Summary

In this episode of the Zekely Podcast, host Zeke engages with Alex Reber, a prominent figure in Pennsylvania politics, discussing the importance of local political engagement, personal experiences shaping political identity, and the role of the Democratic Party in advocating for marginalized communities. They explore topics such as healthcare access, marriage equality, and the significance of grassroots activism in driving change. The conversation emphasizes the need for continued involvement in democracy and the hope that lies in the younger generation's engagement in political processes.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Alexander Reber

01:54 Succession

05:32 The Church

07:59 Why Democrat?

11:18 Dauphin County Dems

14:07 Trifecta

17:02 Planned Parenthood

21:16 Marriage

24:01 Surviving the Farm

27:33 Getting Involved in Local Politics

29:20 The Value of Democracy

31:28 Hope

33:13 Plans for the Future

35:20 Wrap Up

Dauphin County Democratic Party: https://www.dauphindems.com/

Miller Dixon Drake CPA: https://millerdixondrake.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

Hello, I'm Zeke and welcome to the Zekely podcast. Let's talk Pennsylvania. My guest today is a decorated accountant and democratic leader in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. From helping state candidates run for office to working for the democratic state committee, he continues to advance the goals and values of the democratic party. Thank you so much for being here, Alexander Reber.

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.

Great, thanks for having me. it's great to be here and to talk about what's going on. You know, my favorite part of the state, which is of course where I live here in Dauphin County, but also Cumberland and really South Central where we see a lot of changing demographics and a lot of positive change for the Democratic Party in the state of Pennsylvania.

I got your name from the newly elected DA in Bucks County, Joe Khan. He said, you got to interview this guy. He's great. So that's you can thank Joe. OK, or or be angry at him afterwards. Either way, it's his fault you're here. But we're going to learn all.

You

Now, Joe's a dear friend.

He's a good guy. I'm so happy that he won his election. Well deserved. We're going to learn all about you play some games and hopefully have some fun. You ready?

Sounds great.

All right, well, Alex, you and I share an enjoyment of the show Succession. However, these days, it feels like it's little too real, like art imitating life kind of thing. So we're going to start this off with a game, OK? So for those who don't watch the show Succession, there's a lot of swearing in it, all right? So I've cherry picked two of my favorite lines from the show. And I'm going to give you some prompts. And you either have the choice to say, fuck off, or you are not a serious person.

Yes.

Thanks

Okay, probably Logan Roy's two most popular lines. Okay, so you're gonna get this quite easily. So those are your two options, all right? Here's your first prompt, Donald Trump.

Ha

I mean, you are not a serious person.

I would have to agree with you. He's wreaking havoc in this country and he is I would have said fuck off personally, but but that is also very true All right. How about this one both democratic and republican politicians are the same?

I mean, that's a fuck off, I think.

Yeah.

And they are not a serious person. I hate when people say that. I know it's like a ⁓ social media online thing to post all the time and they're probably bots, but I it really rubs me the wrong way. People say that because you and I both know the two parties are completely different, not two sides of the same coin. So I'm on the same page with you. All right. Here's another one. How about Stacey Garrity?

You are not a serious person.

my god, can you believe, I mean the Republican Party has how many tens of thousands of people to choose to run for governor of Pennsylvania? They choose Stacy Garrity, who I feel is is slightly below on the ladder of crazy as ⁓

Other, yeah, Mastriano, like like literally.

Mastroianno. So here's what's

fascinating though. I will say this about Stacey. If you put Stacey in a room and you just talk PA Treasury, you would think she's completely nonpartisan, competent, knows what she's doing, that sort of thing. But as soon as you start talking about social issues or anything at the more macro political level, she's

Mm-hmm.

She's terrible. She's, she's MAGA through and through, and I can't wait to see Governor Josh Shapiro win again for a second term. I'm going to help make that happen for sure, as I'm sure you will as well in Dauphin County.

right, I have two more for you. America isn't a democracy, it's a republic.

