E25: Stella Tsai

E25: Stella Tsai

Summary

In this episode of the Zekely podcast, host Zeke interviews Judge Stella Tsai, a candidate for the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. They discuss her personal background, family influences, and the importance of representation in the judiciary. Judge Tsai shares her experiences as a judge, her judicial philosophy, and the impact of her community involvement. The conversation also includes lighthearted moments as they play games related to her judicial role, and they conclude with discussions on legacy, hope, and how listeners can support her campaign.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Judge Stella Tsai

01:53 Family Immigration

04:50 Commonwealth Power

07:14 Why Commonwealth?

09:40 One of Nine

14:20 Work Experience

15:48 Robe Me

17:37 Organization Involvement

19:20 Am I Lying?

23:15 Democratic Endorsement

25:46 Hobbies

28:26 Legacy

29:55 Hope

31:41 Plans for the Future

Judge Stella Tsai: https://stellaforjudge.com/

Full Video Episode Available On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheZekelyPodcast

Short Clips Can Be Found On TikTok: @drzeketayler/@thezekelypodcast and Instagram: @thezekelypodcast

www.thezekelypodcast.com

Transcript
Zeke Tayler (:Pennsylvania native and since:Zeke (:

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.

Stella Tsai (:

Well, thank you very much, Dr. Zeke. I really appreciate the opportunity to be here with you. You do such a great service for Democrats and people in Pennsylvania in general.

Zeke Tayler (:

Oh, thank

you so much. I'm so excited that you're here. You know, I'm collecting judges right now. I don't know you know this, I want to try and have every judge on my podcast that

Stella Tsai (:

Hey.

Zeke Tayler (:

Pennsylvanian can vote for this November. And you are one of those judges.

Stella Tsai (:

Well, and I am, and I'm very excited to be on the ballot.

Zeke Tayler (:

Well we're going to talk all about you, your campaign, and play some games. You ready?

Stella Tsai (:

Alright, I'm ready. I've

listened to your podcast before, I come prepared. Alright.

Zeke Tayler (:

You come prepared.

Excellent. Well, we'll have a great

you were born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to immigrant parents looking for political and personal freedom in the United States. So what memories do you have of your parents while they were working to achieve those freedoms?

Stella Tsai (:

So my parents worked, my mother was a employee of Wannamakers, which became Macy's and

doesn't have an existence anymore, unfortunately, in Philadelphia. And I spent a lot of time with her. She was a former English teacher from Taiwan, actually. And I think as I grew up, I sort of listened to her stories about how...

Zeke Tayler (:

huh.

Stella Tsai (:

important it was to be living in the United States, sort of grasping little by little exactly what she meant by that. And my father was a civil engineer, had the opportunity to come here and one of the things that we would talk about is

but he actually had received a 15-year sentence initially.

then he got another three more because he did not name the names when he was named by somebody else as a person involved in these activities. And he stuck it out for another three years, not knowing how long that would be. And it's a very

tial law was not lifted until:

I remember just

being taken aback, being an American kid,

just picking up all those things about our democracy and really taking them to heart because I think I had a first, just as an eyewitness to what it could mean to lose those kind

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Stella Tsai (:

privileges or rights.

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, what an incredible story for you as a child. mean, your parents literally came here from an oppressive regime whose own family member was jailed for speaking out against the government.

And now years later, we're seeing those changes kind of evolving in America. I mean, that must, aside from the fact that it has affected your judicial stances, just as a human being, as an American citizen from what you know as a child, it must be extremely concerning to you as a citizen.

Stella Tsai (:

It's,

it's very

Zeke Tayler (:

And I certainly understand how that history with your family would certainly shape the kind of person you are today, and especially not take for granted the freedoms that you have today.

Well, speaking of freedoms, as a judge on the Commonwealth Court, you will have the power to grant certain liberties across the Commonwealth.

So I'm gonna list some scenarios for you and you're gonna tell me if you will have the power to influence that outcome or not, okay? All right, so a candidate running for Pennsylvania State Senate would like a recount on the outcome of their election. Would that possibly come across your desk on the Commonwealth Court?

Stella Tsai (:

Okay.

It would absolutely, yes, I think it could.

