Summary

In this episode of The Zekely Podcast, host Zeke interviews Dylan Altemara, a candidate for state representative in Pennsylvania's HD 39. Dylan discusses his motivations for running, the challenges he has faced, and his accomplishments as chair of the Elizabeth Township Democratic Committee. The conversation covers critical issues such as gun control, healthcare access, the importance of unions, and LGBTQ rights. Dylan emphasizes the need for common sense policies and the importance of community engagement in politics. He expresses hope for the future and the necessity of electing more Democrats to create positive change in Pennsylvania.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Dylan Altemara

01:54 Why State Rep?

03:02 Threats

05:34 Democratic Committee Chair

07:18 Gun Control and Public Safety

10:34 Bullseye

14:29 Healthcare Access and Hospital Closures

17:26 The Doctor Is In

20:20 Why Democrat

21:29 Children's Healthcare

23:47 The Importance of Unions

26:59 Abuse

29:04 Advocacy for LGBTQ+ Rights

31:12 Just a Question

33:42 Minimum Wage

36:58 Finding Hope

37:54 Plans for the Future

39:29 Wrap Up

40:48 Intro and Outro Updated.mp4

Dylan Altemara: https://www.dylan4pa.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. The guest I have today is a fourth generation resident of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He's a union activist, educator, community leader, and now he's running to be a state representative in HD 39. Thank you so much for being here, Dylan Altemara.

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.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Absolutely. So Dylan, have to know how did you find me? Because you sent me an email through The Zekely Podcast website and here we are.

Yeah, so actually a friend of mine did some work for Dan Goughnour when Dan was running for the special election. And I saw Dan's recording with you and thought it went well and definitely wanted to reach out because I think, ⁓ you you offer a great platform to folks, not just as candidates, but just, know, as community leaders. And so I definitely wanted to reach out and I was hopeful that you would provide me your platform.

⁓ Dan, yeah.

Absolutely. Well, Dan Goughnour great guest, so grateful that he won that special election, keeping the state house majority. And now we're going to learn all about you and have some fun. Are you ready? All right.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, Dylan, why have you decided to run to be a state rep in Pennsylvania?

Yeah, so simple answer. We've unfortunately in this district had Republican leaders for the last 15 years.

know, I'm not running against Andrew Kuzma, because I think he's a bad guy. But ultimately, he's a guy who's collecting full time pay to do part time work. You know, I don't think it's

actually feasible to be a state representative and also work three, possibly four different lawyer jobs.

I just think when you're getting pushed and pulled in all those directions on the legal side, it's really impossible to focus on the issues pertinent to the 39th district and whether it's advocating for lower property taxes for working people or seniors on fixed incomes, getting 43 or as I call it, the road to nowhere finally done, or just taking on whatever else the current issues of the day are. I think the constituents of this district really do deserve a full-time rep.

to advocate for their needs. And I think that's primarily ultimately why I've decided to run.

interesting. Well, we're going to talk about the current state reps record, which I feel like are not very moderate. So we're going to get down to that. All right. But thanks for answering

Dylan, I read online that you were either recently or the recent past threatened by a Republican official. So how did you handle that situation?

Yeah. I was, yeah.

Yeah, so to kind of get into the backstory there, a friend of mine posted on her social media a story pertaining to our local magistrate who is very, very chummy with my opponent. And I understand maybe why the magistrate didn't want to necessarily go through living up or reliving that situation as it was a pretty unfortunate situation pertaining to her husband.

⁓ But rather than reach out to my friend who posted it, I guess as an elected magistrate, she thought it was a good idea to reach out to me and threaten me and needless to say, in the weeks after I started to receive some really strange text messages, know, targeting me for being gay, and it was clear, I think, who they came from. She'll deny it. But ultimately where we're at with that is I had to make a report.

And it's my understanding the judicial conduct board is looking into it. So I really can't say too, too much more about it, but ⁓ with where things are at currently, yeah, that's where the situation is. And you know, it's

Yeah.

And I just think, you know, as a

17 year incumbent, she would have handled it a bit differently. But you know, they say absolute power sometimes corrupts absolutely. And I think whether it's, you know, our state reps, or state senators in Harrisburg, or especially some of our district magistrates throughout Pennsylvania, there's a layer of corruption and privilege there that really does need to be exposed.

Yeah.

That's crazy, a judge. A judge. A sitting judge.

A judge.