You know, I'd like that it's a Republic if you can keep it because it's Ben Franklin. But I mean, we are democracy. Yeah.

Yes. Yes, exactly.

People often will post on social media a lot. It really drives me crazy. But I mean, we are a democratic republic, know, and people are elected and they also, you know, work in the Senate and the House of Representatives, but we are in fact a democracy.

Yes.

All here's the last one. I don't pay attention to politics.

I would say you're not a serious person. And where I feel some empathy for that is when you go door to door and you see people that are just struggling to get by, you know, maybe a little different than, you know, our realities.

Mm-hmm.

I have empathy for that because they're just trying to find someone to solve their problems.

Yeah, I guess I'm a big history buff. I read a lot about the civil rights movements across the spectrum. And I feel like it's when people are suffering the most that they lean into politics the most because they know it's their only way for survival. If you can sit out and let things kind of pass by, you're not taking control of the situation. So I understand where people would get apathetic and not want to get involved. But I really think that when your back's against the wall

try and find the levers of power in the system. And in America, that system is democracy, as long as we can hold

Well, Alex, thanks for playing the Succession Game.

And you could have sworn a lot more. This is not a PG show. maybe as we go along, you'll relax a little,

Yeah

Well, Alex, you grew up in rural Pennsylvania and you were raised in an evangelical community. But as you became aware of your place within the LGBTQ community, you were othered by so many people who should have been there for you unconditionally.

Yes.

my parents didn't know how to be supportive really. My dad had a gay brother, but the gay brother was a mess. And so he thought my life was going to be sad because the only person he knew was kind of sad.

Mm-hmm.

⁓ But my mother had some issues, but they're both great. I was just on the phone with both of them today. We have a wonderful relationship today, but my church really tried to get me to like cut me off, cut me out. They told the kids that I like worked with that I was evil and that they shouldn't speak to them and all these other things. And so they told my parents they should never speak to me and all this other sort of stuff, which then they've now left that church. yeah, it was a really, the good thing about the church was in growing up in that world,

Okay. good.

Okay.

is they did teach you to look for the other in terms of, okay, you're a youth group, look for the kid that's by himself and isn't fitting in, try to invite him to come play basketball or play volleyball or to join the group in a conversation or that sort of thing. So in many ways, the church taught me a lot of the values that I really try to believe in today. You know, I would say today my religion would be the golden rule, but I feel like, you know, lot of things that happened in that church were very good and a lot of people...

from that church now are more on the left side politically. And I constantly find people in the progressive movement who are very motivated by the things they learned in the evangelical church and are still involved in Christianity or they've left Christianity, but they still have a lot of those belief

always find it interesting that you did grow up in a very evangelical community. And it just seems like these religions miss the point every time. Like you said, look for the people who are lonely or the outcasts and bring them in. And then here you were that fit that mold in so many ways for that community and you were cast out. And I'm just so grateful that your parents

came around because there are so many children who don't get that with their parents, know, who they never get brought back into the fold. They don't see the errors of their ways. And so I'm really grateful that your parents were able to do that for you and give you that love that you 100 % deserve.

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.

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

there's two main reasons why I'm a Democrat. One is when I was a young child, I was about the age of five, I had a benign tumor above my eye and it was slowly descending. And eventually it could have crushed my ocular nerve or whatever exactly it was. And we didn't have health insurance. And so my mother worked for an insurance agency but did not have health insurance.

You know, and so she went and took a job to work for another insurance agency at the time. And after one year, she qualified to get health insurance and I had the surgery that I needed. And then she went back to the previous insurance agency that treated her really well. And the place where she went to get the insurance, they were awful. Like if I was sick, she couldn't stay at home with me. She had to take me with me and like put me in a little playpen and I had to be quiet and like read the Bible or something. Like I couldn't like.

talk to her, interact with her. I it was pretty hardcore.

didn't really have any understanding of why that was going on and why my mom would come home crying and didn't love the job. And it's like, well, you loved your job before, why are you doing this then? I didn't realize it was for the healthcare to get this simple surgery. And then as soon as I got it, she went back to her old job. And you know, to me, that's really immoral, right?