Zeke Tayler (:

absolutely. that means anyone who's talking about recounts happening across the state, that is certainly something that would come across your desk on the Commonwealth Court. That may be the hardest one you have today. Gotta keep you on your toes. All right, here's the next one. Someone would like their speeding ticket expunged.

Stella Tsai (:

Yeah. Now, if you're going to be testing me on jurisdiction or things like that, I actually give a thank you to you. OK, that's fair. Yeah.

that'd be funny.

Zeke Tayler (:

They say, Judge Tsai

can you please help me with the speeding ticket? No, you can't do that.

Stella Tsai (:

I absolutely would not be able to do that. It's funny because people often think that judges can do anything and that's one of things that often comes up. Absolutely not. So sorry about that. Sorry, I can't. Sorry.

Zeke Tayler (:

Okay fine. All right. Sorry, can't help you out with that one. No problem.

How about someone would like to appeal a decision made by local assessors regarding their property taxes?

I every once in a while get these letters in the mail saying, know, we would you like to reassess your taxes on your house and everything? guess if eventually that could work its way through the courts that would maybe land on your desk.

right, here's another

frequent flyer would like to expedite the renewal of their passport.

Stella Tsai (:

That would not be in my jurisdiction. No, but good luck with that.

Zeke Tayler (:

That wouldn't be a joy section.

Okay.

All right, well here's the last one. A homeowner wants to stop their local municipality from using some of their yard space to expand an intersection.

Stella Tsai (:

I think that would certainly wind its way up if there were not be able to figure that out. Yeah, that would wind up eventually, assuming that they couldn't reach an agreement. Yeah.

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah, that'll wind up to you.

Gotcha. Yeah.

Well, I mean, you obviously can do a lot of really big

people they say, you know, local politics affect you locally. And so, you know, certainly you could definitely be touching a lot of people in the judicial space, depending on what they are doing in their own lives, with their houses, with their taxes, you know, all that stuff.

Stella Tsai (:

Yeah,

yeah, the judges have a lot of impact on just, there's not just individual, but also statewide. And we have to be very mindful when we make those decisions that ⁓ we are, we have to be very careful.

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah.

Zeke Tayler (:

as I said before, you have been serving on the Court of Common Pleas for almost the last decade. So why have you decided to run for the Commonwealth Court in Pennsylvania?

Stella Tsai (:

I was considering running for Superior Court because I do love the work I'm doing and that's one of, and I

can't assume that I'm going to get that seat, but I had to make a call to pick, as they say, pick the lane.

Zeke Tayler (:

Okay.

Stella Tsai (:

it was important to me to consider this particular seat because of the issues that it addresses.

Zeke Tayler (:

Mm-hmm.

And so when you were deciding to run for Commonwealth Court, did you pick up the phone and say, hey, Brandon, if you do Superior Court, don't do Commonwealth Court? Did you like coordinate with each other and just say?

Stella Tsai (:

I think.

I

think it just kind of evolved this way. And we kind of like the fact that we were friends and we started, I said across the state, we started out baby judges to school together. So I've known him for a long time. And we kind of just, it kind of worked out in a way. And he's in the West, I'm in the East. we can, as Democrats, we can work efficiently and...

Zeke Tayler (:

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Stella Tsai (:

talk about each other and I say he's wicked smart, all those kind of things. I hope he's saying nice things about me, we'll see. Yeah. ⁓

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah.

Sure he is. That's great. So

you feel passionate about the types of cases on the Commonwealth Court.

Stella Tsai (:

I really do, I really do.

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah, I always like to orient people who watch or listen to the show the structure of the court system in Pennsylvania because I'm sure a lot of people don't even know what it looks like. So at the very top we have the Supreme Court justices. Yeah, go ahead. I mean, I have one as well on the Zekely podcast.com, but I would love you to show yours as well. I love yours. It looks very similar to mine. Yeah. Okay. So we have for those who are listening, we have it's a pyramid. At the top we have the Supreme Court.

Stella Tsai (:

Would you like me to show you? I a visual aid here.

Zeke Tayler (:

Below that we have the Superior Court and the Commonwealth Court, which is what you Stella are running for. Below that the Court of Common Pleas, which is where you've been serving. And then below that we have the Magisterial Courts.

Stella Tsai (:

Yes.

