Summary

In this episode of The Zekely Podcast, host Zeke interviews Democratic candidate Tim Hayes running for the Pennsylvania State House. Hayes shares his journey from military service to local politics, his stance on key issues like gun control, healthcare, and environmental conservation, and how grassroots efforts can transform Pennsylvania politics.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Tim Hayes

02:17 Gamer

05:12 Family

07:35 Wage

09:32 Military Service

12:43 Addressing Gun Violence

14:42 What the Buck?!

16:31 Democrat

17:50 Help

19:37 Friends

21:38 Vaccines

23:15 History

24:52 At the Doors

28:17 Mail

29:30 Public Education

31:27 Conservation

34:05 Finance

35:30 How Much to Run

38:27 Party

40:23 Donate

41:27 Hope

42:39 The Future

43:46 Wrap-Up

Tim Hayes: https://timhayesforpa.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 was born and raised in Bucks County and has dedicated his life to serving the people of Pennsylvania. He's a veteran, councilman president, and now he's running to flip a state house seat blue this November. Thank you so much for being here, Tim Hayes.

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.

Hey Zeke, thanks for having me. Man, I'm really excited to talk with you.

Absolutely, you know, this is quite an auspicious evening

the Commonwealth Court ruled in Pennsylvania that abortion is a right protected by the PA Constitution and similarly the state house democratically controlled by one vote is also protecting access to abortion and that's where you're trying to get elected this year because I'm telling you this one seat majority it makes me sweat makes me sweat a little bit. Okay, so so we have to get you elected

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

and expand

that majority. aside from the courts, we have people in our state legislature who align with Governor Josh Shapiro and protect that right. So I'm really glad that you're on the right side of this issue.

Yeah. Yeah,

man, absolutely. I'm in 100 % support of reproductive freedoms and all individual freedoms too, right? I'm a big believer that, you the government just say that everyone's lives, you know, you have a right to seek reproductive healthcare. You have the right to marry who you want to marry. That's, what America is. That's what Pennsylvania is. And that's how I'm to govern as a state legislator in

I can't wait to see you get elected, but

gonna learn all about you, play some games and have some fun. Are ready?

Yeah, man, sounds great. Let's do it.

All right, well, Tim, I understand you enjoy playing video games in your spare time. And I wonder, I watch my kids play all the time. Do you play any of the most popular ones these days? Like which ones are you playing?

That I do.

No,

so I'm kind of a weirdo when it comes to games. I don't play any multiplayer games because I mainly because I'm terrible at it. So I don't I can't really keep up with probably your kids. So I play a lot of single player games. Far Cry is a good one. Did play a lot of Minecraft back in the day. I still go through that two week Minecraft phase every now and then. So yeah, anything that I can kind of play on my own on my own time, I definitely take advantage of.

Okay.

Yeah. Okay.

huh.

Okay.

You're not into the Fortnite or Roblox?

No, I was in the Fortnite when it first came out, but I was so bad at it that I'm like, I'm just, yeah.

Yeah My

my kids love fortnight so and also minecraft to roblox. I don't understand roblox at all It's like Greek to me, but let's play a little game. Okay to get this party started I'm gonna give you a list of your potential colleagues next year And I want you to tell me which game you'd play with them and why okay? So if you have a little soiree, what game would you pick and why so let's start here Malcolm Kenyatta

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Thank you.

Malcolm Kenyatta, game, like what video game or board game?

Yeah.

What video game would you play and why? With Malcolm Kenyatta.

Mm-hmm.

I think I would play Fortnite with Malcolm Kenyatta. He's really good at trash talk and that's like the perfect setting for it. And I think that's what we need both in politics and in the game lobbies. So yeah, I would love to play Fortnite with him just to observe.

Yeah

Yeah.

Okay, Malcolm

Keaton, that's awesome. Okay, how about this one? ⁓ Joanna McClinton, Speaker of the House.

Joanna McClinton, man, that's a good one too. Honestly,

I would love to play Minecraft with her just because that game is so chill. So it's really, great for talking with your friends. And I would just love to just sit and listen with her because she has such a great, she's had such a great career. And obviously I'm so excited to vote for her again, to be the speaker of the house. You know, she's made history as the first black woman speaker of the house in Pennsylvania history. So I would just love to just listen and talk with her and hear her life story. So yeah.

Okay

Mm-hmm.

Bye.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

She's

phenomenal, has done a phenomenal job as Speaker of the House. Alright, how about Matthew Bradford, the Leader of the House?

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

you know, I maybe call it duty, you know what I mean? I think that's someone that everyone kind of fall back on and,

Call of Duty.

engage in. yeah, yeah,

yeah, that sounds good. Yeah, I remember playing that in college a little bit. All right, here's

the last one. Mike Schlossberg.

love Mike Schlossberg. That's great. He's hilarious. man. Yeah, yeah. There's a game called Jack in the Box, if you've ever heard of it. It's like, well, it's like a couple different games. was one where it's like a card appears and it's like, who is most likely to do blank? And then you write like a funny answer. And I feel like he would have like the funniest answers. So because he's so quick and witty. So yeah, he'd be good at that.

