Hello, I'm Zeke and welcome to The Zekely Podcast. Let's talk Pennsylvania. The guest I have today lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and has been a political operative for Democratic candidates across the Commonwealth. Currently the executive director of the PA Senate Democratic Campaign Committee. He's laser focused on flipping the PA Senate blue for the first time in 30 years. Thank you so much for being here, Jalen Nix.

I’m Zeke, a doctor, a Pennsylvanian and unapologetic supporter of Democratic values. You might have seen me on social media working my ass off for Democrats and meeting some pretty amazing people along the way - like President Barack Obama and Governor Josh Shapiro.

For years, I’ve knocked thousands of doors all over Pennsylvania and poured my heart and soul into supporting candidates and causes that make a difference—from local school board races to national elections. The personal is political, and I take every election in Pennsylvania personally.

Where the mainstream media has failed you, I will give you truth and independence. You’ll hear from Democratic leaders, candidates, and change-makers who are working to improve the health of the Commonwealth, and it won’t be boring as hell.

No matter where you are, I’ll meet you with hope and a plan to make your community better one day at a time. Welcome to the Zekely Podcast. Let’s talk Pennsylvania.

Thank you for having me, doctor.

So I asked around about you before you came on the show and the common thread was you're an intense guy,

and not to be fucked with. And I love that, Jalen, because we need people like you in the Democratic Party who is just that, laser focused on the task at hand. So your reputation precedes you, my friend.

I'll be honest, Doctor, as soon as you said, you asked around about me, I did get a little bit nervous, you know, what grievances do folks have? you know, I think

No.

the important thing. I mean, I think the moment that we're in right now requires people to operate at this level of intensity. You know, I think you see every day what's happening on the news. And I think, you know, Democrats specifically, right, like there's a certain type of individual that does this work, especially in this moment.

a lot of deep breaths after that election and just making sure we're prepared.

I love it. Well, look, I respect your grind a lot and I'm very happy to have you here. We're gonna play some games, have some fun and learn all about you. Are you ready?

Alright.

your political engagement became hyper-focused after you lost a friend to gun violence. And I first wanna say may his memory be a blessing. But it makes sense to me that you're working to help flip the state Senate and PA for a number of reasons. But one of them has to be because common sense gun reform is stalling.

due to Republican control in the state Senate.

Yeah, I think it's stuff that we've seen pass through the House, right? It's a story that I think everybody in Harrisburg has heard time and time again, right? Common sense legislation makes it through the House. You get broad consensus support amongst stakeholders across the entirety of the Commonwealth, and it just goes to die in the Senate. And we've seen that with education, with transit funding. We saw that last year with the budget. And yeah, so it is a little bit

It's just terrible. mean, common sense gun reform will save lives. It's in states that have done it already. All the studies that we have, it shows that if you ban certain types of weapons, not all weapons, but certain types of weapons and increase background checks and take away weapons from people who might be violent, death rates will go down. And by you working to help flip the state Senate, you will save lives. You will save lives. And I think it's great that you're doing it. And I feel terrible that you

had to lose a friend to a preventable epidemic that we have here in the States. But I'm hoping that eventually in Pennsylvania we'll get it right and you are helping pave the way for that.

Jalen, outside of work, you are an amateur boxer. And I'm very weak when it comes to sports knowledge. I'm not gonna lie. Anyone who watches or listens to the show knows I do not know sports very well. So when you say amateur, what does that mean?

you

Emphasis on amateur right like there are people that do this for a living There are people that I've worked around that quite literally they wake up and they are training three times a day They're doing their road work So I'm in that amateur status where I do train daily and it's honestly just out of

Okay.

I get up, I go do cardio, I go to the gym, I box, and chances are whatever happens throughout the day is probably not gonna be worse than getting punched in the face.

There are some days where I'm not gonna get punched in the face.

I don't know. Some days I'd rather be punched in the face and deal with what's

going on, to be quite honest. But OK, I hear what you're saying.

And are there competitions in amateur boxing? you could, and how, what's your record?

yeah. Yup.