A sitting judge, yep. And I have the screenshots of the messages. Basically, you you don't want to go to war with me and I'll post things about you and tell people what a not nice person you are. Yeah.

That's

not great. First of all, I'm sorry that that happened to you. It's terrible. Well, it shouldn't happen, especially not someone who has a position of power like that. And this judge was running for reelection in the most recent, on November 4th, and they were reelected.

No worries. mean, hey, yeah, it happens. It happens. Yeah.

⁓ yep, crossfiled.

They were reelected. Yeah, they crossfiled unopposed. You know, they ran as a Democrat and a Republican. And yeah, that's what happened.

No.

I mean, it's

unfortunate that this judge was reelected and that has that kind of power on the bench, but I hope that someday they will see some kind of justice. And I hope that this never happens to you again.

Yeah.

Dylan, what have been some of your accomplishments as the current chair of the Elizabeth Township Democratic Committee?

So I think probably one of the proudest things that we were actually able to recently accomplish is we were one of the municipalities that had voter turnout this time around up over 11 and a half percentage points compared to the most recent, you know, municipal election after a presidential election.

ultimately, particularly in a red community, I think to say that we were able to go ⁓ perfect as far as retention races and some of the school board races that we were able to be successful in and be the loading, our Democratic candidate was actually the leading vote getter of all of the states or of all the school board candidates are things that I definitely think were

you know, personal wins as a chair and a local committee.

I think it's great. always like to highlight local democratic committees because really the foot soldiers of the democratic party, that's where it's at. And all politics is local. So when it comes to getting out the vote in every election every year, whether it's school boards or commissioners or prothonotaries, mean, this is the organizing and all of these positions are volunteer based. Nobody's getting paid.

to go out and organize in the communities. And so I'm really grateful that you took a leadership position. And when people always are asking, who are the leaders in the Democratic Party? I'm talking to one. I'm talking to a leader in the Democratic Party at the local level. And they are just as important as the leaders who we are looking for in Washington, DC. So thank you for that.

No worries, no worries. I appreciate it. It's an honor to be able to serve in this role.

So Dylan, this year, the current Republican representing your district voted no to prohibit the possession and use of machine gun conversion devices, voted no to prohibit the use and distribution of ghost guns, and voted no

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

for purchasing firearms, and one more, voted no on removing firearms from individuals in crisis.

You know, we have a gun epidemic in this country. Pennsylvania is not free, not immune from that, exactly. So what would you do when it came to your vote in Harrisburg and protecting people from senseless gun violence?

immune.

Yeah, I mean, think first and foremost, I'm glad you highlighted this to start the conversation about Andrew because, you know, this is a situation where, you know, he has been heavily, heavily funded by the gun owners of America. And let's be real, I think if you know Andy as a person, he might be, I would imagine he's probably somebody like most Republicans who would say that, you know, they support the Second Amendment. And frankly, as a Democrat, so do I.

The problem though is, you know, to exist in a Republican party nowadays and to not draw a Republican primary opponent, you have to do and take some pretty extreme votes.

I think it's not very common sense to allow conversion devices to turn semi-automatic weapons into machine guns. I do not think it's common sense not to have red flag laws or any sort of mechanism in place to identify people who pose a risk or a danger to themselves or to others.

yet whether it's Andy Kuzma or any of the other Republicans in the House or Senate, they have, it seems, no trouble making it easier

for criminals or people who have bad intentions to get guns or to get weapons that can easily make crime much, much more likely.

And every time you vote for the

pro-crime agenda, you're just making it that much more likely that the next mass shooting or the next suicide or next domestic incident is going to occur. It's as simple as that.

Right. mean,

I mean, you you highlight something that's very important. One, we all support the Second Amendment. Right. I mean, Democrat, there's never been a time where Democrats have said we want to take away everyone's guns. It's just that's just propaganda. That's misinformation. It's not true. And also what is true is that Republicans are not moderate on gun control. You know, they're extreme.

the current Republican state rep might be a nice guy.

But whether he is forced to vote this way or he wants, it doesn't matter. A vote is a vote. And he is voting at the extreme right of the spectrum. is not it is not moderate to look at children who are being killed ⁓ senselessly in

Children are having lockdown drills. My children having lockdown drills. Things that I didn't have to go through as a child. You know, this type of trauma could be prevented with a simple vote.

a that is not being provided by the current representative in your district. And I hope that you will change that ⁓ once you are elected as state rep. So thank you for having common sense when it comes to gun laws.

down.