Yeah, yeah, he's amazing.

I have not.

Okay.

Yeah.

He's amazing. Well, look, I don't know what the future holds, but I hope you win this seat for sure and maybe take some of these games with you to ⁓ the state legislature and in your free time. In between voting for

make Pennsylvania better, you can play some games in your downtime. Exactly.

Yeah, all the free time we're gonna have, yeah.

you are the son of a union sheet metal worker and Wawa cashier. What values did you learn from your hardworking parents?

Yes. Yes.

Absolutely. Yeah. My father was with Local 19 in Philadelphia for about 20 years. And my mother, her primary job was working as a cashier at Wawa, but she also worked two other jobs after my father had to retire on disability. So she worked part-time at a Habitat of Humanity resource, and she also babysat on the weekend. So she was literally working seven days a week just to support me and my four other siblings. And, you know, they really taught me the values of hard work.

First of all, they are the hardest working people I've ever known. They taught me the value of community, always looking out for other working folks, bringing people together.

My mother in particular, she was a nurturer. She always knew she wanted to be a mother. So she really taught me to always treat people with kindness and respect and you'll receive the same back. So that's something that I

into adulthood.

And they taught me the value of service too, like looking out for other people and serving other people. In a way, they served my siblings and I, They got us through

our younger years, they got us through college. They really did a service to us that set us up for success in adulthood. So that value of service, I think most of all is really what I carry through me and I learned that through them. So yeah, eternally grateful for the both of them for sure.

I there are so many layers to your story and your upbringing. And I also find it very interesting every time people say that they had parents who worked in a union. I feel like that is such a huge part of your life growing up when you have a union support your family. If someone gets sick, if someone has some type of illness that they had that coverage there in the background, because not everybody had that growing up.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Absolutely.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, when my father was still with local 19, my mother was a stay at home mother. you know, his union salary alone supported five kids.

you know, that again, that really set us up for success. And

really is something I carry with me into this campaign is looking out for other working folks, supporting our labor unions, making sure they're helping. They're getting back to work in

public projects, know, closing different loopholes that, you know, different corporations are using to exploit, you know, workers in lot of different capacities. So yeah, it's absolutely so important. is definitely one of my top priorities as a state representative is to protect the union way of life. So yeah, couldn't agree more.

Tim, the current Republican state rep serving in your district voted no to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Actually, she voted twice not to increase it. I have to ask Tim, when you get to Harrisburg, would you vote to increase the minimum wage in Pennsylvania?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

My mother, when she was working to support us by working three jobs, one of those jobs was a minimum wage job. Right? So

Yeah, right.

I really have to dispel that notion. You know what I mean? It's, if you raise a minimum wage, it's good for the economy. It's good for workers. It's good for everyone. So absolutely. That's going be one of my top priorities to making sure that working folks can have a livable wage. And we need to increase that to at least $15 an hour, keywords at least.

At least.

Yeah, at least. I really hate when people say, well, just get a better job then. You know, just get a better job if that's it. But I think that takes away the essence of that every job is essential. there's not a job that doesn't deserve to get a livable wage. And so I think that argument is very weak. And I'm glad that you believe in supporting people in Pennsylvania to have a thriving wage so they can all rise up together.

Yeah.

Exactly. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Absolutely. Every single job is valuable to the economy and to our communities, no matter what it is. You drive to work in the morning, you stop at McDonald's and you get a cup of coffee. You want that McDonald's to be staffed, right? And you want to make sure that that person is being paid a livable wage. Every service worker, everyone you interact with in your day-to-day lives, they need to be

Right. Right.

Right.

able to support their families, support themselves, support whoever. need a livable wage to do that. So it affects everyone, whether people realize it or

Right, yes.

Tim, when you were 17 years old, you enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and served as a field artillery automated tactical data system specialist. ⁓ First of all, yeah, that's a tongue twister. First of all, thank you for your service. ⁓ What made you want to join the National Guard at such a young age?

Yeah, say that 10 times. Thank you.

You know, I always knew from a young age that I wanted to serve our country and serve our Commonwealth. And I was just so eager to do that. And, you know, the Army National Guard, that's one of the few branches where you can enlist at 17. I actually had to get a permission slip signed by my mother and father to say that I was allowed to enlist in the military. You know,

was still...

underage, I wasn't 18 yet. So I went to Army Basic Training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in between my junior and senior year of high school. And I graduated basic training August 28. And I think I was starting my senior year of high school, like August 30. And I did the senior year of high school, graduated, I went back to Fort Sill, Oklahoma and did my field artillery training. And then yeah, I served the rest of my, my contract. It was, it was a fascinating experience, to at least go through, you know,

Yeah.