So

my pass book, I haven't updated it in like a year and a half. So I don't compete anymore. I will tell you, I've never been knocked out. In a competition, I have been knocked out before, unfortunately in the gym. But I don't compete as much just because, and actually Senator Hughes gets on me all the time. He's like, I need you focused. I need you to have all your marbles. Please do not get punched in the head.

Okay.

Okay, all right, all right.

Okay.

Uh-huh Yeah,

well, yeah that'll affect things for sure I mean look I when I was again asking around about you They said that you're not one to mess with in the ring So I don't think I'm ever gonna spar with you. Probably I I've never been in a fight ever I was always a person who either showed up late to the fight or I hear about the fight later So I've never I've never you know thrown hands or anything But I'm always envious of people who are into sports and so I think it's great. You're doing it

And who knows, maybe in the future you could go pro. I mean, these days age is not a factor. Mike Tyson was in the ring recently, you know, so I wouldn't put anything past you.

Well, I'm just glad you're on our side, man. That's all I gotta say. I am glad that you are on our side.

Hey, thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Zekely Podcast. And if you're enjoying yourself, please take a moment to rate my Podcast. Five stars would be great and leave a comment as well. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please hit follow. OK, back to the show.

All right, we're gonna play a game called weight class. Okay, and I'm gonna ask you, is Pennsylvania punching above or below its weight class on the following issues? Okay, how about the minimum wage? Yeah, below our weight class, right? can't, 7.25 an hour. It's embarrassing when the state of Ohio is beating you when it comes to the minimum wage. And again, it's stalling because of the Republican controlled.

Okay.

⁓ way below.

Senate, the state house has already passed it multiple times to raise the minimum wage Governor Josh Shapiro has said $15 an hour starting. I'm sure he'd go higher, but $15 an hour. So yeah, I agree. We are not punching above our weight class with minimum wage

How about getting justice for victims of sexual child abuse?

well under our weight. And this is actually a really frustrating point because

So the governor put a set of proposals for how we would adjudicate these issues because the statute of limitation had passed, right? And other states have picked up this guidance, passed legislation to make sure that this guidance was in practice. And so the state that was quite literally the governor is

was the mastermind behind this and we cannot pass this in Pennsylvania. It is infuriating.

Yeah, it's terrible. mean, Governor Josh Shapiro, you know, he did everything, full court press, to bring these people to justice. And Republicans in the state Senate will not do this because they keep trying to attach it to voter ID laws. It's like they will not pass a standalone law to protect victims of sexual abuse. It's just insane.

It's just not fair to the victims, in my opinion.

It's not, and it's disgusting that they're holding this hostage over the victims. But again, flip the state Senate, we'll get it done. All right, I a couple more for you. Fully funding public schools.

Yep.

it is quite literally court ordered that the state is not meeting its obligation for funding public education and we still cannot pass it.

And I think now three years since that ruling, we still have not met the court ordered obligation. And it is like, what are we doing here?

It's crazy. I mean, it really is all part of the plan for Republican politicians in Pennsylvania to defund public school, privatize education. And the person who is spearheading this effort is the richest man in Pennsylvania, Jeffrey Yass who lives right down the street from me. He is a billionaire. That's a B, billionaire, like Elon Musk rich. And he wants to defund public education through the state legislature.

And you're right, I mean, our own state Supreme Court said this is unconstitutional and still we can't get it done because Republicans in the state Senate are not coming to the table in good faith. So I'm hoping that that changes soon. All right, I have two more for you. Protections for LGBTQ plus Pennsylvanians.

can I do a bonus round and say that the country has not lived up to his obligations? Right? If you look at the homicide rates of trans individuals and the level of unsolved murders that you were dealing with, and not even just in the country, but also in like Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it's incredibly alarming how many of these murder cases are unsolved. I would, I mean, just that alone, right? And people seeking justice.

Yeah, well, yes, yes, that's true. Yeah.

I know.

is a problem. So we are punching well under our weight.

I know. And again, the PA state house under democratic control passed an Equality Act that would protect all LGBTQ plus Pennsylvanians. And it died in the state Senate because Republicans are not on the side of marginalized communities. So one more. We have to flip the state Senate this year. All Here's the last one. Public transportation funding.