Let's play a game called Bullseye. Okay, I have some questions for you ⁓ related to gun violence and how it can be fixed. Okay, so a 2019 study found that states with universal background checks in place for more than five years had a what percent lower firearm related death rate among children? Can you take a guess?

Absolutely.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I should know this, but I would say this would be generous, 50 to 60%. Okay. Okay.

35%, which is huge,

% decrease in firearm-related death among children for simple universal background checks. Okay, these things work, all right? And if we really care about the lives of children, right, the pro-life party, which is just, know, the jokes write themselves, they're not serious people, okay? Universal background checks save lives. All right, here's the next one.

So we're talking coast to coast, right?

I don't know.

7,300. That's how many lives were saved due to these ERPOs. Obviously not in all states have these, but in the states that were across the country, that's how many. right, once again,

Given it's Connecticut, I don't know off the top of my head, but I would imagine it's probably in the 40 to 60 % range.

Well, so it's about 28 % for the homicide rate and 33 % reduction in suicide rate. So just having a license for a handgun, which is something that Republicans in Pennsylvania don't wanna have. They wanna have open carry. They don't even wanna have licenses to carry guns around in Pennsylvania. Common sense saves lives, huge. All right, here's the last one.

Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

States with child access protection laws. Okay, these are state level regulations that hold gun owners criminally or civilly liable if a child gains access to a firearm and causes harm. Okay. Saw a what reduction in suicide rates among young people ages one to 17 compared to states without these laws.

I would say that it's probably similar to the past questions you asked or asked me, probably in the mid-20s to low 40s. Okay, okay.

So this one's little lower, it was 14%. Okay, so

states that have these laws that hold adults liable for any harm that these children cause, they did see a 14 % reduction in deaths. Well, suicide rates, I guess I should say. So these are all common sense gun laws, right? There's no reinventing the wheel. I mean, if we could get a bunch of people like you in the state house and flip the state senate and have a democratic governor.

really

Okay.

we could decrease the deaths in Pennsylvania by sometimes up to 35, 40%. And I think as a doctor who took an oath to do no harm, it's a no-brainer. If you had a drug that came out tomorrow that could save someone from sepsis, sepsis is probably the most common cause of death in hospitals, by 10%, that would be like, they would win the Nobel Prize, okay?

These are real numbers, these are lives in the balance. And so I take this very seriously. I know that you will too.

Dylan, there have been hospital closures all over Pennsylvania. For example, even near me, Crozier, ⁓ you know, closed this year and it's just been, it's just terrible. The displacement of the medical care, what it does to the community.

What would you do in Harrisburg to try and help stop these hospital closures?

Well, I think there's a variety of things you can do. And I think House Democrats and Democrats in general, to their credit, have been able in this most recent budget to produce more Medicaid funding. And I think that type of work will go a long way, particularly as it relates not just to keeping more people on the rolls and making health care more accessible and more affordable. But if we're being very honest,

Yeah. Yep.

⁓ some of the most devastating effects. And so in Harrisburg, I will do everything I can to continue to bring more dollars into the healthcare system to keep hospitals open. mean, in this district, we have Jefferson Hospital just in the heart of this district, but just outside this district, five, 10 minute drive. You're in McKeesport, you're in Dan's district where the Medicaid cuts will most likely...

be the difference between whether UPMC and McKeesport remains open or

And so I think it's really a conversation that, you know, I've had, will continue to have, and I think more Democrats really need to have because, you know, when Republicans vote to strip healthcare away, it's never really going to impact people in the city. It's primarily going to impact, you know, people in rural areas that have just, you know, one hospital And if that place goes away and, you know, they're having a

a heart attack, a stroke, if they are having a miscarriage or something along those lines or some other type of medical event, they're not really gonna be able to be served. So I'm glad you brought it up.

Yeah, it's just terrible. mean, that big bullshit bill, it's not beautiful, it's terrible. know, just taking healthcare away from people, it's just abominable. you know, obviously I saw what Trump and Republican politicians did during the pandemic.

and seeing the number of deaths that could have been prevented had it been handled appropriately. never forget that. So I appreciate that you would do everything you could to stop these closures, not just in blue areas, but in all areas of Pennsylvania. Because I think Senator Vincent Hughes said it best, even though your reps are not going to fight for you, we're going to fight for you. And so I appreciate that.

exactly.