Army base of training at that early of an age, but

Think my calling in life was always to help other people and to serve other folks and you know, I I love our Commonwealth so much. This is my home I'm always gonna call it my home. So to give back to it anyway I can that is like the greatest honor of my life So to be able to have done that for six years Yeah, I wouldn't I wouldn't trade it for the world and honestly it was I'm glad I was able to do that to help other folks But the Army National Guard helped me a lot, too

Yeah.

because they were able to pay for the bulk of my undergraduate degree. I never would have been able to have gone to college without the support of Army

So it would help me just in the same way as I was able to help other folks too. So yeah, I wouldn't trade that experience for the world for sure.

That's a great story. Well, what is a field artillery automated tactical data system specialist? I have to know, what do you do?

that that that position it's classified as a 13 Delta it was later classified to a 13 Juliet which is fire control specialist I usually just go with the first one because it makes me sound smarter but but basically what that is it it you know, so when you're firing field artillery you have a cannon it has to know where to fire and what type of ammunition to fire with I was basically that person to tell the cannons where to fire

Yeah.

Okay.

what type of ⁓ ammunition to fire with, how many times, that sort of thing. So was basically like the logistics and like the planning aspect of field artillery.

⁓

Interesting. Okay, well

what was your rallying call in the National Is there a specific call in the National Guard? Like it's not hoorah. What do you say when you get excited? It is? It is?

it's Hua.

Yeah, so Marines is Urah, Army is Hua, and I think Navy is Huya. Navy is Huya, yeah, so Army was Hua.

Who ya?

glad that you had that experience, but you'll have to go over the new chant when you get to Harrisburg, okay?

Mm-hmm. Mm,

yeah, yeah, absolutely.

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.

Tim, the current Republican state rep serving in your district has voted no

to prohibit the use and possession of a machine gun conversion device, ghost guns, and remove guns from potentially violent people or

expand background checks for purchasing firearms. So I have to note, Tim, when you get to Harrisburg, how are you going to address gun violence in Pennsylvania?

Absolutely. This is a very important question. And obviously during my time in the military, I was exposed to the use of a lot of the types of weapons that you just mentioned. And so I've seen the damage that they can cause. And I think there needs to be very strict

rails on the types of ammunition you can buy, the types of weapons you can buy. I think that starts by expanding the red flag laws. If you have had a violent history.

You know, shouldn't be able to own such aggressive weapons, know, mandatory safe lockup legislation to ensure that anyone that shouldn't be handling those firearms can't have easy access to them. ⁓ You know, universal background checks, mandatory waiting periods. I think that's also incredibly important. Just making sure that, you know, the counties and the state government, whoever it could do their due diligence on everyone so that then if they're able to clear that.

that process, then they can ⁓ legally purchase a

are the most common sense things. And it's a shame that we haven't been able to get anything like that done, right? Because they're common sense laws. The bare minimum we could do to keep our communities safe and that somehow we haven't been able to get it done. Yeah. those are ⁓ pieces of legislation I would absolutely vote in support of.

Yeah.

I appreciate that. I look, as a doctor, as a parent, know, the gun violence epidemic in this country is very concerning. I don't want to have to worry about my kids going to school every day, you know, worrying about what's going to happen to them. And it just happens so frequently that we become so desensitized to it, honestly. It's kind of like a shoulder shrug at this point, and we all mourn together in different ways. you know, we need common sense gun reform in Pennsylvania.

Mm-hmm.

And I'm glad that you would bring that to Harrisburg.

Absolutely.

All right, Tim, well, you're in Bucks County. So we have to play the game, What the Buck? Okay, so I'm gonna tell you some things, all right, or ask you some questions and you're gonna see if you can guess them and then I'm sure gonna say What the Buck, okay? So which newspaper founded in 1786 was saved from shutting down by a nonprofit organization in Maryland?

Hmm.

Hmm.

Yeah.

I have to go to the mabye Philadelphia choir.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. What the buck? What the buck? All here's another one. What sports expansion team was officially approved for Philadelphia?

Mmm. Mmm. What the buck.

I believe they just got a WNBA team, right? Yeah.

That is correct. They're

Mm.

Hmm.

Mm. What the buck?

Once in a lifetime. Be getting another meteor shower eclipse or something. ⁓

I'll give it to you, it's a comet, okay? It makes

a 170,000 year orbit, and this will be the last appearance in human history. It can best be viewed in the early morning, 430 to 5

So actually tomorrow is gonna be the last day that you can view this comet, so what the buck? Yeah.

I'll still be in bed so I won't be able to see it, but hopefully

I'll get a What the buck

Okay, ⁓

okay here's the last one. Known as the mushroom capital of the world, which Pennsylvania town is having its annual stuffed mushroom festival in September?

is it in central Pennsylvania? Can I get clues?

It's

Kennet Square, Kennet Square, Pennsylvania. So Southeast PA.

Mmm. Mmm.

Saturday the 12th, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday the 13th, nine to five. What the buck, Tim? Well, thanks

Hmm. What the buck? Yeah.

playing with me, man.

thought I'd myself. Yeah.