I mean, this is just one of the most ridiculous issues, right?

and actually Republicans often talk about, well, we need to address the waste, and abuse.

There is a public audit of SEPTA every year. can go ahead and online and look it up. You can see the audit files from SEPTA. And actually out of all the Metro transit agencies, SEPTA is continually year after year ranked one of the most efficient, one of the most efficient

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Hmm.

Yeah.

And I think

it's up to folks to decide, are we going to have a legislature that's going to do the right thing? And again, going back to common sense solutions, because it doesn't just benefit Philadelphia, it benefits the entire Commonwealth. The revenue that's generated all through Southeastern PA and Monco, Bucks,

All of that revenue benefits the rest of the Commonwealth, right? Philadelphia puts in far more into the state budget than it gets back.

Right. Right.

people also depend on SEPTA to get access to healthcare, right? PENN is one of the best hospitals in the country. And so people take, like SEPTA, to get to their medical appointments, to get to the oncology departments.

Yeah.

everything is plugged in with that.

Yeah, I agree. Look, I'm grateful that Josh Shapiro did stop gap measures. And you better believe that if Stacey Garrity ever moved into the governor's mansion, that she would not do those types of measures to protect Pennsylvanians. So we do need the legislature to step up. But I am at least grateful that we have a governor who does what needs to be done to protect people in the interim.

Pennsylvania is doing a lot of great things and the state legislature has passed a of things. But

I wanted to show what we could accomplish if we have a trifecta in Pennsylvania because I want to punch above our weight class all the

Jalen, you were adopted in California by your two loving fathers, which is an incredible gift that they gave you. Do you feel extra protective for your fathers in this current political climate or are they battle tested at this

⁓

I don't, I almost kind of got a little bit emotional but a lot of how I view the world and how I've dealt with the world, how I've kind of processed the things that have happened in my own personal life have been as a result because of what my parents gave me. I have two of the most hardworking people and some of the kindest souls that I've ever met. And I know that like my reputation is somebody that is intense.

That's

great.

feel that they have a government that thinks of them as less than a human being. That they have a government that is not going to seek justice for their rights, but try and take it away. And so yeah, I'm very, like that's one of the things that, know, God willing, if we are able to get a trifecta, I hope to be standing there the day that the governor signs a marriage equality bill in Pennsylvania.

Although it's legal, right? These are the types of things that state legislatures now have to focus on and now have to prioritize because what we thought was unthinkable with the federal government is now a reality, right? If you had asked folks, roe vs wade right? It was seen as court precedent. It would never be overturned. And now here we are today.

Yeah. Yeah.

Right.

Here

we are. Yeah. There's a lot of saber rattling with that type of language, especially the people that Donald Trump surrounds himself with. And it's definitely a big pillar of the Republican platform. That's very anti LGBTQ. But I mean, you are such a strong person because of how much your parents love you. mean, you are. mean, love is the most powerful

All the accomplishments that you have is because of how much they love you.

And I think that the Republican platform is very anti-love, very toxic masculinity, don't feel your feelings, but that is a huge weakness, huge, huge weakness in the Republican platform. So it totally makes sense to me, the type of person you are, is a result of that love. And I can't believe 40 years, that is an amazing, like the time to be married. And I hope that they are going to be able to enjoy in this lifetime, seeing an Equality Act passed in Pennsylvania and to have you there. That'll be an amazing moment.

Jalen, as the executive director of the PA Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, you really are at the tip of the spear in regard to flipping the PA Senate blue. I'm sure there are many moving parts, but what can you tell me about the day-to-day work that you do and how it's going to help get more things done for citizens in Pennsylvania?

This might shock you to hear this, but our caucus team is four people. So there's myself, executive, there's myself, four staff, our director of campaigns, Will, our finance director, Faye, And then Britt Cramsey,

Four people? my god.

She's actually the person that recruited me for this job.