It's a lovely graphic. This was designed by Danny Ceisler, Dan Ceisler, excuse me, who's running for Bucks County Sheriff on Democratic. Yeah. It's all, it all comes together. We are. If I may say so.

Zeke Tayler (:

Mm-hmm.

Yes, I want to have him on the podcast soon as well. I love how everything's so good. All good people. So many good people are connected to each other. I love it.

if elected you will be one of nine judges serving on the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. So we're going to play a game called One of Nine, which is inspired by Minecraft. Okay, have you heard of the game Minecraft?

Stella Tsai (:

boy, I

have and I tried to play it but I was not very successful.

Zeke Tayler (:

Know

my kids play it all the time and all I hear is one of nine one of nine one of ten two of nine all that I have no idea what they're building or doing but you know what we're gonna play a game Okay, so three rounds. Okay round one Creative mode. Okay. So what's one mob? You'd face as judge and how would you fight it off? So mob stands for mobile entity in Minecraft. It's like a challenger adversary. So what's one mob?

Stella Tsai (:

You

Yeah. Okay, let's just give a shot. All right. Okay.

Zeke Tayler (:

that you might have as judge.

Stella Tsai (:

So you might have angry litigants as a mob. And I think that one of the things that you try to do is avoid having angry litigants, although it's impossible

change how they feel about something, but you might be able to give them their fair

court. And sometimes that works to mitigate some of the concern.

trying to use as much creativity as possible, it does. I do have a story about an individual who,

Zeke Tayler (:

Yes.

Stella Tsai (:

has been very upset with the court because and I

understand where this stood against coming from because they felt they felt they were wronged many many years ago and

maybe it's because I was a fresh, fresh face in listening to this first time, but I didn't just toss it out. I actually went through her arguments and said, well, sorry, sorry, sorry. You know, this is how I come out.

And when she wrote the

of the Matter

she said, well, Judge Tsai, I have to say this, it's a bit dramatic, but she said she saved my life. I think it's a bit, she does speak very dramatically, so I will take it for what it's worth. But she said that she was grateful that I had actually.

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah.

Stella Tsai (:

heard her or listened, listened, yeah. But that just gave me some, at least some,

Zeke Tayler (:

You heard her, you listened.

Stella Tsai (:

clarity on how you might deal with angry litigants because it's more about... Yes, there we go. ⁓ and I'm just excited. I'll have to tell my sons. I play Minecraft sort of. Okay, let's see how this one goes. Next one. boy. All right.

Zeke Tayler (:

So you know exactly how to deal with the mobs. You'll know how to deal with them. Excellent. Well, you did a great job during round one, creative mode.

That you're playing Minecraft on the Zekely podcast. All right, so round two is survival mode. Okay, so

a colleague makes a questionable ruling. Do you call them out or stay quiet?

Stella Tsai (:

⁓ that is such a good question. That is a very, good question because I think that we have to decide and let the system take its course and let the litigants in that case pursue that course of action. If the colleague had done something unethical, but I'm assuming you're happy that you'll just have a decision that I think might not be correct.

Zeke Tayler (:

Either or, yeah.

Stella Tsai (:

Yeah, if unethical, we have an obligation to code judicial conduct to make some appropriate take appropriate action or report it. I think that a judge's decision, is really theirs. you know, I may think it's crazy, but there may be something in the record that I'm not aware of, you know, so it's not for me to to get involved.

Zeke Tayler (:

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Got

it. Understood. Alright, round three. The last round, crafting justice. so using these four ethical ingredients, I need you to craft a judicial philosophy. so bias, public trust, campaign donors, and case precedent.

Stella Tsai (:

Ooh, okay.

So, I think I can do this. I think I can do this. Okay, so

Zeke Tayler (:

I know you can do it.

Stella Tsai (:

do have

rule of ethics regarding campaign donations.

Zeke Tayler (:

Mm-hmm.

Stella Tsai (:

and it's whether you must be disqualified because a donation is so substantial that it would breach the public trust. There you go. And there is precedent which informs this decision. So, it's all coming together, it's coming together.

Zeke Tayler (:

Nice, nice, it's all coming together, it's all coming together.

Stella Tsai (:

But I think sometimes there's like, you know, when you see it kind of thing, like, you know, like, I think that

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah.