Yeah,

right.

And

as an accountant, you when you think about people and their choices that they make about what kind of vocation they're going to choose, you think about opportunity and you think, a lot of people have families and it's really important for them to have access to health care for their families. And a lot of those people would not choose to go out on their own or start their own business.

I really think about the great economic potential in this country if people didn't work for health insurance, but they worked for what they were really passionate about. And I think we could really unlock a lot of entrepreneurship and economic development in this country if we removed health insurance, at least at the base level,

But you know, for that experience, that is a big reason why I'm a Democrat. And then obviously when I came out, you know, that really made me realize what it was like to be treated differently than other people. And you start thinking, well, if I feel like I'm being treated this way, what about Black people? What about Brown people? What about...

Hmm.

people who are indigenous, what about people who come

countries, or the English isn't their first language, or the way we treat all these different and other lots of people, people that are disabled. I really think a lot now about the discrimination that the elderly face and how they become invisible and really left out. And so how can we be really cognizant of those ways that we other people.

because you know, which is the language that we need to read.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I'm on the same page with you. I believe that we should have universal health care in America so that, you know, people like your mother who exist to this day, who do not have access to health care, shouldn't have to worry about that or work in jobs that are abusive or just terrible for them to just provide a basic human need for their family members. Nobody should have to worry about paying for health care, going into medical debt in the supposed greatest country in the world, right? That shouldn't be a problem. Other countries have figured it out.

And obviously you and I share the same values and ideologies that are within the democratic platform. We have the biggest tent and of course the LGBTQ plus community is more than welcome within the democratic party and is the safest party for that community. So I'm glad we're on the same side.

Alex, you serve

County Democratic State Committee. What made you want to get involved at the state level?

Yeah, so I'm one of five Democratic state committee people that was elected in Dauphin County to represent the state level. So if you're not familiar, you elect committee people, one man and one woman, which is a little binary, which there's some changes happening with that around non-binary inclusion at the local level. So each polling place would have two of those people potentially. And so then they then in turn get together and elect a chair of their county Democratic committee.

And then you also in the primary of the governor's election, so this year, I will run for Democratic State Committee again for I think my third term.

wow.

But you know, this is where the party, everyone always loves to complain about the DNC and the DNC and what they're doing in the state party and the county party. But it really is a grassroots organization. I like to remind people of that. So if you're unhappy with what's going on, run for committee person. This is the year to do that.

run for state committee, run for the DNC, right? Like you can do all of those things and

Mm-hmm.

have your voice be

You we've had, I was the first openly LGBT elected officer in the state party. My friend Sean Malloy was elected to be the first openly LGBT person to the DNC from the state of Pennsylvania.

Hmm.

and he's younger than me, which is great. And so when you become the first to something, you wanna make sure you're certainly not the last.

But really it's a great chance to be together the three times a year we meet. And they're often in Harrisburg, so that makes it easy for me.

But one of the best things is the information sharing. So when you get together and you have that informal knowledge share, you say, hey, what Canvas program did you do that was a little different? Or, I did this mail piece and it really was effective. And you can share ideas and thoughts and really become kind of the laboratory of electoral politics and what works. And what works in rural areas is often different in urban areas versus suburban areas. And so we have a lot of friendly family disagreements from time to time on what we should do.

Mm-hmm.

But it is interesting to have that sharing of information and ideas.

That's great. I mean, I'm really happy that you are so involved. And then you highlighted something important that if you don't like what's going on, you have to get involved in the process. You can't just throw your hands in the air and say, you know, I'm not going to do anything. You can run for positions. There's no entry fee. There's no fee you have to pay to run for office in Pennsylvania. And also congratulations on being the first ⁓ LGBTQ, openly LGBTQ.

member on the state committee. mean, I'm a firm believer that representation matters because now there are other people who saw you and then they feel comfortable stepping out into the light and doing the same thing. So congratulations to you and I'm glad that there are successors. That's great. It's wonderful. It must be really great for you to see.