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

So I believe the Democratic Party truly is the party of the working class. know, going back to the years of FDR and his New Deal policies, that is the Democratic Party to me, is looking out for working class families, know, utilizing public funding in a way that can help lift people out of poverty by giving them the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty, right? Is, know, guaranteeing a job, you know, guaranteeing education.

you know, right to medical care, just giving them all the tools that they need to then contribute back to society. So that's why I'm a Democrat is we truly are made and for the working class. And that is the type of work I want to continue as state representative to create more opportunities for Pennsylvania's workers to, you know, join a union to, you know, build up their communities, to run for office themselves, whatever else I might be. That's why I'm a

I appreciate that. mean, we obviously both share the same values and the same ideals. And we also importantly believe that when done correctly, government can help the most amount of people. And we need people serving in office who believe that, who don't just say, government doesn't work, so let it all burn down. And so, yes, I'm very happy that we share that together. And that's why we need

Absolutely.

Yeah.

to get to Harrisburg.

Tim, the current Republican state rep serving in your district voted no.

to authorizing funds for home repair subsidies and adult mental health services. That is not very nice, Tim. Why'd you do that?

I think we need to help folks, you know, make critical repairs to their homes and weatherize their homes to improve the energy and water efficiency of their homes. investing more into mental health services to help get folks back into safe, secure housing is absolutely imperative right now. So that is something I would actually get. I've been doing that in my professional capacity for years and something I will absolutely continue for sure.

I mean, I just don't understand why these Republican politicians refuse to just help people. Just give them a little help, right? I mean, people are scraping by, choosing between their medications or buying food. And so just something to help these people protect their dwelling, to make sure that their air conditioning bills aren't super high, that their heating bills aren't super high. And, you know, life is pretty damn hard. It is. And people deserve to have access to mental health services so that they can wake up the next day.

Yeah

and be productive members of society, be good parents, do good things at their jobs. And for some reason, Republican politicians don't want to help, but I'm happy that you would. We need more people like you to have that mindset.

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, absolutely. And when we make those investments, it's good for the economy. doesn't raise people's taxes. It goes right back into the economy, right? Because it's a similar example if we invest more into clean energy deployment. Clean energy deployment means more jobs for our labor unions. It means lower costs.

Right.

But it also means lower emissions that are, you know, driving up public health costs as well, right? Like it all goes back to the economy and it's always a net

Yeah.

People who are thriving mentally and living in safe homes will do more for their local communities. It's a no-brainer.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Tim, you're a big fan of the show Friends, correct?

That I am, yeah, I'm watching it right now.

That's awesome. So I didn't watch it religiously, to be honest, growing up, but it does make me laugh. And I think I've surrounded myself with enough people that it kind of becomes part of your culture. Anyway, at least I'm a millennial. Are you a millennial? Are you in that bucket? Gen Z? Okay, fine. Well, I wanted to play a game with you. Let's do some Friends trivia. Okay, I could not get any of these right. But if you're a true fan, I feel like you're probably going to get these. Okay.

We do.

I'm Gen Z,

Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. I will

say friends is more of so background noise for me. So let's see how much of that I actually retain.

Let's see if we can get it. Let's see what we can do.

So at the height of its popularity, friends, held the attention of how many viewers per episode.

How many viewers I'm say 10 million 25 million. Wow. That's Yeah

25 million. I don't know. It's crazy, right? was

cult following. All right. What is the age gap between Richard and Monica?

think Richard was in his late 50s or early 60s and I think she's supposed to be in the show, Courtney Cox is supposed to be in her 20s, so I'm gonna say like 20 or 30 years. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I'll give it to you. 21 years. Very good.

Very good. All right. What fictional sorority did Phoebe once pretend to be a part of?

I don't know.

thigh mega tampon. Yeah, of course, I guess that makes sense for her. All right, I have two more. Which language is Gunther fluent in?

⁓ of course, yeah.

Dutch yeah yeah

is correct. Very good. Here's

the last one. What is Rachel's grandmother's name?

I don't

Ida. And I chose

this one because my middle name, bless my parents, is Binin. B-I-N-I-N. And I was named after my great-grandmother Ida. ⁓ Ida Binin. Yeah, so when I saw that question, I had to choose it. you did a pretty good job. Again, I love Friends, it's in the way that I enjoy seeing it across my FYP. But I've never watched it religiously. But maybe someday I'll watch with my kids.

Hmm.

that's I didn't do that. Mm-hmm, yeah.

Thank

Hmm.

Yeah, for sure.

Tim, the current Republican state rep serving in your district voted no to authorize pharmacists to provide

recommended by the state health department. Now, as a doctor, that is very troubling to me because I know that vaccines save lives. So as a state rep, would you be pro-vaccination or anti-vax as many Republican politicians are these days?

Mm-hmm.

Absolutely.

pro vaccination, full stop. I mean, that is one of the most effective ways that we can protect the most medically vulnerable folks in our communities. You know, my fiance is immunocompromised. They're a type one diabetic. So obviously, you know, protecting their health is very personal to me.

Yeah. Yeah.

vaccines are truly one of the best creations, if not the best creation in human history, right? You know, eradicating the most horrible diseases throughout history.