Stella Tsai (:

somebody giving a substantial contribution to somebody, you need to think about disqualifying yourself.

Zeke Tayler (:

That is a great judicial philosophy. Strong work. You survived all three rounds of one of nine Minecraft on the Zekely podcast.

Stella Tsai (:

I'm so

excited because I really can't figure that out, the real Minecraft out. ⁓

Zeke Tayler (:

I know I never know how to play that game, but my kids

eat it up as I'm sure yours

You've had a diverse career from administrative law in Philadelphia to private practice. How have these varied experiences prepared you for your current role in a potential seat on the Commonwealth Court?

Stella Tsai (:

Well, I think certainly

work I've done in government is directly relevant to what we're doing today. I think that I have to be nimble in what I deal with and I have to be certain though that what I'm doing

Zeke Tayler (:

Mm-hmm.

Stella Tsai (:

Appropriate so I spent a lot of time I work long hours trying to Make sure that I have a complete or at least a reasonable picture What is I'm about to what I'm doing

Zeke Tayler (:

Mm-hmm.

a lawyer and in private practices help kind of streamline your management, team building, all which will be necessary in the Commonwealth.

Stella Tsai (:

I have a long fuse as I would say that. And I think temperament's very important.

Zeke Tayler (:

That's what I'm picking up on with you, Stella. I think you have a very good temperament about you. I

you don't want a short fuse on the bench. I don't think anybody wants a short fuse deciding your future, whatever case is coming in front of you. I'm glad that you have that temperament, just getting that experience in private practice, administrative law, the common pleas court. I think you're definitely gonna have that.

Well, do you have a specific type of robe that you wear based on your mood or season?

Stella Tsai (:

I have robes based

Function. I

Zeke Tayler (:

function.

Stella Tsai (:

robe that I, it's a fancy robe my mom actually picked up for me when I went to the bench, It happens to be from Mary Old England.

at a time of Brexit, I don't think it, I think it would be probably unaffordable now because it's so, the dollar, the value, the price of, yeah, the price is just extraordinary.

Zeke Tayler (:

Okay.

Stella Tsai (:

well, it's a custom-made robe that has hooks.

Zeke Tayler (:

wow.

Okay.

Stella Tsai (:

And

it's really, my colleagues who have seen it, some of them have asked for my pattern, which I have to say comes from one of my colleagues who sits on the federal bench, name is Wendy Beetlestone. It's the Judge Beetlestone model with my modifications.

Zeke Tayler (:

The Judge of Beetlestone model? Wow. Wow.

Stella Tsai (:

at the time that I was able to buy it, was a good time. It was good time to get it. But I also, when I'm on Zoom calls, I know the public will hear this, I wear a more, just a throw on a robe that may have been one of my son's graduation gowns. it gives us the appearance of, it looks like a robe, and we're in Zoom.

Zeke Tayler (:

Good to us.

Hahaha

That's hilarious.

Stella Tsai (:

run zoom so and they're easy to carry, they're easy to transport. ⁓

Zeke Tayler (:

my gosh. So you have this

like vintage robe that really has so much history to it and then you throw on your kids graduation robe just for a Zoom meeting. That is eclectic and efficient. I love it. I love it. That is

Stella Tsai (:

We'll see what the public thinks.

Zeke Tayler (:

you've been involved with numerous community organizations, including the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania and the Women's Law Project. So how has your community involvement shaped your judicial perspective?

Stella Tsai (:

I think that it's been very valuable for me to be part of these organizations. There is a number of things these affinity organizations do for you. Well, I'll talk about Asian Bar first, just having colleagues who can sort of relate to some of the things that we all deal with and also interfacing with the community to make sure that the needs are

Zeke Tayler (:

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

just such great values, know, great values that you spread and values that you bring to the bench.

Well, your moment has arrived, Stella. We're gonna play Am I Lying? It's my favorite game to play with judicial candidates because you are human lie detectors, okay? Now, so far, not one judicial candidate has gotten them all right. So you may be the first. We'll see, okay? So here's the first

Stella Tsai (:

Okay. boy. Okay.

Okay, but we'll see. I don't know. All right.

Zeke Tayler (:

once applied and was accepted to culinary school.

Am I lying?

Stella Tsai (:

I think you might be lying. Oh my goodness, this is great.

