This year, I am voting for Paul Takac for the 82nd House District in Pennsylvania. Paul is a kind and thoughtful man who wades kindly through our polarized environment. He has a history of taking initiative and showing up for people. He deserves your vote no matter what party you are in.1
In his first term, Paul spent time improving people’s lives. He has gone to Snowshoe in the northern reaches of Centre County to learn about their successes and struggles. He’s listened to local business, community, and municipal leaders. He sent $300,000 to support their EMS. He and Senator Chris Dush worked together to enhance infrastructure. Seeing opportunities in agriculture, he led the effort to create a $10 million agricultural innovation fund that will “boost efficiency, productivity, sustainability and environmental benefits.”
When he was a representative to schools for Apple, Paul saw access and service disparities across the Commonwealth. In February 2023, the Commonwealth Court ruled that the state’s school funding system was unconstitutional and had be reformed. While the reform hasn’t been passed, Paul pursued every avenue to change the situation. He voted to pass a bipartisan budget in 2024 that added $1.1 billion to the education budget. He also supports greater transparency, reporting and advertising requirements, and a statewide “standard” for cyber charters that are notorious black boxes to the public’s eye and parasites for their tax dollars. As a director on the State College Area School District, I see how much these matter to our District and the rural districts in the 82nd.
Since my election to local office in 2015, I have fought for ambitious action on climate change. Paul has been an outstanding partner. Through his seats on the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and Secretary of the Climate Caucus, he has been an emissary for the Centre Region to the legislature and a booster for projects that change lives. When Rep. Fiedler put forward the Solar for Schools program, my fellow School Leadership in Clean Energy member Gretchen Brandt (pictured at right) and I approached Paul to co-sponsor the bill. He didn’t hesitate. We will definitely be using Solar for Schools to fund our next solar projects. Finally, he invited students from the Local Climate Action Program to meet with members of the Climate Caucus after we presented to the leadership of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources on their greenhouse gas inventory. He also arranged for our students to be recognized on the House floor!
I am excited to vote for Paul on November 5th. He shows up and gets it done.
- My wife, Hilary Caldwell, is Paul’s campaign manager. I did not consult her on writing this piece. ↩︎
Peter Walks for Democracy 