Yeah, yeah.

and I think a lot of that misinformation coming from you know RFK and his his ilk if you will I think it's been detrimental to a lot of folks so yeah supporting access to affordable and reliable vaccines is something I would absolutely be in support of in in Harrisburg for sure it's important.

Yeah.

I'm

very happy to hear that I mean, there are three reasons that I often tell people why people are living so long today. Clean water, antibiotics and vaccines. Those are the three reasons why we as humans have lived as long as we have today. And I'm really happy that people like you and importantly, Governor Josh Shapiro understands that.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Hmm.

because it

is saving millions of lives in Pennsylvania every year when you have people in control who live in reality and trust the science.

Tim, at the age of 21, you were elected to be councilman in the Dublin Borough and became the youngest elected official in Bucks County history. That's amazing, man. That's crazy.

Yeah, yeah, I was the youngest elected official at the time. I was overtaken a couple of months ago by Emma Hawkins in Perkosie borough, shout out. So I was the youngest at the time, yeah. And that was actually my second time running. I originally ran back when I was 19 years old in 2017. Unfortunately, I came up 10 votes short, but I decided to, yeah, we're a very small borough too, so I was actually quite a big percentage, it or not.

Okay.

Yeah.

Um, yeah, but I decided to give it another go in 2019 and yeah, I was the top vote getter out of a field of, I believe it was three or four candidates. So yeah, yeah. And, you know, I got elected at a very interesting time because back then Dublin borough was a seven zero Republican municipality. Fast forward to now we have a six to one democratic majority. And then I took over as a council president back in 2024. Yeah, we've been, we've been killing it. made very critical investments into our first responders. You know, we've improved our environmental sustainability.

That's amazing.

You know, we've reduced wasteful spending, outdated regulations, and we've also upgraded our water and sewer infrastructure. And we did all those things without raising taxes by a penny.

phenomenal. It's like government actually works and you can get things done as a Democrat, not break the bank. ⁓ Tim, music to my ears. I I just am always so fascinated when people know at such a young age that they want to get involved in local politics. And so clearly, you were meant to do it because you're still doing it and you're doing it right. So congratulations again for all your accomplishments. And I'm glad you started off so young.

Exactly. Yeah.

Thank you.

All right, Tim we're gonna play at the doors, okay? And you probably do a lot of door knocking. So I wanted to know how you would respond to some of these comments, okay?

Hmm. Hmm.

Yeah,

absolutely.

So if someone

said to you, Tim, all politicians lie, how do you respond to that comment?

that's a general sentiment. I think a lot of folks have all throughout the country. And, this presidential administration definitely doesn't help our case. The claim that there are folks running for office who, you know, just genuinely want to help people. So I would say I understand your sentiment. There definitely are some folks in government that are bad actors who not looking out in your best interest or just trying to line their own pocket.

You know, I've spent my life serving the people of Pennsylvania. I share your sentiment for certain folks. So all I can give you is my word as a hayes that I'm working to be the fighter that this district deserves to be the fighter that you deserve in Harrisburg.

You've been serving on Burrow for such a long time that you really have an ability to prove to people that you keep your word. When you wanna get something done for where these people live, you can show that as a list of accomplishments.

Absolutely.

Yeah, yeah.

When I ran for borough council, I ran on supporting first responders, promoting sustainable growth and upgrading infrastructure and we've done those things. And I intend to keep my word on those.

Yeah.

Here's another one. Immigrants are stealing American jobs. What do you say to that?

a shame that some folks share that sentiment because it's absolutely not true. know I mean? Immigrants come to this country to find a better life for themselves and their families. They're not looking to take anything from you, right? And they're the most hardworking members of our society. I'm looking to support and expand upon...

Workforce development opportunities for everyone, regardless if you're an immigrant or if you were born in the United States. So that's all I can say is I'm working to bring folks together as much as possible.

I agree. The demonization of the others needs to stop. It needs to stop.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

And I believe that sentiment is really peddled by billionaires in the corporate media who are ripping off working folks left and right. You know, when they're stealing wages, where they're paying poverty wages, when they're not providing access to affordable health care, they don't want people to think about that. They try to find another group of people to demonize.

That doesn't do well for working folks in the end of it. know mean? know, demonizing immigrants doesn't help working folks.

Here's the last one. Voting won't change anything.

Yeah, you know, I understand the sentiment. There are some folks that feel as though they've been left down by both parties. And, you know, I think we just really need to combat that status quo fence sitting type of politics where people in office will say whatever they think, you know, their audience wants to hear and not what they actually believe and what they'll actually do. And, you know, I've always stayed true to my word on everything that I've ran on during my time on council.

I'm dedicated to serving the people of Pennsylvania and, know, all I would ask of folks is to,

put their confidence into me, put their vote into me and me prove it to you.

Yeah, look, I hope that democracy lasts a very long time. And as long as we live in a democracy, there are going to be elections at the local and state levels. And those elections have consequences. Either a good person that will get things done will be elected, or someone will not get anything done. And so we have a chance in every election to change the trajectory of our community. And so when people fall into that apathy, it really hurts me very deeply because I don't want people to lose hope. You cannot lose hope. There's always the next election.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

and you have to make an investment in every single election. There are two elections every year in Pennsylvania, so every chance we have,

we should do it.