Zeke Tayler (:

That is true. I know.

I decided to become a doctor, I actually wanted to be a chef. I applied to Johnson and Wales and I was actually accepted. But honestly, I have a terrible palate so it's probably pretty good I didn't become a chef.

Stella Tsai (:

Wow.

Maybe I should have been just not accepted.

Zeke Tayler (:

I I love, I love food,

but I don't have a very delicate palate. You know, I'll just eat something off a menu and say, that tastes good, but I don't like, I can't split apart the flavors. You know, like I think a chef needs to. So yeah, but I was actually accepted to culinary

All right. It's okay. Here's one. I have a patent for a whiteboard eraser.

to I?

Stella Tsai (:

I'm gonna say you do. least I got one right.

Zeke Tayler (:

I do. I do actually. Yeah, you got it. You

got one. Yeah, it's crazy. Back when I was in college, I saw all the professors were writing with whiteboards and then using their hands to wipe off the marker and their hands would be all covered in dry erase marker. And so I just thought of, you know, what if you could have like a glove that would protect your hand while you were writing? And so I actually bought some golf gloves.

and I cut off the first index and thumb finger of the golf glove and I covered the glove in felt. And I actually applied for a patent and everything, but it just got too expensive, honestly. I couldn't keep up with the payments. And if you Google dry erase glove, it's still there. It's still there.

Stella Tsai (:

It's still there?

Zeke Tayler (:

I was in college and didn't have a lot of money. And it was like thousands of dollars to keep the patent. And I think I went to like a dry erase company and pitched it and they weren't interested. So I just let it kind of go away. But I thought it was a great idea, you know?

Stella Tsai (:

Yeah. So, so people just have messy hands. I hope they, you know, I think it's a great,

it's great. All right. Okay.

Zeke Tayler (:

That was a great idea, but never caught on. So people are still gonna have messy hands writing in their classrooms.

All right, here's another one. I have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet for Critical Care Medicine.

Nah, it's actually false. I know, I know, it's a gotcha on that one. Yeah, I have been published, but not in such prestigious journals such as those. Maybe someday. Maybe someday. I have some research I'm thinking about, but no, those are really hard to get into. If you get published in those journals, that's like top-tier medicine there.

Stella Tsai (:

Well, I think you're deserving and I would like to keep that one open. hmm. Mm hmm. Okay.

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah, I mean there's two types of medicine, right? There's like academic medicine and there's clinical medicine and sometimes they can intertwine. I'd say I'm more of a clinical medicine kind of guy.

I once caught the season's largest king salmon while ice fishing in Alaska.

Stella Tsai (:

Boy, I wish that were true, but I think it's false. Is it true? It's okay.

Zeke Tayler (:

That's false. That's false.

I do not go ice fishing. Fishing is not a pastime I enjoy. So you're good on that one. All right, last one. I was once on Oprah.

Stella Tsai (:

All right.

I don't think that's true, but you were. ⁓ man, I'm going to say, you know what? I'm going to change my mind. I'm going to say yeah.

Zeke Tayler (:

true or false.

What do you think, true or false?

I was actually so so Oprah Winfrey was having a special for Kamala Harris like a town hall and They did a social media segment and when I was door knocking last year some of my clips went viral and I had no idea this was gonna happen But their team took some of the clips and they aired it on her show with Kamala Harris there

Stella Tsai (:

Okay.

that's fantastic.

Well, there you go. Got a couple. Yeah. Did okay. I know. Yeah, yeah.

Zeke Tayler (:

a couple of them. Good job. But still, still not a perfect score yet. Look out there one of these days.

Well, some people say that interpreting the law shouldn't be a partisan issue. But history has shown us time and time again that political ideologies do in fact influence decisions in the judicial system. So you are being endorsed by the Democratic Party. How does being a Democrat influence your interpretations of the law?

Stella Tsai (:

That's such a good question and one that I'm thinking about because I think it's important issue. think that being a Democrat, a Democrat is my identity, it's who I am. But

I don't think being the Democrat is what affects my decisions, but maybe the values and who I am as a person sort of explains how I approach that decision making process. we talked, I care about due process. care about, these are values which I think a lot of people share. But I think that this is who I am as a Democrat too, right? And I think that looking out for somebody's interests to make sure that their rights are protected,

Zeke Tayler (:

Yes.