I think what people will often forget about candidates is that they are people. And especially that's kind of the beauty of working in state ledger races is a lot of times the candidates that you're working with, these are not...

you know, like congressional candidates where they have their entourages and they have a scheduler and they have their chief of staff and everything, you know, there is a person with a purpose for everything. A lot of times you are building that infrastructure for them. you know, sometimes your morning can start with talking to a candidate who reads an article and is like, hey, I don't understand. Like that's, that wasn't what I said or I was misquoting or.

Mm-hmm.

Hey, you I don't really like how they represented this or hey, I just had this really negative conversation with this partner. What are your thoughts here? Because at the end of the day, they're people and this is a new experience for them. And running for office is just, is incredibly hard, right? And I don't think people appreciate the difficulty with running because you are putting yourself in such a vulnerable position where the entire public knows everything that you have done as an adult.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

everything that you could do, everything that you said in any medium. And so it's incredibly vulnerable. And so oftentimes what I spend a lot of time doing is coaching them through this, right? Candidates have good days, candidates have bad days. And I think you have to keep them focused on what the vision

Mm-hmm.

mean, your team, your lean team is really, like you said, micromanaging or macro managing campaigns all over the state and being there as a sounding board for

a huge year in Pennsylvania elections. I mean, I'm sure the candidates are feeling a lot of pressure. You're feeling a lot of pressure. know, the governor, Josh Shapiro, wants to trifecta. There's a lot of pressure.

from a lot of different angles and you have to kind of funnel the vision into these candidates and keep them on track, like you said. And that's a huge job, man. I mean, I can't only imagine how many phone calls you get a day, how many emails you get a day, your entire team just fielding all this

So I think it's amazing that you're doing this work. And again, I hope that you reap all the benefits. want all the

the roses and the flowers for you and your team because I know, and I hope that people who listen and watch this will know that when these candidates win, it is a team. It is a team of people moving them across the finish line. And it's people like you that's part of that process. And that should not go unnoticed in Pennsylvania politics. And certainly just in the day to day when you're waking up and seeing good things happening, Jalen Nix should be in the back of your head because you're helping get shit done.

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Is it just me or does the boxing movie genre have everything you need for your emotional fulfillment,

Like if you wanna be sad, if you wanna be angry, if you wanna be happy, you know, it's there, right? I mean, can you relate to that?

Oh man, you're gonna hate it. So I have a really hot take here. I hate the Rocky movies. And as a Philadelphia, I know it's so bad, but I'm such a boxing purist that like, I hate the Rocky movies because it teaches you the wrong things about boxing, right? Like you should not, no human being should ever get hit as many times in a round as the Rocky's beloved hit.

Oh, really? Oh, please.

huh.

Okay, okay.

Hahaha

mean, look, mean, Rocky had its place, but I'm kind of sullied by it because Stallone is a maga. He's a mega Trump for now. So like, can't, I can't really like sign on to that really, but there are a lot of great boxing moves. I agree. Like if I want to be depressed, I'm going to watch million dollar baby. If I want like a time piece, Cinderella man, if you want like sci-fi, you got real steel. I mean, it just like the the list goes on, right? Like there's something for everything, but I never thought about how

Yeah.

Yeah, Rocky is just like, just hit me, just keep hitting me. And somehow it's cool to get hit all the time. And then you're have this adrenaline rush and beat the bad guy at the end of the movie, which is very unrealistic.

Yeah.

No, they'd have taken his boxing license after that fight, like at that point. He'd have been suspended by six months from the commission.

Yeah. Yeah.

hilarious. Well,

I at least like that you enjoy watching boxing movies because my wife is a die-hard baseball fan and she's not a fan of watching baseball movies, which I find hilarious. It's like, why wouldn't you enjoy watching baseball movies but she doesn't like it? Yeah, she doesn't like it, but I like that.

Mm.

Hmm. I think it's

the purest sometimes where you're just like, that's not right. Yeah.

Yeah,

yeah, she's a very, she is a purist when it comes to baseball.

Jalen, why are you a Democrat and why do you choose to represent the Democratic Party?