Tim, the current Republican state rep serving in your district voted no to authorize election officials to begin counting mail-in ballots seven days before an

How nonsensical is that?

Yeah, you know, they won't vote to authorize pre-canvassing, but then they'll complain that it takes so long to count all the votes on election day. It's almost like they're trying to intentionally sow distrust into our democratic institutions.

It's...

Right.

crazy. Seems almost

Yeah.

they were kind of doing that by design. Yeah, yeah.

It's

so

we literally cannot get Republican politicians to agree that as votes come in, like in other states, you count the votes instead of waiting until 7 a.m. on election day to count hundreds of thousands of votes. Like you said, it is meant to disenfranchise people and trick them into thinking that Democrats are pulling a fast one

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

I'm

Yeah.

assuming, going out on a limb here, that given the chance, you would vote to allow ballots to be counted as they come in and on election day, just release those totals. Yeah, it needs to happen. But again, only if we flip the state Senate blue. I know you're running for the state house, but I'm looking for that trifecta, Tim. I am dead set trifecta robust.

Absolutely. 1000%. Yeah.

Hmm. Yeah.

Absolutely, yeah.

Tim, what happens when you fully fund public education?

When you fund public education, you give people the opportunity to set their own course. If they want to attend college, pursue any type of academia, if they want to go straight into the workforce, if they want to go to a trade school, enroll into an apprenticeship program, enlist right into the military, it gives them that pipeline to be able to choose what they want to do in their own lives. And like I said earlier, when I enlisted in the Army National Guard, I never would have been able to have gone

to college without the assistance that the National Guard had given me. you know, public school really is a lifeline for a lot of folks, you know, not just in the 143rd, but across Pennsylvania too. So, you know, I am in 100 % in support of keeping public dollars in public schools, not siphoning state investments into for-profit institutions. You know, my entire academic career ⁓ from kindergarten all the way through grad school was in publicly funded schools, right?

So it's something that's very personal to me and it's something I will absolutely prioritize in Harrisburg. Not only keeping public dollars in public schools, but also increasing teacher pay. know, making sure that kids can

Mm-hmm.

a safe environment. You know, making sure that school facilities are upgraded to the best of our abilities. Whatever I could do to support our public students, I will absolutely do.

I appreciate that. mean, look, the Republicans for the last 30 years in the state legislature of Pennsylvania have been trying everything they can to defund public school education. You know, it got so bad, so bad that our state Supreme Court had to come in and say, this is unconstitutional. And we're still, we're still not there yet. I mean, we still are not funding public school at the levels that it truly should be, but it's better than it was. And we have to make sure that Democrats in the state house maintain that majority because we don't want to backpedal.

you

Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Mm.

We do not want to go backwards. So I appreciate that you're on the right side of this issue. We need to fully fund public school in Pennsylvania.

for it.

Absolutely.

Tim, as you said, you work for Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, and you authored a PA House bill to help veterans get jobs in the sustainability sector, like clean energy, land conservation, water quality, and energy efficiency. So did this bill end up becoming law?

and I'll

Unfortunately not, no. So as of right now, House Bill 894 is currently in the House Labor and Industry Committee. That bill was introduced by Representative Joe Webster, who is an Air Force veteran. We've been working very hard to try to get that bill out of the committee onto the floor. It does have several Republican co-sponsors as well. I spent the past couple of years building a pretty broad coalition in support of the bill as well, obviously Democrats and Republicans.

Mm-hmm.

good, okay.

know, environmental organizations, ⁓ veteran advocacy groups. ⁓ I also got a conservative group, the Land and Liberty Coalition to sign on support as well. So it really is a no brainer, right? It helps get veterans back to work and good paying union jobs. But we're also filling the critical positions that we need to keep our natural resources safe. So you're killing that two birds with one stone, right? And

Yeah.

Yeah, it is my hope that we can get it out of the house and to the Senate and make a good push for it ahead of budget season. that kind of just that remains to be seen, know, budget season get a little crazy. So.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, it's

just embarrassing. took what, six months to pass a budget this time because of the Republicans in the state Senate. Look, I'm glad that you're looking at a veterans that is super important to me that we that we take care of those who put everything on the line to protect this country and also protect our environment. That's great. And the fact that you're getting bipartisan support, you know, I want more of that. think everyone in Pennsylvania wants more bipartisan support of bills. And it's unfortunate that the culture war kind of drags everything down.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Mm-hmm.

But we need people like you, obviously, who can make those connections and get these bills pushed through as quickly as possible.

Yeah, I always say I want to take the politics out of policy. I just want to focus on the issues, you know, tackle, you know, very critical issues that affect people's everyday lives. I don't want to focus on these cultural issues. I want to, you know, bring people's utility costs down by getting more energy onto the grid. I want to help local farmers boost local food processing to bring grocery costs down. I want to bring municipalities together to promote more mixed use affordable housing

And that's what I want to focus on in Harrisburg.