Stella Tsai (:

it's a value set.

Zeke Tayler (:

It's the values. I think

the value system is what you can always lean on with your political affiliation. It's true that I don't think that the law should be partisan necessarily, even though it is a branch of government. mean, the judicial system is a branch of government, and there are politics involved. But the value systems that you bring to the bench are so important because just reading about history, you know that there were judges who made decisions about

slavery, about segregation, and those ideologies were not right at the time. They're not right now. But they still existed and we can't ignore the fact that negative ideologies can influence judicial decisions. And unfortunately, some of those ideologies are partisan. So I'm extremely happy that you are endorsed by the Democratic Party because I know what values you're going to bring to the bench.

Stella Tsai (:

You like to say, sorry, yeah.

Well,

thank you for that. I just was saying,

it came up in recently and more recently during World War II with the Japanese, right? That they are prone to be this way, right? ⁓

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah, right, yes. I mean, there were Supreme Court justices who ruled that

it was constitutional to round up Japanese Americans and put them in internment camps. I mean, that happened. That is a part of American history.

Stella Tsai (:

Yeah, based on that

is part of America, we have to learn from that. you realize that just you just have to make sure that people are we treat people as people.

Zeke Tayler (:

Exactly. We have to see the human being. Yes.

do you have any hobbies, Stella?

Stella Tsai (:

I do. One is

play the violin and I...

did as a kid and had sort of put it aside and every Friday, I'm not doing it now because I'm running for office and it's hard to make time for this. At Temple University, there is a pickup orchestra that plays the classics. So that's been a lot of fun. I generally play second violin, 15th chair back, but it's just fun to do. And the other thing I do is,

Zeke Tayler (:

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Okay.

Stella Tsai (:

I happen to like Legos, to play with Legos, or not play, construct Legos. So another thing I see across the state, what I do have been telling people is that my son Atticus, I have two sons, one is Atticus, one is Emmett. Emmett is an animator, And then there's Atticus who lives in Denmark for now.

Zeke Tayler (:

You can hang out with my kids then because my kids love Legos too.

Mm-hmm.

Stella Tsai (:

and he works for Lego and designs the sets. That's what he does for a living. And I've said he's in construction, you know. And bricklayer, you know. Bricklayer. And actually, another thing that he does do is he works with commercial shoots and will make sure that the Lego sets are appropriate and they call him a toy doctor.

Zeke Tayler (:

⁓ really?

He's in construct- that's hilarious. He's a bricklayer?

Uh-huh.

Stella Tsai (:

So I said, my son's a plastic surgeon. See, that's my dad joke. So it's cool. What, your kids like Legos, to play with Legos? Yeah. I do not. I do not. He does, but I don't, you know, and I. Yeah, occasionally, yeah. But it's really, it's been, it's been great for him.

Zeke Tayler (:

my gosh.

yeah, so wait, do you get discounts since your son works for LEGO? You don't? well, mean, you do get discounts because he could buy them for you and then, you know, that's awesome.

Stella Tsai (:

How about you? you? Yeah.

Zeke Tayler (:

My hobbies? gosh.

What are my hobbies? I love to sleep. I mean, I have three kids. I'm a doctor during the daytime, editing a podcast, trying to spend time with my wife. ⁓ I don't have a lot of extra time. This is my hobby, I guess. know, doing a podcast and trying to inform people about Democratic candidates in Pennsylvania. This is my current hobby.

Stella Tsai (:

Well,

it's important one. So thank you for doing that. Because I think this is a way to make these issues ⁓ just, I'm saying you make them entertaining for one thing. But I think you understand the underscore the importance of them. And that's really, really important.

Zeke Tayler (:

Thank you.

I try. I know.

Well, we're going to have have a Lego date sometime.

Stella Tsai (:

That'd be great. I love that.

Zeke Tayler (:

looking ahead, what kind of a legacy do you hope to leave in the Pennsylvania judiciary?

Stella Tsai (:

I think it's one of those things where I want to make sure they've made a difference in ensuring that people feel that they've gotten a fair shake at trial. I feel like my decisions are solid and that help resolve things for people. there are very few people of my background.