Yeah.

All let's play another game called The Doctor is In, okay? A little trivia game about medicine. So I understand I'm a doctor. I probably am putting you on the spot, but we're gonna play along, right? So a study in The Lancet, which is the oldest journal in publication, medical journal in publication, found that vaccines have saved how many lives globally over the past 50 years?

Okay.

it would have to probably be in the millions.

Yeah. 154 million. That's roughly six lives every minute. Vaccines save

Wow.

Well, thank you.

A study published in the Journal of Primary Care and Community Health found that primary care visits are associated with an average saving of what per patient per year?

Okay.

You mean how many?

Now how much money? So just by going to your primary care physician once a year, once a year, okay, saves a patient how much per year? On average, $721.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

sorry.

Wow,

that's crazy.

I mean, that's huge. That's so much money a year, right?

That's it.

But when people talk about how medicine can save you money in terms of preventative care, making sure that everyone has universal access to it, it's going to save people money. Because if you don't take care of that blood pressure, if you don't take care of that cholesterol,

If you don't take care of your asthma, if you don't try to quit smoking, you don't do that for 10 or 20 years, you're not going to have a preventable problem anymore. You're have much bigger problems, which costs a lot more money than $721 a year.

I mean, listen, I'm a type one insulin dependent diabetic. I'm 32. I've been, know, diabetic since I was five years old. So I live it. Like if you do not have care on the front end, on the back end, the outcomes, the quality of life, the amount of money that, you you're gonna have to throw at the issue. And let's be honest, the amount of money most likely,

Yeah.

You know.

the taxpayers are gonna have to throw at the issue, whether it's because you're on Medicaid or you don't have insurance and now all of a suddenly, they're basically being the payee of last resort. It's

Right.

100%. I mean, look, I'm not a diabetic and obviously this is personal to you and it shouldn't have to happen to someone for them to care. But I mean, I can't imagine how great it must have felt for you to see that the Democrats in Congress were trying to cap the cost of insulin and how ridiculous it was that Trump and Republicans are trying to get rid of that. You know, it's like, why would you try to take away affordability for health care for people who need it? People ration their insulin just to get by.

Right. Right.

Yeah, absolutely.

you know, health is wealth. Health is, there are some things that are just priceless and nobody should be playing games with someone's literal lifeline.

Yeah.

Dylan, why are you a Democrat? And why do you choose to represent the Democratic Party?

simple because the Democratic Party ultimately exists to comfort the inflicted and inflict the comfortable.

I'll say that again.

it we exist to comfort the inflicted and inflict the comfortable.

Inflict the

I like that. I've never heard anyone say that before.

Yep, that's why

it's that simple.

There's a reason why FDR was elected four times. And at that particular moment, Democrats controlled 80 % of the US House and US Senate. There's a reason why, you know, when Democrats were delivering for people, not just in the suburbs, but in rural areas and in the cities, they were really considered the party of working people. And I just think we, you know, we have to continue to get back to that. And it's always something that I have pushed the envelope on.

Yeah. Yeah.

Because if we do not do everything we can to represent average people over special interests, we're just not living up to those values and those principles. And that's ultimately why I'm a Democrat.

Yeah, I agree. It really is about morals and principles and values. And I'm really happy that we share those values together.

Yes.

Yeah, absolutely.

Dylan, this year, the current Republican representing your district voted no to allow children to remain on their parents' health insurance until the age of 26 and to prohibit health insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing health conditions. Wow, what a great guy. That's so nice that he did that for his constituents and the rest of Pennsylvania. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,

there's really no way to explain why he voted that way or why anybody would vote that way. But, know, just

Yeah. Right. I think

that I think this is just what people have to realize, right? No matter how nice these people are, how many baseball games they go to or how many, you know, food banks they may or may not show up to, their voting record is all that matters. It's all that matters. And these Republicans in Pennsylvania vote as a block. OK, we're like 90.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

8 % of the time. Yes, of course, there are going to be some, as you like to say, vulnerable Republicans who have to vote in certain ways sometimes to retain their seat. But the majority of them are going to vote the exact same way that your current state rep votes. And that is not good for people in your district. It's not good for anyone in Pennsylvania. And so if we want to make sure that we have serious people who want to have good faith interactions in Harrisburg that are going to take care of people the way they deserve to be treated,

We need people like you to be elected because I know that you're not going to want to throw children off of their parents' health insurance plan. I know that you're not going to vote to allow an insurance company to kick someone like yourself off of your insurance so that you can't get your insulin, right? Just because you're a diabetic does not mean that you are less than human and that you don't deserve health care, right? But your state rep voted for that exact thing. So it's just...