Inject it straight into my veins, Tim. Right into my

You

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Tim, the current Republican state rep serving in your district voted no to require all candidates for public office file online campaign finance reports. Why in the hell would you vote no against? Why would you do that?

Yeah, so I took a pledge I will not accept any corporate PAC money during the course of this campaign. It's entirely people

I think a lot of special interests in Pennsylvania have a very tight grip on our legislature. You know, whatever industry it is, they people, know, if that money is coming from Jeffrey Yass or

Yeah.

similar, whoever it is, they have a lot of influence over our state legislature. And I think that really inhibits our ability to get good transformative policy passed into the governor's desk.

Yeah.

making information like that public for people to consume in any way they see fit is, again, seems like a no brainer to me. But apparently some folks disagree on that.

Yeah,

it just smells like corruption. mean, just like pure corruption to say, no, I don't want

Yeah.

require people to say how much they're raising to run for political office. It's just gross. So I'm glad that you are all about transparency and the fact that you're not taking money from corporate PACs. I think that is becoming more and more important in today's world. It's difficult, right? It's difficult because of Citizens United that basically gives PACs so much power in this country, but we outnumber them.

Mm-hmm.

Absolutely.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

We outnumber them and we just have to get people to care, get off the couch and support good candidates like yourself.

Exactly.

All right, Tim, we're gonna play another game called How Much to Run. Okay, so I'm gonna give you a position and you're gonna tell me, you can give me a range, how much it costs to run in Pennsylvania. And this all, it hurts my soul when I look at these numbers, it really does. But this is the reality of where we live in and we have to fight fire with fire, unfortunately, until we change the laws. Okay, so to be a state rep in Pennsylvania, how much does it cost on average to run, would you say? You can give a range.

Thanks.

Yeah.

say around $500,000.

You're right in the middle of the pack, $100,000 to $700,000 to become a state rep. It's an insane amount of money, but again, this is the landscape we live in. All right, I a couple more. State Senator, how much do you think?

Hmm

Hmm.

On average, yeah, probably close, probably between $600,000 to a million dollars for a competitive race.

numbers I found

to five million dollars 150 to five million in competitive districts

No, yeah, yeah

Yeah, it's crazy. Okay. How about governor? Yeah, we're working our way up the ballot

Governor, ⁓ man. Yeah,

yeah, I mean, maybe 50 million up to 100 million. I mean, it seems pretty

You

$60 to $100 million to run for governor of Pennsylvania. How about U.S. Congress?

Yeah.

U S Congress for a competitive race. mean, yeah, we're talking could be 3 million to 7 million somewhere in that range. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yep, 500k to 10 million. It's crazy that governor, like it's crazy that governor is a hundred million dollars and

US Congress is only 10, but still astronomical amounts of money. All here's the last one. US Senate.

Mm-hmm.

probably less than governor, I would say. Maybe let's go, it depends how competitive it is too. Let's say 10 million to 30 million.

This was actually pretty surprising to me, 80 to 200 million dollars. Yeah, for US Senate.

What? Yeah, I guess

for a swing state like Pennsylvania, guess, yeah.

Yeah,

yeah.

I mean, again, this is set up by design, right? Because ever since the Supreme Court ruled that political action committees are people, they're entities, there is literally unlimited amounts of money that can be raised. And this was brought to the Supreme Court by conservative think tanks. Okay, these were not democratic think tanks that said, we want to just open up the purse and say it's going to cost tens of thousands of millions of dollars to run for political office, right?

Hmm.

If we want to change these things, we have to elect more Democrats to write laws, to change campaign finance, so it doesn't cost so much money. But until that happens, we cannot become delusional and sit back and say, I'm just not going to play until it gets cheaper, because then

Absolutely.

Mm-hmm.

billionaires, will come in and change everything so that we can never take that power back. So I am very sorry, Tim, that you are going to have to raise up to $700,000 to run for office.

Exactly that. Yeah.

It's ridiculous, but I really hope that with that power behind you, you're going to do such good things and not waste any of that money when you get to Harrisburg

you

Absolutely. Thanks, man.

Tim, as I said earlier, you work for Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania and have helped to secure millions of dollars for land conservation, water

among many other things. So which political party in Harrisburg has been most helpful in achieving all of

That would be the Democratic Party.

What?

Crazy work, right? Yeah, yeah. It's a shame the party of Theodore Roosevelt is so apprehensive to funding that protects the environment. Yeah.

I mean,

I'm not shocked, I'm just kidding. But that is just insane that all these good things that you've done through this organization to protect Pennsylvania from just going backwards in our environment. mean, deregulation is a Republican party's game, right? They wanna deregulate everything, allow industry to take over. And so I'm just grateful that you are part of the party that's making things safer for Pennsylvanians in our environment.

Thank

Yeah, absolutely. strong environmental policy doesn't just protect the environment. It transcends so many different areas of policy too, because pro-environment policy is also pro-labor policy. No, it's pro-public health policy. It's pro-consumer policy. It touches so many different aspects of the legislature. That's why it's so important that we pass strong bills like this. Because like I said earlier, more clean energy means more jobs, lower costs, and better air quality.