Well, good luck on your third run. I'm sure you're going to be very well sought after.

Alex, I want the trifecta in Pennsylvania so badly.

I want it really fucking badly.

So what are you doing locally to help make my dream of a democratic governor, democratic state house, and a democratic state senate come true this year?

Yeah, so that's a great question. So I think for a lot of us who are more on the donor side of things, you know, there's a lot of emphasis to give to the bigger races, which of course, still going to support Josh Shapiro, still need to get him reelected. I'm going to keep giving money and raising money for Janelle Stelson because we've got to flip PA10, we've got to beat Scott Perry.

Right.

locally here,

we picked up a state Senate seat two years ago. So we did the work by electing Patty Kim and Patty Kim is a phenomenal state leader. So we love her. And so that's been a big help. You know, we did try to help out in the special where we elected our new John Malone.

Yeah, she's great. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

in

northern Lancaster.

James Maloney, he was just my last guest on the show.

Fantastic, yeah, so his district touches Dauphin County. So I'm sure that a lot of us will go down and try to be helpful there and maintaining that seat and giving money to that seat, et cetera. Because maintaining that is definitely the crux of the flip. We have to do that.

Yeah,

But it would be great if we could elect, you know, another Democrat.

who shares a little bit more progressive values on the LGBT side and on the choice side and some other issues as well. Because non-discrimination, I've been protesting at the Capitol and talking about it and lobbying for it since I was 18. And I remember Malcolm Kenyatta was up there speaking and we got a pass through the House. We got a couple of Republicans vote with us. And I said to Malcolm, said, I've been coming to the Capitol steps for 20 years, pushing on discrimination bill, our CPA firm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

was actually founded by a gay guy who was fired for being gay, who had to pay 110 % of his first year's revenue in 1990, and then testified before Congress. And we still have legal discrimination in the state. It's not illegal. So, I mean, there's so many bills that if we just controlled the House and the Senate, we could get them passed. And they're things that have 60, 70 % broad appeal with the voters, but it's just the state Senate is holding them up.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I appreciate everything you are doing in Dauphin County to make, I know I said my dream very selfishly, but I know it's your dream too. And I think it's a lot of Pennsylvania's dream to get the trifecta. The last time

State Senate was in Democratic control. was 11 years old. I would really like to not get any older and see this happen. And I know that Governor Josh Shapiro is going to sign so much great legislation, get an Equality Act passed in Pennsylvania. It needs to happen. It needs to happen this year. And I'm going to be doing my part in Montgomery County as well. So thank you so much.

Yes.

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Alex, how did you get involved with working with Planned Parenthood?

my former boss, who I took over his firm, was a Planned Parenthood board member. They were trying to get him back on the board. They wanted someone with a financial background. And they said, would you come back? And he said, no. And they said, well, do you know someone that would be an accountant that we could get? And he said, why this young kid? He's 21. ran into my office as he's still on the He's like, do you want to be on the Planned Parenthood board? And so they send my resume. And they're like, well.

You

This is like some young kid, they're like, don't know that, we can put him on the finance committee, but we're not gonna put him on the board, he's 21.

And you know, I had been a patient, you know, I'd gone there for testing. And when I went to Lebanon Valley, you know, I didn't wanna go to the student center and ask to get tested for STIs. You know, so I thought, well, I'll go to Harrisburg and Planned Parenthood will do free anonymous testing. And so that wasn't too far, so I would go there for testing. And then I went there the first time and I...

ran into a girl from Lebanon Valley who was also in the waiting room. So that became very awkward. And I thought, well, this is what I was trying to avoid. And it happened. But that's kind of how I got involved. I was, I don't know the most delicate way to say this. My parents got pregnant before they got married. And my parents had a lovely marriage. And they're both wonderful people. They're now divorced. But.

