairly

15:34 - and so we need to continue to address that again the governor's done a great job of

15:37 - addressing that within his budget but we need to

15:39 - we need to ensure that that's happening nationwide

15:42 - and then further I'll do say

15:44 - you know.

15:46 - The pe teachers act that I think.

15:49 - Bernie sanders brought this legislation I I would co-sponsor that immediately

15:52 - ensuring that teachers are getting fair pay

15:54 - and

15:55 - and ensuring that you know schools

15:57 - and learning centers are

15:59 - are a priority in america

16:01 - I'll also say this my son

16:03 - graduated middle school

16:05 - and applied to do often county technical school if

16:07 - you're not aware of this it's a technical school and

16:10 - in dauphin county where

16:11 - it feeds in from all the public schools to there to where.

16:15 - They can learn

16:16 - one of multiple disciplines and and and leave there with

16:19 - already college credits and sometimes even certifications

16:22 - that have them work ready right after high school.

16:25 - We need to invest more in those kind of options

16:28 - we need to

16:29 - we need to consider that you know not every

16:31 - kid maybe wants to go to college but there are

16:34 - there's a need for plumbers there's a need for pipefitters there's a need for

16:36 - carpenters there's a need for vet techs.

16:39 - You know

16:40 - there's there's opportunity for us to invest more in there

16:42 - that's a very competitive program in dauphin county

16:45 - and and not every kid who applies or you no wants to go that path can get in there

16:49 - and so we need to make that I think

16:51 - a wider lane

16:52 - invite more

16:53 - students into it and that's something that

16:55 - if there were legislation to support around

16:57 - investing more in those kind of schools.

17:00 - Through high school would be something I would support

17:02 - your website mentions breaking the status quo of

17:04 - this bill in congress how would you do that that.

17:08 - While I'm sitting before you with tattoos and earrings I think that's breaking some

17:11 - of the status quo I'm going to be authentically

17:12 - myself and I'm not really ashamed of that look.

17:15 - I have a suit and tie on right now's at work before I came here

17:19 - I take my job very seriously and being professional in it very seriously

17:23 - but I also am who I am

17:25 - and I'm not your typical politician

17:27 - I'm not rich I think only two percent of

17:29 - congress makeup right now comes from a working

17:32 - class background

17:33 - I was born to a single mom in palm springs california

17:36 - grew up in a trailer park there till I was nine years old

17:39 - my mom.

17:40 - Met my stepdad who's who I consider my dad.

17:44 - Had four more kids so I was the oldest of five.

17:47 - At nine years old we

17:48 - moved to indiana I always say we did the reverse

17:50 - beverly hillbillies and I grew up on a farm in indiana

17:53 - and

17:54 - I come from working class family my dad's worked in factories his whole life my mom

17:58 - was a medical transcriptionist once all of us

18:00 - kids got out of the house she went back to school

18:02 - and became a nurse

18:03 - now she as a nurse practitioner

18:05 - and.

18:06 - I've seen my parents you know fight

18:08 - to to better their

18:09 - their their life in america

18:11 - to to

18:12 - to fight their way into the middle class.

18:14 - I know what that experience is like

18:16 - I think the status quo in congress right now is be a millionaire

18:20 - have a lot of millionaire friends that will fund your campaign

18:23 - and I am not that so when we talk about breaking the status quo

18:27 - it's about having a lived experience that represents america

18:30 - and millionaires don't represent america

18:32 - that that is that that is a rare person in america but unfortunately they are the

18:37 - ones making legislation there are the ones.

18:40 - Passing bills they are the ones determining

18:42 - how your life and your experience in mm america is going to be and so

18:46 - the only way to change that

18:48 - is to support candidates

18:49 - that don't come from that experience and that can better reflect.

18:53 - Who we are

18:53 - as america

18:54 - let's talk a little bit about your campaign and what

18:56 - makes you different from your opponents in this race.

19:00 - I think I'm the only person in the race with elected experience

19:04 - so I have two years of elected experience

19:06 - and.

19:08 - I'm a principled leader.

19:11 - As I shared earlier I have a history of fighting for what I believe in.

19:15 - I've delivered for dolphin county

19:17 - in my elected experience I haven't don't just have

19:19 - electrics elected experience I've also

19:22 - delivered in that capacity so.

19:24 - Few things I would note

19:26 - the county minimum wage is now sixteen dollars an hour because I fought for that.

19:30 - Much prison reform has gone into effect because of something that you know.

19:34 - I fought for very accessible to the public that's very important to me

19:38 - when we chose chose to

19:40 - you know really

19:42 - put an emphasis on the prison

19:43 - which was in my county commissioner campaign one of the

19:46 - things that was critical to me was to do prison town halls

19:49 - where family members and community members could come and

19:52 - you know we have

19:53 - prison board meetings monthly

19:55 - but they're not

19:56 - a two way conversation you know you can make

19:58 - public comment but it's not a two way conversation.