It blows my mind. I should not be surprised anymore, but it does hurt me internally every time I have to look this stuff up.

I mean, I guess at the end of the day, they kind of justify it by ultimately asking, did the check clear? But beyond that, there's no other justification to it.

there's no justification for it. And so I look forward to the day that someone like you gets elected to this seat.

Appreciate it.

Dylan, as a union leader, how would you explain to someone why it's so important to support unions?

mean, ultimately, there is

in an employer-employee dynamic, let's be honest, there is only so much you can reasonably

to get on your own. And so if you don't have somebody somewhere fighting for you, and if you don't have other folks with similar interests organized to make sure,

your wages, your benefits, your pension,

just your job security in general is advocated for, then it's not gonna happen. So ultimately, that's why unions are important and that's why I've always been either in a union or attached to a union in some way.

people take for granted unions. mean, there was a time where it was completely legal for children to do dangerous work, for people to work in factories without any type of protective equipment, for people to work any number of hours a day.

Yeah.

Unions made all of those things happen. Unions put pressure on employers. Unions ⁓ changed things at the state level where laws were passed federally. That unions protect people. They save lives. So I'm glad that you support unions.

Yeah.

I mean, it's the reason why we're here during a weekend. It's the reason why the five-day work week is pretty much the norm. ⁓ It's the reason we have overtime. It's the reason we have workers comp, to your point. It is a situation where individually, we can't get much done. But if we can collectively organize as a group of people and work towards that common goal of just...

Yeah.

respect, dignity, better pay, better benefits, better wages. That's what we need to have unions. And certainly,

I will always just as Governor Shapiro and any other Democrat out there, I hope, will always support unions and be

no vote on any effort.

to try to move Pennsylvania in the direction of being a right to work state.

Yeah, 100%. And just, can you just explain for those who don't understand what does right to work.

Okay, so basically right to work.

really, really super overly simplified is a movement

that

not to have to pay union dues. And it might sound good because hey, you can make some more money and take it with you. But ultimately, as a result, it then defunds the union. And then by thus defunding the union, the union doesn't have the ability, big picture, to represent you.

or represent those around you in a variety of cases. if you...

like

to hire an attorney if they need to, or if they want to strike and they don't have a pool of money to give to their workers that they've been paying into so that they can have some time to negotiate, ⁓ you essentially take the wind out of their sails. Yeah, well, I'm grateful that you would never vote to impose that in Pennsylvania.

as a strength.

correct.

Exactly.

Dylan, this year, the current Republican representing your district voted no to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits beyond the statute of limitations. I mean, there are so many parallels that you could make between what's happening in Congress, right? Trying to block the release of the Epstein, well, they were trying to block the release of the Epstein files.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

protecting pedophiles and you can track that right back to the state legislature in Pennsylvania, you know, with Republicans. I can't imagine why you would not want to protect victims of sexual assault.

Right. Right.

I just, feel like this is a no brainer. Like why would you burn a vote on saying that, you know, perpetrators of sexual abuse should just be able to get off scot-free? I just don't understand it.

I mean, I'll try to answer the question. think it's oftentimes because in a lot of these situations, there does tend to be a power dynamic. And, you know, as we just said, like the role ultimately of the Republican party is to protect daddy's money. And protecting daddy's money means that if daddy has money and daddy is handsy or worse, ⁓

making sure the laws are skewed to protect daddy's money is a good return on investment, particularly if daddy's money has been used to write checks to help you get where you're at. And so ultimately, if I had to guess as to why he voted that way, and frankly, why all the Republicans voted that way, it's probably for that reason.

I'm always left speechless. you know, when Republican politicians hit the basement, they grab a jackhammer and they keep going down. There's just no bottom to what they're trying to do with just common sense issues. And I just don't understand why they will not protect victims of child abuse and sexual assault. And obviously the Democrats voted yes to allow victims to not have a limit to when they can call these bad actors out. So I'm glad that you would vote to protect

Yeah.

sexual assault victims if you are elected a state rep. Thank you.