⁓ boy.

Mm-hmm.

I really do believe that every child should be a wanted child. And not that I wasn't loved, not that I wasn't valued or appreciated, but ⁓ my mom could have had a free ride to college and didn't go because she had me. And I wish she would have had me, but had me later. And it would have been part of her plan. You we were very poor growing up and they each worked multiple jobs and thank God for my grandparents living close that they could play an active role in raising me.

Yeah.

I do believe every child should be a wanted child and one that has been planned for that people can be financially prepared for having. so, you know, Planned Parenthood has just always been something. And then right before I was asked to do this, I went to a doctor. I just moved to Harrisburg. I was having stomach pain and I thought, this is really bad. I need to go to a doctor.

And I'll never forget they had like a Noah's Ark in there. And it had like Christian like materials in the waiting room. And I went in and I talked to the doctor. And like in my intake, I had to say like what other things I had done. And they said, well, I've been to a Planned Parenthood to go like get tested or whatever. And then

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

well, why are you going to a Planned Parenthood as long as you don't prescribe to their politics? And just went on this like evil anti-choice rant. And then he said, well, why am I getting tested? I'm going to meet a nice girl soon and I shouldn't be having sex before marriage. And he made all these value judgments about me. It was this horrible experience. And I'm like, I just have this stomach pain that's really bad and I want you to write me a script and make it go away. Like I don't want to get into all these value judgments.

⁓ god.

Mm-hmm.

And I remember I went back and then I looked up his like ratings and I saw all the bad comments and then he retired like a couple years later. And I just thought, well, no one should go to the doctor and have that sort of an experience.

Mm.

hurts my brain.

I'm offended as a physician that you were put through that experience. I mean, can't ever imagine shaming someone like that. Our oath, our Hippocratic oath is treat only the human being that you see. It doesn't matter who you are. If you're a human being, you deserve care. And politics kind of stops at the door. That's not part ⁓ of an intake form. That's not part of the process.

I've been accused multiple times on social media that I would somehow let Republicans die if they came to see me. Quite the opposite. I can treat anybody, but I also don't want Republican politicians in charge of my life or of anyone else's life for that matter. So I'm just sorry. I'm sorry. It's experiences like that that give doctors a bad name. It really is.

⁓

but

again, another reason why Planned Parenthood is so important is that it is the big tent healthcare provider. For people who are worried about getting access in rural communities or just communities that aren't as progressive, that might be the only place they can go to get help and get care without being judged, without being cut off from healthcare altogether. So I'm really grateful that you're still involved with Planned Parenthood and it's such a good organization. So thank you for

Exactly.

Well,

and

you and your husband got married soon after gay marriage became legal in Pennsylvania in 2014, correct?

Correct. Yep, we were second in line in the courthouse here in Dauphin County.

That's

amazing. How long were you together before you could tie the knot legally?

We met in 2008. I guess the thing that I didn't always say publicly, but I've said it enough times now, it's not as shameful, I guess. But we met at a bar on Trailer Park trash drag night. Neither of us were there for that. It was in May of 2008. And so we had just started, you know, he was there with some people I knew, I was there with someone else. And we just started talking a little bit.

You know, he was really excited about Obama winning the primary and I was really involved in the Obama primary. And he said, it seems like you're really into politics. And I said, well, you don't have any idea, but yes. And he said, well, what if I told you I was a local elected official? And so then he started telling me about all the things he was doing in and for his town. know, really politics is all about helping people, right?

But we had spent

lot of money on lawyers to try to give us as many legal protections as we could before legal marriage happened because we were afraid. And we had gone to the doctor and they said, well, do you have a power of attorney? And so we wanted to make sure we had a power of attorney. Something happened that he could come into the room and he could make the decisions for me and vice versa. And so there was a lot of money involved. The things that

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

for marriage, can maybe get through legal agreements, but you'll spend a lot more money.