20:01 - Our prison town halls have been a space where

20:03 - prison administration shows up can answer questions can help

20:07 - guide people through the systems

20:09 - we do that quarterly now.

20:11 - Well that

20:12 - and look I think I've fought corruption

20:14 - in dauphin county there was a lot of that when I got there

20:17 - and

20:18 - and I think there's a lot of corruption right now

20:19 - in dc we look at a president

20:22 - who.

20:23 - You know has enriched himself over a billion dollars

20:25 - and now he's suing the government for ten billion dollars

20:28 - and

20:29 - we see him.

20:30 - You know ray eating election offices

20:33 - in georgia

20:34 - and taking ballots because.

20:36 - He believes the twenty twenty election was stolen from him and he still wants to be

20:40 - vindicated even though the courts have already

20:42 - ruled in every single one of those cases that there's no merit to that

20:46 - and then we see

20:48 - and

20:49 - you know american americans now

20:51 - s executed in our streets

20:53 - and

20:54 - it's bad enough that they're executed in the streets alex pretties executed

20:57 - and you know the same day has

20:59 - his characters assassinated by the president

21:01 - the united states and his administration.

21:04 - I'm not going to be silent when it comes to those things.

21:07 - I I think I have a

21:09 - a.

21:09 - Good sense of speaking out

21:10 - and an ability to

21:13 - to share my convictions share what I think is morally right

21:16 - and defend the constitution

21:19 - but also defend it in the attention economy that

21:21 - we're in because that's what we're in right now

21:23 - most people don't sit down and watch thirty minute interviews

21:26 - with a candidate.

21:27 - They're going to

21:28 - grab it in thirty second bytes on your instagram or tiktok

21:31 - and I know how to leverage those tools in a way way that hopefully

21:34 - gets the message out

21:35 - so that's some of what makes me different I think

21:37 - can you talk a little bit more about how you have been campaigning like you said with

21:40 - a short little videos on social media

21:42 - yeah we're having fun with it look.

21:44 - I

21:45 - I think

21:46 - I truly believe you when you run for office.

21:50 - You should try to have fun with it

21:51 - it's

21:52 - it's

21:52 - it's kind

21:53 - it's competition in some ways right it is competitive

21:56 - but it's something that you know we think very

21:58 - strategically about how we message things.

22:01 - Just this week we released a reverse

22:03 - attack ad on me which is basically like

22:06 - you know justin douglas is the democrat they warned you about

22:09 - he supports medicare for all

22:11 - he's not even taking corporate pac money like

22:14 - you know like basically just all the things that are I think good about my

22:17 - campaign

22:18 - but

22:19 - you know in this particular you know

22:21 - attention economy that kind of grabs your attention like whoa hold on is he posting

22:24 - an attack out about him what is this

22:26 - and so we we

22:27 - we play those games we we we try to beat the algorithm

22:29 - if you will and try to get in front of people

22:32 - and you know no I'm a

22:34 - digital native I'm forty one years old I mean I I remember

22:37 - in college you know signing up for twitter before it ever blew up I remember.

22:42 - You know my I do remember myspace so maybe I'm not

22:44 - as much of a digital native as I think I am but

22:47 - but I've learned the tools I've grew up around the tools and I've used the tools even

22:51 - as a pastor to communicate and so

22:53 - I I understand that and and we're trying to

22:54 - go where the people are we're also trying to

22:57 - excite a younger audience

22:59 - look we have a lot of young people that are disengaged when it comes to politics and

23:03 - and you know what's happening in the political landscape right now

23:06 - it greatly affects them

23:08 - you know what I mean when we talk about like student

23:09 - loan forgiveness and things like that it's like this.

23:12 - We.

23:13 - Just talk about the f stability of college or

23:15 - in this case lack thereof affordability right

23:17 - and these are decisions made by legislators right

23:21 - so trying to encourage them to get involved our very first town hall we've had I

23:24 - think five or six town halls at this point

23:26 - our very first one was intentionally at

23:28 - penn state harrisburg because we wanted to go where the students were

23:32 - and try to encourage them to stay sign up to vote

23:34 - to register to vote and ultimately to to to remember that

23:38 - it's not just a general election it's a primary

23:40 - it's not just a presidential election it's you

23:42 - know municipal elections that matter and so

23:44 - trying to educate people on how to show up.

23:47 - The income net republican in this race is congressman scott perry and a spokesperson

23:52 - from his campaign accused you a quote

23:54 - tying yourself to the most radical fringe of the democrat

23:57 - party at every turn and quote how do you respond to that.