Dylan, you are the president of the PA Equality Project, which seeks to end legal discrimination based on real or perceived sexual and gender identity. So what inspired you to start this organization? Okay. Okay.

yeah, yep.

Yes.

So I didn't start the organization. David Moore started the organization.

But I came to the organization about five years ago when I spoke to Dave and kind of saw an opportunity to be more active. Just again, to continue to fight for people, particularly those types of people in the community

this didn't really feel that there was an opportunity to have that type of advocacy.

I just think it's an opportunity to continue to move the ball forward specifically as it relates to discrimination because I don't think people necessarily realize like, you know, if things would ever to change at the federal level, specific to like gay marriage, for example, Pennsylvania has nothing in place to continue to keep that as a right.

And so I think it's a situation where, whether it's that or public accommodation, the ability to go into a restaurant and be served, the ability to rent, the ability to be treated fairly on the job, like, I think it's like basic, basic stuff. Pennsylvania doesn't really have that in place right now, and that's why I'm with the organization, and that's why...

You know, if I'm fortunate enough to become an elected official, or I should say an elected state official as the next representative for the 39th district, I would try to incorporate those things because at end of the day, like if people don't have the ability just to have like basic, basic, basic anti-discrimination or the insurance of this basic anti-discrimination protections, then we really aren't.

promoting freedom.

you help the most marginalized amongst us, you help everyone. So I'm extremely grateful that you are fighting the good fight and even greater that when you become an elected official in Harrisburg, you'll bring those skills and protect everyone in the

Exactly.

Let's play a game called Just a Question. Okay? Just a question game. Will banning books on LGBTQ plus people decrease medical debt? No. Well, okay. That was an easy one for you. Will taking away health care from the LGBTQ plus community make the cost of groceries go down? No, it won't. Will making it more difficult to change gender markers on passports make the cost of college cheaper? No.

short short

Will banning pride flags in public schools decrease local tax rates?

No.

I so I mean, these were easy questions for you to answer. And I know that Republican politicians like to think they can walk and chew gum at the same time as if this is something they should be addressing in this country. But they can't even address the actual meat and potatoes of those questions, right? mean, one, we should be banning books for LGBT plus people, but also they're not addressing medical debt.

they're not addressing the cost of groceries and they're not addressing local taxes right they would rather distract and go after the most vulnerable people in our state and around the country than address the actual problems that are affecting not just marginalized communities but all communities.

they have to have a way to distract you in front of the bank while their donors are around back robbing the place. And so ultimately, that's why we have to constantly fight them on these bullshit issues because if they didn't have these issues to turn to, to distract people and to rile people up and to make people angry, they have nothing. Because at end of the day, if you can't talk about this,

Exactly.

Yeah.

Right. Right.

They have nothing.

Yeah.

And you have to talk about why you vote to not allow someone to stay on their parents' health insurance until they're 26, or why you vote down the minimum wage, or why you vote with the gun lobby over and over and over that puts money in your pocket. There's no then existence or reason why that site exists. So I'm glad you brought it up because it's 100 % bullshit, but they need something. They need something.

Yeah.

Yeah, they need something. ⁓

And so they have these issues.

need a distraction. They need a wedge issue. And this is what they've chosen. And this is not a new game. This is not new. This is as old as time. Marginalized communities bear the brunt of all of this when conservative minds are trying to take over in positions of power. And so that's why we need progressive candidates. We need Democrats to be elected to protect marginalized communities. And ultimately,

Exactly. Now. ⁓

help all communities.

Dylan, this year, the current Republican representing your district voted no to increase the minimum wage in Pennsylvania. I tell you, if I had pearls, I'd clutch them. Just so shocking that another Republican would vote no to improve the lives of Pennsylvanians by raising our abysmal $7.25 an hour in the commonwealth.

I can only assume that you would vote to increase the minimum wage if you were to become a state rep.

Yeah, I would, and let's be real, like...

A lot of people will say, well, no one's really even paying $7.25 an hour anymore. So why does it matter? And the reason why it matters is because it's the starting point for all wages. And if you look at this issue, I think from a common sense

Today we would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 24, 25, 26 bucks an hour just for the starting point for wages. So then if you're somebody with 10 years of experience or 15 years of experience and you have a bachelor's degree or a master's degree or greater, where would you then all of a sudden fall on that spectrum? Like, you know, I'm going for my doctorate and I'm just starting to make 26 bucks an hour.

