In a competitive Pennsylvania district, winning trust takes more than partisan talking points. In this episode, Zeke talks with Jeremy Ferderber, a Democrat running for state House, about coalition-building, public service, and the everyday challenges facing local families.
Jeremy’s experience spans community organizing, youth soccer coaching, a family business, and recovery work after 9/11. Those experiences shape his approach to public health, education, reproductive rights, gun safety, and affordability. His central message: people who disagree can still work together to solve practical problems.
Finding Common Ground in a Purple District
Jeremy says his approach to politics was shaped by living in a diverse South Florida community for nearly two decades and by coaching youth soccer. Both taught him to work with people whose perspectives and personalities differ from his own. He applied that mindset during a divisive school board debate over challenged books. Jeremy joined a committee that read all 14 books and discussed them together. The process led to a compromise that considered context, age appropriateness, and community trust.
For him, leadership is not about winning every argument. It is about creating a fair process where people can reach workable solutions.
A Lesson in Service After 9/11
Jeremy also describes working at the Staten Island landfill, where debris from Ground Zero was brought after the attacks of September 11. He remembers the human cost reflected in the wreckage, including damaged fire engines and personal belongings.
What stayed with him was the teamwork. People from different agencies and backgrounds came together around a shared purpose. That experience informs his belief that public service should focus on helping people through both major crises and everyday pressures.
The Issues Jeremy Says Matter Most
Jeremy supports vaccine access through licensed pharmacists and says public health decisions should rely on qualified professionals. He sees vaccination as a way communities can protect neighbors who may be especially vulnerable.
He also supports protecting reproductive rights in Pennsylvania, arguing that those rights should not depend on shifting political balances. Affordability is another major focus. Jeremy points to wages, housing, childcare, and school funding as areas where state policy can make a practical difference. While canvassing, he heard from people struggling to afford a first home and from a nurse who reduced her hours because childcare costs made full-time work difficult.
His proposals include raising the minimum wage, tax credits to help people buy homes, childcare tax credits, and fully funding public schools.
A Pragmatic Approach to Public Health and Safety
Jeremy criticizes anti-science health messaging and argues that decisions about food, medicine, and school nutrition affect families far beyond Washington. He also supports sensible gun safety laws. As a responsible gun owner whose family has experienced gun violence, he says policies that can help prevent tragedy deserve consideration.
He describes this approach as practical rather than absolute: policies should be judged by whether they can help keep people safe.
Why Conversation Gives Him Hope
Jeremy says door-knocking has reinforced his belief that people want to be heard. Face-to-face conversations, he argues, can reveal common ground that gets lost in online outrage and partisan conflict. He recalls the welcoming front porches common in older neighborhoods as a symbol of connection. His hope is that politics can encourage more openness and less isolation – without pretending disagreements do not exist.
Jeremy Ferderber’s campaign rests on a simple idea: government should help people live with dignity. His focus on community, affordability, public health, and practical cooperation is the lens he says he would bring to Harrisburg.