It's absolutely imperative that we pass strong environmental policy, but it's been very difficult to get anything of substance through the state Senate nowadays. So

Yeah, we need a strong majority in the House, but we absolutely have to flip the state Senate. We have a lot of great candidates that are going to do that. yeah, yeah, I'm looking forward to next year, to say the least. Yeah, exactly.

This year, Tim, this has to be our year to get the trifecta in Pennsylvania. The

last time we had the trifecta in Pennsylvania, I was 12 goddamn years old. Okay, I'll be 42 this year and it is time. So I appreciate what you're

Hmm. Hmm.

and we need more of you.

Tim, I understand you personally donate your council check back to the police officers so that they can buy new clothing. Tim.

Absolutely.

it would seem you always have enough in your bucket to give to others. I mean, it's just, it's very inspiring to me.

whatever I can do to support our local first responders, I will absolutely do.

know, I will say, you know, serving on Borough Council, you know, we don't get paid a lot of money for it, but whatever small amount I can give back to them so they can purchase new uniforms, you know, if they need.

food when they're going to the ranges to get their firearm recertification, whatever like little thing I can do to make their lives a little bit easier while they're protecting the people of Dublin Burough I will absolutely do. And that's work I will continue in Harrisburg as well because,

we just need to do more to protect our first responders.

and you know whatever I can do to give back to them including donating my borough council check I'll continue to do.

You're a Dublin treasure, Tim. You're just a treasure, and we need you to be a Harrisburg treasure as well. Dublin needs to share you a little bit. Go to Harrisburg, get some good shit done, and then come back and donate your check, okay?

Yes, good.

Tim, what gives you hope?

Man, that's a great question.

You know, what gives me hope

Really, I believe in the people of Pennsylvania. You know, we have some of the most hardworking people in the United States. We have a rich history.

of being a powerhouse energy producing state, being a key industrial state.

the workers and the people of Pennsylvania have propped up the United States for years. And, you know, I see that same sentiment today for folks in the 143rd.

You know, I talk with a lot of young folks. talk with older folks and they all recognize that our country is heading in the wrong direction. And it's great that people are recognizing that, right?

that, that gives me a lot of hope that people want to see change. They don't just want to maintain the status quo. They want to see our communities get better.

Well, Tim, you give me hope because anyone who wakes up every day and tries to make the Commonwealth a better place, that brings me a lot of hope. there are people constantly saying, throwing their hands in the air, where are the leaders in the Democratic Party? I'm talking to one right now. I'm looking at a leader in the Democratic Party. And so we need more leaders like you to get elected. And so I really appreciate you giving me hope.

Mm. Please.

appreciate that.

Tim, my last question for you is, what are your plans to get you through these next few years?

Cause this has been rough. This has been rough, right? Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, you know, just

keep my nose on the grindstone and keep working for folks. You know what I mean? Like, just keep our eyes on the prize. You know, connect with as many people as possible, knock as many doors as we possibly can to hear what folks care about.

take all that feedback and put it right into our policy platform and making sure I'm being the person they can rely on at Harrisburg, being the fighter that they deserve. That's what I'm gonna keep doing. Just tune out all of the culture wars, all of the political nonsense, whatever else it might be, and just focus on the issues.

I've been in Harrisburg the past couple of years with CVPA, trying to get a lot of these bills passed. So I know what it takes. I know what's working and what isn't. So I'm just so excited to get into Harrisburg and just be the biggest pain in the ass that I possibly can for the folks who might be more apprehensive of the change in Harrisburg. I'm ready to get to work, man. I

You

am.

Tim Hayes, Democrat running for state house in Pennsylvania. I need you all to listen. This is when you come in close and turn up the volume Josh Shapiro won this district by 10 points. It is estimated we need about 1500 votes to flip the seat blue and expand our PA House majority. Now, Tim, what is your website?

⁓

My website is timhayesforpa.com.

Okay, I need you to go to his website, and if you live in these areas of Pennsylvania, I'm gonna try and say this in one breath, okay? If you live in Dublin, Percasey, Sellersville, Silverdale, Bedminster, Hillstown, parts of New Britain, Plumstead, and Tanecum townships, you need to go to Tim's website, and you need to get off the sidelines and get engaged. You need to sign up to door knock, send postcards, make a donation, phone bank. This is our time. We can expand our democratic majority. This is a

Flippable state seat. And I don't want people to say their vote doesn't matter. It totally matters. And you could be the vote that sends Tim to Harrisburg next year. And so Tim, I can't vote for you. I wish I could, because you're amazing. But I want everyone to gather around you. I really hope that maybe this summer I can come and knock doors with you. But it's time Pennsylvania to get out the vote this November 3rd for Tim Hayes.

Mm-hmm.

Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Yeah, I'm ready to get to work. Let's do it.

Absolutely. can't wait to call you November and congratulate you, but keep hitting those doors. I appreciate you.

Yeah, man, I appreciate it. Thanks so much for having me here. It was a great conversation.

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