I think our party is one that has passed the Civil Rights Act, has passed the Voting Rights Act. It is a party that I also think that isn't subscribing to one ideology. And I think our party is a big tent party, one where you can have...

You know, a black kid from Philadelphia that boxes advocating for folks in rural PA and another that can elect, you know, Josh Shapiro to be governor and can elect Austin Davis to be the first African American lieutenant governor in Pennsylvania history. The same Commonwealth that George Washington, and I'm going to highlight this because it's a point of contention right now, that George Washington, who is seen as one of the greatest presidents in American history, also was a slave owner. Right. And I think

That's right.

Right. Yeah.

It is our party that has continually asked the question of can we do better? And I think that is in essence what it means to be an American.

Mm-hmm.

And that's one of the things that I love about my party.

Yeah, we believe that government, when done correctly, helps the most amount of people. And it's the ideologies, it's the values that we both

And I'm just really happy that we are in the same party together.

Jalen, have you ever lost a friend or had to walk away from a friendship over politics?

No, no, actually. And this is actually something that I, I, I would say that I'm proud of. And it's in short, because I have, I have friends that I went to school with, um, that disagree with me politically.

What? Okay, well redemption, redemption, okay, come on.

And I can tell you bluntly that the person that I call my best friend, who I disagree with politically, and sometimes I think they make some dumb ass political decisions, I can understand why they make those decisions.

Mm-hmm.

Their fear of being left behind fiscally supersedes the fears that me as a black man have to experience every day. And that's just the reality of people's upbringings in their experience. At end of the day, when we're pitting people against each other, people are ultimately going to choose themselves,

But I think it's always like, and me and my friend have actually had hard yelling conversations where he has walked out of my apartment. And I thought, I don't know, I think that might be the last time we ever talk again.

Yeah. Uh-huh.

Yeah.

And like, you can, I think it's important for folks to disagree, but always keep the door open because there's going to be an end to the Trump administration, right? He is not going to run for a third term. He won't make it to a third term. And I think we as a country have to

figure out like, how do we pick up the pieces with our neighbors? How do we open that door again? How do we have these conversations? Like, because I, you don't have to agree with why somebody voted for Trump, but I think you have to understand what they fear. Because that really, what that choice, it's fear.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

and I'm doing our candidates and I'm not doing my job right if I don't understand the reasoning. Because there is, like it or not, there is what, 77 million people that voted for him?

yeah.

I don't want any of those people at my wedding though, okay?

my God, that's

Jalen, your great grandfather, Robert N.C. Nix, senior, was the first black man to get elected to Congress from Pennsylvania and was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. And your grandfather, Robert N.C. Nix Jr., was the first black man to be elected statewide in Pennsylvania

serve on the Supreme Court.

I mean, what a legacy that is, it's amazing.

is honestly remarkable and it's kind of the, the interesting kind of like dichotomy. I think of my story, right? Like you have me being like in foster care, being adopted into such a political heavyweight family.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

And one of the greatest

honestly, sometimes it kind of does make me emotional is when people say your grandfather would have been proud of the man that you are.

Yeah,

absolutely.

Um,

cause I didn't get to know him that well. mean,

But their legacy, mean, I think number one, it casts a shadow. To some degree, it's no pressure, right? Because the bar has already been set.

Yeah

I think for them, and specifically with my family, there is a degree of pride that you have when you're doing this work and how you carry yourself and how you conduct yourself. And for the folks that say that I approach this work with intensity, yes, absolutely. But there's also a high degree of pride.

And now in retrospect, I think a part of that is kind of my grandfather and great grandfather looking down on me.

Yeah,

absolutely. mean, look, you were you were meant to do this based on that lineage. And I have no doubt that they are proud of you for all your accomplishments, what you're doing for the Democratic Party on the right side of history. And also a little little last thing is that your great grandfather was also on Richard Nixon's enemy list. That's a good list to be on. So I just just amazing, man. I think if you're on those types of lists, that kind of legacy, you are bound to do great things. I think this is

Go.

just a stepping stone for you in what you're going to accomplish in the Commonwealth.

Jalen, what would you say to someone who is disaffected with democracy?