So if that's what the starting point for wages should be, you just all of a sudden see how

system has been rigged against regular people. And then it starts to explain why 60 % of the population lives paycheck to paycheck, 40 % of the population doesn't have 400 bucks in the event of an emergency. It explains

debt's such an issue.

A number of reasons why that is, but it explains why people have a hard time paying their medical bills. It explains why credit card debt's such a problem. It explains why student loans are such a problem. It explains why auto loans were seeing higher default rates because people just don't have money. They're being taken advantage of, they're being robbed, and basically they're being told it's all right to work for peanuts.

And it really does piss me off because it's just, it's a situation where granted, there might be small mom and the pop shops out there who can't afford to pay a higher wage, but then figure out a tax structure or some type of tax incentive that allows them to pay a higher wage and just don't die on that hill of being okay.

Right. Right.

that we have people out there working

barely getting by.

Right. I agree with you. mean, other states have figured it out. know, Delaware figured it out. New York figured it out.

Ohio figured it out. I mean, come on.

Ohio figured it out? West Virginia figured it out?

But yeah, Republican politicians are robbing people of opportunities.

Even

It's ridiculous to me that...

they do not think there's a problem with it being 725. And then when you see some of them after the budget passes and it doesn't go up again, they

accomplishment. It's such a slap in the face ⁓ to regular people. I don't get it. I never have gotten it.

Yeah, it is.

Yeah, I

mean, I get it. I understand it. They just don't care about the lives of Pennsylvanians. They just don't

So it's not surprising. But I am grateful that you would vote to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania if given the chance.

No.

What gives you hope?

And this is maybe a broad answer, but even when things seemed really bad off, you see that, you know, the next election is right around the corner and things positively can happen.

for as bad as things were after November of last year, just a few Tuesdays ago, Democrats won everywhere. We won in Pennsylvania. We defeated, you know, vote no. We won in areas like mine for every type of

And every election, we need to take these positive wins when people give us the chance and make something of it.

And I think as long as we continue to show that adequate progress, then it's encouraging, it gives me hope, and it sort of builds a solid foundation for us to continue to make those gains moving forward.

I never lost hope that things weren't gonna eventually turn around, but I am certainly more optimistic than I was before.

Yeah.

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

Boy, it's interesting. I mean, first and foremost, what I'm currently engaged in has my undivided attention. And I think that, you know, if I'm successful, I'll get through these next few years by being the next elected state rep from this district and fighting the good fight every day on the issues that you and I have discussed over the course of this interview and other issues that might emerge with time. And I'll take solace in knowing that I'm doing whatever I can do.

to make life better for people in this district and throughout Pennsylvania. If I'm not successful in this endeavor, I really don't ever see myself stepping away from politics. If anything, what I would do is just take a step back, analyze the situation and sort of see an area where I can continue to contribute because to our point, you can't give up. You have to stay in the fight. And so I think it really just depends on sort of

which path the 'Y' in the road takes me. I know which way I hope it takes me, but if it takes me in a different direction, I think being open and honest and true to myself by taking in the situation around me will allow me to continue to hopefully come up with an answer that I find personally satisfying and the folks around me find productive if this doesn't.

I really hope it does work out for you, because we need more Democrats in the state house to increase our majority and get more things done in Pennsylvania.

I appreciate that.

Well, Dylan Altemara, Democrat running for state house in HD39, what can people do to help you with your campaign?

Sure, absolutely. depending on where you're at.

Certainly, first and foremost, if you're local to me, I'd love to talk with you and I'd love to grab a coffee on me and figure out ways that we can get you active in the community, knocking doors, talking to your neighbors, sending texts, making phone calls. If you live outside the area, I'd still talk to you. And if you could help me with making phone calls, sending text messages, doing postcarding, that would be great. And then ultimately, not to sound like too much of a politician, but as you know, our current game,

money. So if you can donate by looking me up on ActBlue or by checking out my website first, that would be greatly appreciated as well. Sure, so it's dylan4pa.com

does take money.

Say your website.

Is it the number four or spelled out four? Number four. I'll be sure to promote that for you, no problem. Well, I can't vote for you, but I sure as hell hope you win because we, again, like I said, we need more Democrats in Harrisburg. So I wish you the best of luck and it's been great getting to know you. You're welcome.

Number four. Yep. I appreciate it.

I appreciate it.

Thanks, man. Likewise, thank you so much for your time.

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 together.