Yeah, I mean, as a doctor, can't imagine barring a loved one from coming in to be with someone during the most vulnerable time periods. And, you know, even though hospitals do have certain guidelines that say, well, it has to be either their spouse or a direct lineage, like a brother, a sister, a cousin.

the fact that historically gay couples were not allowed to see each other during the dying process, during the suffering is just disgusting to me as a doctor and as a human being. So I'm sorry again that you and your now husband had to suffer through those years, but certainly I hope that future generations never have to go through.

And hopefully we don't backslide. that's where, I'm the eternal optimist. I don't think we'll ever go back to that, but my husband always fears that it could happen.

Yeah.

Yeah,

yeah, that's that is a good marriage. See that I'm the I'm the optimist. My wife is the doom and gloom. And so I feel like, you know, there's a yin to the yang there. Exactly.

Yes, good pragmatism wins.

Alex, I understand we both have a similar near death experience in rural Pennsylvania story, correct? Yeah, so you you almost drowned in a frozen pond. Is that true?

Yes.

Yeah, so my grandparents owned a farm,

they did, and they're now deceased, and so they had four ponds on their property. And so as a kid, I used to not have a good sense of science. And I thought that the fish weren't able to breathe if there was ice on the pond. So I would go down with sticks and break up the ice. And so I went out to go ice

And so I fell through and I kept reaching up and I just kept hitting hard ice. And then eventually I found the way and pulled myself out. And my grandmother wasn't paying attention. My other cousins who were usually around weren't around.

And so I just remember being very shameful and walking home through the cornfield in the woods, back to my house and throwing all my clothes in the dryer. And I didn't want my mom, when she came home from work, to find out what had happened.

So then she never knew and then later I told her in life what had happened and she never really loved my grandmother when she found out that my grandmother wasn't present and I fell through the ice. That was very problematic.

my, that's crazy

that you were just alone. You saved yourself essentially. mean, they could have found you belly up a couple days later. That's terrifying.

I was told that. Yes.

that

it absolutely could have happened. So it

an unfortunate thing. And you do read these stories of kids that drown and pond, particularly in rural areas, frequently, unfortunately.

Yeah.

Yeah,

that's crazy. Well, I have a, I mean, my story is I was bringing grain buckets to the horses. There was like a flash flood in the fields and I was trying to jump across a little stream and there was like floating grass on the other side. And so I fell in, I was wearing my dad's boots and the boots filled up with water. So I was being dragged into this really fast current and the big, you know, pipes, the drain pipes that go underneath the street.

Hmm.

Yep.

It gets sucked in.

So

normally on a good day, it's like a little tiny stream, but this time there was like maybe six inches of air in that pipe and I was being sucked towards it and I just stuck my arms up all of a sudden. I grabbed onto the pipe and hung on there while the water's like rushing underneath me. And I pulled myself, I must've been 10 or 11 years old. And I yanked myself around so that the current wasn't as strong and the boots got sucked off my feet. So they were gone.

Wow.

And I pulled myself onto the grass and I just cried there for I don't know how long. And then, of course, I trudged back to the house, much like you did. And I was more scared of losing my dad's boots than I was like almost drowning in the fields. And so I think my mom gave my dad, you know, ripped him a new one after that. But yeah, we almost drowned. I did. I grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in is a small town in the...

life.

Did you grow up on a farm?

Don't know.

Yeah, it's near Ephrata. Everyone knows Ephrata, but it's right next to Ephrata. Yeah, yeah. And it was a 30 acre plot of land. Yeah, close. It had a, there was a pond. It was right in front of the house. So I couldn't get lost in the woods, but yeah, that was my near death experience. So I was very lucky. Yeah. So, well, I'm glad we both lived to see the day. We outlived our rural upbringings.

Wow.

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Alex, if someone wanted to get more involved with the Dauphin County Democrats, where would be a good place to start?