I think the biggest lie that they tell folks is that you're powerless to it. And yes, it is difficult. But most things in life are difficult, right? What have you experienced in life that is easy, that is worth

If we were powerless to our circumstances, people wouldn't try so hard to tell you that it's not important or stop you from voting or stop you from participating.

Right, right.

Do you want to be able to tell your kids, and I think about that too, right? For better or for worse, I'm going to make mistakes probably in the future. I'm probably going to be dead wrong about a lot of things, but I want to be able to tell my kids that I did something about it. I just didn't stand by and accept it. I didn't accept this reality.

Yeah, I mean, the minimum you can do is vote, right? In Pennsylvania, there are two elections every year. Obviously, we don't have open primaries, so you have to be a registered Democrat or Republican. But at end of the day, you have to do that. You have to vote. But you can always do more. And again, people are throwing their hands in the air and saying, where are the leaders? Who's going to take charge? know, in a democracy, and I hope that I live in one in America for the rest of my life and my kids' kids, the buck

has and always will stop at the voter. Always.

And so we have to take that responsibility as the electorate to educate ourselves, which takes work. Like you said, you have to know who to talk to, know who to trust and know who to put in the work for. But if we all do that, we make a commitment every day to post something on social media, to make a small donation, to knock some doors for a candidate.

You don't have to ask for permission to do that. And I don't ask for permission. You don't ask for permission. We can all do that together. So I agree. We just have to give people hope. And you're doing that for me for sure.

Wow, you're still listening. Thank you so much. I want to make sure as many people in Pennsylvania as possible get to experience The Zekely Podcast. So to help spread the word, please take a moment to rate my podcast. Five stars would be great. Leave a comment as well. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please hit follow. Enjoy the rest of the show.

You are engaged to the love of your life, Gabriella,

and you are getting married next month. Congratulations. So I want all of the hot goss, where is it gonna be?

You

How many people are invited? What's the food, the cake? Give me all the stuff.

So where I was supposed to get married was in Puerto Vallarta,

like,

I shit you not, doctor. I'm sitting on my couch yesterday and I'm on the background because unfortunately this is just, that's how I calm down is having CNN in the background. And I see cartel breaks out in peurto vallarta So at the end of the day,

my God.

Me and my fiance, we kind of went through all the emotions, like, number one, I'm getting married in April and I will be on the beach in April. It might not be in Mexico, but I will be getting married to love my life. So the hot goss that's going on right now is, is there a cartel war going on in Porto? I was I was like, I was like, you gotta be kidding me.

Okay.

Yep. Okay.

I like it.

my god. That's crazy. That's terrible.

I'm so sorry that that happened. my god. So it was going to be there like a destination wedding?

It was I spent the last like four months arguing with my in-laws of like no, it's absolutely safe Porto Valladares great like it's Yeah

So what's the pivot? Where are we going?

I'm more than happy to get married in a courthouse. know, Gabby and I have just been together for so

And even yesterday, we got to the point where obviously we were a little upset about it, but we got to the point where it's like, of course a cartel war would break out as luck would have it. And that's why I love her, because no matter how bad a situation gets, we can always find the joy and humor. Because at the end of the day, we're together.

Yeah.

That's crazy. Well, I look, I think that eloping is always fun. You save a lot of money. So go to the courthouse, buy yourself some plane tickets, go to Hawaii. It's beautiful. It's a high of 72, low of 72, no cartels. That could always work out for you. I'm super happy for you, Mazel Tov. But again, I'm so sorry that you have to deal with that shit. That's terrible, man. I was...

Yep.

Thank you.

You

That was not even close to like the hot goss I was expecting when I asked you. That's terrible.

Well, my best to you and Gabriella may be married for many, many years to come.

Thank you. Thank you.

You're

Jalen, what gives you hope?

Our candidates, honestly. And I know that sounds like such a caucus director,

So I'm going to use an example here and I'm only using as an example because he was on your podcast. I'm going to use James Malone and Christopher Thomas.

Okay. Yeah.

Yep. Yep.