Zeke Tayler (:

Would you be the first Asian woman to be on the Commonwealth Court in Pennsylvania?

I did not know that.

So commonwealth court, would be the first. Wow.

I mean, I'm a firm believer that representation matters and that is a big deal. I did not know that and that would be wonderful for you.

Yeah.

Stella Tsai (:

that needs to recognize that they're represented and also that somebody that like me can be part of this

body.

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah,

and not just the body, the fabric of America. I mean, if we are going to be the type of country we propose to be, then we need to have all types of Americans a part of it. That's wonderful.

Stella Tsai (:

Yeah.

Yeah. So it'll, you know, that, that'll be part of my legacy, but I think the more important thing is just making sure that, I did my job well.

Zeke Tayler (:

What gives you hope?

Stella Tsai (:

A president who in the past had imprisoned journalists and asked for big parades, et cetera, and his name was John Adams. And we survived that, and it was because of

That's really a source of hope for me. Just that the truth will out and we just have to keep plugging along and be resilient. you know, I had a lucky chance to meet John, John Lewis. And it was right during

Zeke Tayler (:

wow. I'm jealous.

Stella Tsai (:

It was devastating to me. And I was able to talk to him about the situation. And he pointed to his head and said, you know, this is my cracked skull, gone from Selma. You know, just keep fighting. And if we keep fighting for the truth, we always will have hope.

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah, it's

hard to not have hope when you read about the civil rights movement and you meet people like that. think MLK, one of my favorite quotes from MLK Jr. is, truth ground to dust will rise again. And it's true. mean, the truth, cannot bury the truth forever. And so we need good people to keep moving the needle forward. Keep pushing, 100%.

And my last question for you is, what plans do you have to get yourself through these next few years?

Stella Tsai (:

the next few years? So am I assuming anything? Okay, all right. So I think I need to make sure I get hit my Peloton. And actually, not just do meditation as to count as my, I don't know if you do use Peloton or apps like that. Yeah, it does.

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah, Yeah, yes.

I don't. I work out when I can, but I'm not, it hurts my butt, to be honest. it

does. I just don't, it's not a comfortable way to work out for me. ⁓

Stella Tsai (:

Yeah,

I do that. I use the apps, so I do lot of other things too. But just putting that aside, I mean, I think that how I'll get through is just to make sure that I have my family, make sure I take care of them, make sure that I have, you know, it's funny because you can't do any of this work without staff. And just making sure I build the right staff and that we...

Zeke Tayler (:

Okay. Okay.

Stella Tsai (:

Of course, I do think maintaining a healthy lifestyle is essential because I think there's gonna be a lot to do and I have a lot to learn and I'll take the time out to do it but I just have to make sure that I can sleep at night which is really, that's a metric I have

Zeke Tayler (:

Yes.

Stella Tsai (:

I make decisions.

Zeke Tayler (:

Yeah.

It's good to have a support system. need it. Stay healthy and surround yourself with good people. Yeah.

Stella Tsai (:

Yeah, yeah.

And seriously, being able to sleep at night, know, being able not to wrestle. We of course are going to wrestle with decisions, but I think that like I want to make sure when I do the right thing, I sleep more soundly. And so that's that's one of my ways I look at how I'm going to approach a decision.

Zeke Tayler (:

Yes.

Well, Judge Stella Tsai, running for the Commonwealth Court. I'm super excited for you. I'm just so happy that you're running. I have a very good feeling about this for you and I you have a lot of campaigning to do. What can people do to support your campaign?

What's your website called? What's the name?

Yes.

Stella Tsai (:

We certainly have a lot of literature to disseminate, I think the important thing is just to talk about these things with your family, friends, neighbors, and this is a, you know, it's the general. So we'll take all voters, wherever they come from.

Zeke Tayler (:

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Yeah. Yeah,

it's important to know that every single eligible voter in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will be able to vote for you this November 4th. And we need to have good, empathetic judges sitting on the bench at all levels of the judiciary in Pennsylvania. And I can't wait to see you sworn in on the Commonwealth Court.

Stella Tsai (:

Thank you so much

Zeke. Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure talking to you. Getting to know you and we'll have to arrange for Lego outing. That sounds

Zeke Tayler (:

Yes, Lego time after the election, 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.

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