Well, any county Democratic party, no matter where you live, find your county Democratic party and reach out. And so that's what I would say is, and then they usually have regular meetings, try to go to one of those. And some county parties are more welcoming than others. I'd like to say they're all very welcoming. And if the county party isn't the most welcoming, find a candidate that you really like and get involved in their campaign. And if you want to run for office.

find a candidate that's running and get involved in their campaign. And then you'll know what it's like knocking on doors and raising money and doing all those things. And a lot of times people say, Alex, I want to run for Congress. I say, well, that sounds wonderful. Do you know what that means? Do you know you have to raise like $2 million to know the door, like what's all involved? so go, and I'm not trying to discourage people. I'm trying to help people understand the realistic expectations of what it's like to run.

Yeah

Right.

Right, right.

So I always

try to tell people get involved, go knock doors. And sometimes people go and knock doors. And a lot of times people come back and they say, Alex, I hate this. I never want to do this again. For me, knocking on doors is the most fun

you get to hear from real people, what their real concerns are, and it filters out all of the BS you see on TV. And most people are just trying to live. They're trying to do maybe a little bit better or at least as well as their parents and take care of their families. And so.

Sometimes, you I don't have kids, so I can live in a little different world than most people. And so it's good to realize where a lot of people are and what they're dealing with.

I have on my website, the Zekely podcast dot com. There's a way to search for your local Democratic committee. Certainly, like you said, if you don't have a very robust local Democratic committee, just find a candidate. I think it's a great, great advice. I agree. I think there's always a way to get involved.

Alex, what would you tell someone who is disaffected with democracy?

Well, if you're disaffected with democracy, it's much better than the alternative. And so the best thing for me has been I have a young woman that works in my office who's an immigrant from Cameroon and their country has been at civil war and it's not anymore. But, you know, they've really been through it. Right. And, you know, she is a great country. She loves her country, but she still sees the promise in America.

and the opportunity that you can have in America. And I think that we forget how fortunate we are to live in America and the certain rights and privileges we have, but we cannot forget that they can disappear and we've got to fight for those rights. so that's where I do love the, know, it's it's a, it's a Republican, you know, if you can keep it, you know, and so, I mean, we've got to actively work to keep democracy and we have to bend the...

Yeah.

moral arc of the universe and all those different things to create the world that we want to see.

Yeah, think I see so much these days on social media and when I talk to people, they like to pass the buck. They like to say, you know, we're here because the Democrats didn't do this, they didn't do that, or it's this politician. But at end of the day, in a democracy, the buck has always, and I hope will always stop with the voter. So as long as the voters get out and vote in numbers large enough, we will move in a more positive direction. But if you sit at home,

and you don't vote, and other people are going to make your decisions for you. So I agree. We cannot take for granted what we have here in America. This experiment only works as long as we participate. So thank you for that.

There's a lot of elections that are won by just a handful of votes. We were one vote away from having German be the national language of the country. So I mean, there's a lot of elections. We had an election for townships supervisor over in Cumberland County, hotly contested, and it was a tie. And they had to decide it with a coin flip. Thousands of votes were cast, and it came down to a coin flip. So I mean, it really does matter.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Yes.

Mm-hmm.

crazy.

Every election is the most important election.

What gives you hope?

Well, you know, I always say it's young people. You know, when I'm on the board of the college, you know, one of my favorite things is we have a scholarship lunch. And so it's usually like a cocktail hour, actually. But we go to that and you get to see the kids and we have a thing called ⁓ inquiry. And so they all set up their little stands and they have like a poster board. And so it's some research project they've done or.

you

And it could be on a social issue, it could be on hard science or whatever. And you just can go around and read these and ask them questions and inquire about what they're studying or researching. And young people are just, they're so inspiring and give me hope. And every time I'm around to be around young people and just to talk with them, really that's what gives me hope is these kids get it, they're smart. Are they perfect? No, or we know.

But I mean, that's what gives me hope is the more time you can spend around young people and hearing their hopes and dreams. And when you think about climate change and the really big problems that we have to solve, it's going to be up to them. We're here help, but they're hopefully going to be the ones coming up with the big solutions.