Mr. Thomas is really cool because I watched his stump speech at MCDC and like, mean, just a year ago, we were sitting in a bar in Old City and he was talking to me about running for office. And to see that come to fruition last week and see him on the stage and talk about being the son of a coal miner and coming from a union family, his career in service. And it was pitch perfect. That was really cool to see. Seeing who James has become as a legislator,

And hearing him find his voice as somebody who's just like, I want to go there and I want to get stuff done.

So that's what gives me hope. Seeing everyday folks learn how to be elected. Because I don't think you can, you can't teach lived experience. You can teach someone how to be a politician. You can teach somebody how to be a legislator, but you can't teach what people go through in their whole lives.

And so that's what gives me hope is the everyday people standing up and saying, I want to do something.

Yeah, then that's you give me hope

a large reason why I did the podcast is because I needed to talk to people I need to see people and hear what they were doing across the Commonwealth to make things better and I do think that there is a huge level of helplessness that people feel right now in this country And that everything seems so large and you feel so small But it's people like you that wake up every day and do things to make things better. That makes that gives me hope

That's the kind of thing that gets me going through my

So thank you very much.

a lot of this work is kind of about making a human connection with people.

And sometimes it's at a micro level in those individual conversations you have with voters at a door. Sometimes it's at a macro level. you're, you know, putting an ad out, talking about, you know, the governor's agenda or talking about what a democratic trifecta can do. You're trying to make a connection. You're connecting a person to their government. You're connecting a person to their local elected official. And so I think the things that I'm going to do to

at least stay sane, is try to find those connections. Whether it's me connecting with my team and just frankly being a human being and understanding and recognizing when one of them is having a hard day and being able to say like, maybe you should shut your laptop off for the weekend, right? You don't need to do call time on a Sunday

Yeah.

Hmm.

Yeah.

or with a candidate. It's just like, hey, you know, we had a bad week. We still got next week. So finding those human connections.

I agree. I agree. I need to try and make more of those. need to make some more me time for sure. But yeah, I agree with you. We all have to find those connections to keep ourselves afloat in these difficult times.

Yeah.

Well, Jalen Nix, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, you have a spine. You are a leader. And we flipped the state senate this year.

I'm gonna be thinking all about you. And I hope that anyone who listens and watches this show is gonna have Jalen Nix's name in their brain and say, this guy put in the work, he stayed focused and hopefully will be an inspiration to everyone else to do the same thing in their own way where they live in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. How can people get involved and help you get across the finish line by this November 3rd?

I'm so glad you asked. So first thing you can do is if you are, if you are a resident or anybody in the country is you can go on to pasdcc.org and you can donate. If you live in the 24th, the sixth, the 40th or the 16th district, you can volunteer, you can donate to your local candidate. Some of these races still have primaries, so you can go and look up the candidates, pick one that you like, go knock doors, go sign petitions.

And if you're not an any of those districts, I promise you, we will have a candidate for you because I'm also proud to announce this is probably going to be the most candidates the Senate Democratic committee is ever going to have on the ballot.

Yeah.

That said, there are going to be candidates all up and down the ballot. So go out there, go knock doors, get involved with your local committee, donate to the Senate Dem caucus, go volunteer.

Yes.

Mm-hmm.

And I think the key here is that you just have to do something, right? The key is do something. It doesn't have to be every day. If you have to unplug, that's fine. But as you have described, there are candidates out there that need help. And all you have to do is extend your hand and they will take it and they will be grateful for whatever you do for them. And you can be a part of the process to flip the state Senate for the first time since I was 11 years old, Jalen. I don't want to I don't want to be any older. It is time.

Yep.

Josh Shapiro needs to get more shit done and with the trifecta, we can make it happen. I am so grateful for you, Jalen. I know I'm just so happy we could connect. If you need anything, you know, I'm here for you, And I can't wait to call you up and cry after November 3rd when we get this taken care of, man. I really, really can't

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Absolutely.

Thank you so much for joining me here on The Zekely Podcast. Stay hopeful and get involved. And until next time, let's keep building a stronger Pennsylvania together.