24:00 - I guess if it's radical to say that people shouldn't be

24:03 - going bankrupt to pay for

24:05 - seeing a doctor

24:06 - then I guess I'm a radical I guess if it's radical to say

24:09 - that the constitution still matters I guess I'm a radical

24:13 - I guess it was radical to say

24:15 - that americans shouldn't be murdered in the

24:17 - streets by their federal government I'm a radical

24:20 - I mean I think what's actually radicals what this administration's doing

24:24 - and so look at.

24:26 - The the accusations are going to be.

24:29 - I'm far left liberal whatever

24:32 - look.

24:33 - I grew up on a farm.

24:35 - I was

24:36 - you know

24:36 - I was homeschooled

24:37 - I have two degrees from liberty university

24:39 - like.

24:41 - I know conservative politics I know

24:44 - you know

24:45 - even more threatening I know christian nationalism

24:48 - and so

24:49 - I've I've lived much of that

24:51 - and so.

24:52 - You can pay me in whatever box you want to paint me but

24:54 - ultimately I want to deliver for the american people

24:57 - and let me say it this way

24:58 - I am a radical

24:59 - in that I also criticize my

25:00 - party and you know the the biggest criticism I have of my parties whenever they are

25:05 - in power they never run up the score for the american people.

25:08 - They don't deliver

25:09 - and and I think.

25:11 - We need to deliver

25:12 - and I think we also need to go out and take victory laps when we do

25:15 - we do a bad job of that

25:16 - we we we we try to you know

25:18 - position ourselves as humble

25:20 - but I think we need to show the american people

25:22 - that our agenda is one that will deliver for you

25:24 - it's not going to deliver for us

25:26 - individually we're not trying to profit off of you you

25:28 - were profit off of our seats

25:30 - we're here to deliver for you

25:32 - and then we are going to take a collective victory

25:33 - lap when we get that done because that's hard work

25:36 - and we deliver for you so

25:37 - that look if that makes me a radical then so be it.

25:40 - I think people may may

25:42 - may want radical leadership right now if that's what it looks like.

25:45 - Take the last minute we have to tell the viewers why they should vote for you.

25:50 - Look I think we're

25:51 - at an unprecedented time

25:53 - in american history right now.

25:54 - I think we're seeing an administration that continues

25:58 - to overreach at just about every single corner and do things that.

26:04 - Many of us

26:05 - don't even think

26:06 - could have imagined even though in a lot of

26:07 - cases they're told to say we're going to do it.

26:12 - This has to stop

26:14 - and.

26:16 - No matter what happens donald trump will still have the power to veto

26:19 - and I think

26:20 - it's really important that we put fighters there.

26:24 - To prepare the way for the agenda that is going to be

26:27 - a post donald trump

26:28 - because look.

26:29 - It takes a second to burn a house down

26:31 - but it takes a while to rebuild it

26:33 - and

26:34 - we need to be addressing the ways fires are being lit in our country right now.

26:38 - So that

26:39 - the american people are with us for the rebuild

26:42 - we need to start building an agenda to

26:44 - as a party.

26:46 - That

26:46 - you know the american people can get behind.

26:48 - I think I represent that well

26:50 - I think.

26:51 - When

26:52 - when this administration overreaches I have

26:53 - a great way of going out and communicating

26:56 - clearly

26:56 - what they're doing

26:58 - and we'll fight.

27:00 - For

27:00 - pennsylvania's in the tenth district

27:03 - and deliver here to look I didn't say this

27:06 - earlier but I'll say it now.

27:08 - I think we need to be bringing money back to this district

27:10 - I look at harrisburg for example and I look at the parking debacle and I say wow

27:14 - if a congressman could get an earmark

27:16 - to help relieve some of this debt.

27:18 - Could that really transform harrisburg

27:21 - because when you look at harrisburg right now one of the biggest challenges is you

27:24 - don't want to go pay four dollars an hour to park they're

27:26 - to go to dinner but if that

27:28 - if that

27:29 - you know could be relieved in some way

27:31 - it can make a huge economic impact for our region because the the capital city

27:36 - should be shining and there's so much potential in harrisburg

27:38 - so I want to also go and say

27:41 - how can we bring money back to this district

27:42 - for economic development I currently sit on

27:44 - the board critic

27:46 - which is the key capital region economic development corporation and like

27:49 - I see the challenges we have

27:51 - and I really want to address those and so those are some of

27:53 - some reasons you should vote for me and you can learn more at justin douglas dot u s.

27:57 - We've been speaking with justin douglas democrat

27:59 - for pennsylvania congressional district ten

28:01 - thank you for your time

28:02 - thank you.

28:06 - Hmm

28:09 - it.