Yeah.

Well, you give me hope, Alex, someone who has lived through what you have lived through and you didn't give up. You kept moving forward. You looked for the helpers and now you are giving back in ways to your community and helping to get more Democrats elected. I mean, that to me gives me hope because I think, you you turn on the news, the mainstream media is constantly showing that there are no helpers. There are no leaders.

in the Democratic Party and I look to you and you are a leader in the Democratic Party and I'm really appreciative that you exist and that you are doing all this work. It's people like you that give me hope.

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

Well, for me, I don't need to get through the next few years. I I stopped watching the news when Trump got elected the first time. I like electronic dance music.

And so I went from my commute that was like 45 minutes at the time. Now it's much shorter now that we've moved into Harrisburg. But I went from listening to NPR every morning to listening to EDM. And you know, I still read like an hour of news every day. I'm not trying to put my head under the sand or, you know, ignore the what's happening in the world. But somehow the way the news is presented just would get me on the on TV would get me a lot more worked up.

and would particularly get my spouse more worked up.

I mean, for me, it's really not, it's just trying to be out there and to do good things. I've worked on a little project with my friend who's retired.

to build a park in the poorest section of Harrisburg and we've raised like $600,000. And it's just been fun, right? Like, you know, and we're not like, we don't have a committee. It's just the two of us and we've written grants and we've had little cocktail parties to raise money. And we've had to deal with local government and state government and county government. But you know, the people in the neighborhood are just so excited. They've like, oh, they've been talking about a park in this block for 40 years and now they can see it's gonna actually happen. And so.

That's how I can get through. You have to focus on that inter-angible thing that you actually can control and you can do because, you know, you can't control all the big stuff, unfortunately.

I definitely need to make more me time, that's for sure. I mean, I have three kids and my job and you know, after 10 o'clock at night doing this podcast, but I'm just, you know, I'm burning the candle at both ends. I'm burning buckets of gasoline. That's what you gotta do, you know, in these days. I just feel like I can't relax, but I know that I need to do more of what you're doing. So it's good to hear that despite everything that you're doing, you're still finding time for yourself and for your family. So that's nice.

I don't have any kids. I don't know. I'm in total awe of people that have kids because it's a lot and they're the future. And so thank you. They're good people like you raising good kids to be the future.

Ha ha

Yeah. Yeah.

Thank you. You realize how much time you actually have when you have kids. That's for darn sure. Yeah.

Well, Alex Reber, Pennsylvanian Democrat leader in the Democratic Party. I can understand why Joe Khan said we had to talk. You're a wonderful person.

You get shit done in Pennsylvania and in Dauphin County is lucky to have you and I can't wait till I can text you later this year hopefully that we can both achieve that trifecta dream because I want it so badly. I want to come to Harrisburg and hug and cry when the Equality Act gets passed and when we get raise a minimum wage and we just do so many great things in Pennsylvania. Thank you so much for being here Alex. I really appreciate it.

Well, you know, the one thing I will say is if it doesn't happen this year, if we pick up one seat, that is a win. You have to think the long game. And so we only have 25 seats that are up. There's very small, very narrow playing field for a flip. There's certainly a lot more opportunity in two years. So if we don't get there, if we can at least pick up one, hold them alone, seat and pick up one, then we've got just a couple of votes away, right? Then we just do one more. So I mean, you've got to think.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

That's right. Yeah.

Yes, I'm with you.

long range and you know, can't get discouraged if you don't get what you want right away.

Mm-hmm.

That's right.

The wheels of justice are slow, but we have to move them forward.

Yes.

And you gotta be persistent and not quit.

That's right.

That's right. You can't quit. Never, never, never. Thanks again, Alex. I appreciate it.

It's been a real privilege. Thanks for all you do and thanks for being a physician in these times and caring for your patients. And there's few things that are probably as noble to do as that. So thank you.

I appreciate it.

Well, 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