The Daily Item
July 29, 2024
I recently had the pleasure to sit down and talk with Nick Jacobson, who is running for State Representative in the 85th Legislative District against Republican incumbent David Rowe.
Jacobson, a Democrat, is a graduate of Yale University where he studied ethics, politics, and economics and is planning for a possible career in state government.
Despite his youth, he is 23 years old, Jacobson already has extensive experience in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C. In Harrisburg, Jacobson worked at the Department of Health and rural health care and also with the Auditor General’s office on funding for rural schools.
Jacobson interned in the summer of 2023 in Sen. Bob Casey’s Washington, D.C., office. He worked on Casey’s judiciary team and presented his research on corporate consolidation to the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Jacobson said his campaign is focused on the primary issues facing many rural areas, including health care, education, and the economy. He has no time for the back-and-forth bickering that so often occurs in politics. “Spitball contests may attract viewers but do nothing to address the issues that Pennsylvanians in our district face in their everyday lives. I’m here to be laser-focused on the issues that matter for all of us in the district,” he said.
For example, he is very interested in climate change as it relates to helping the many farmers in his district find a way to deal with it now and in the future. He also wants good health care that everyone can afford; jobs and entrepreneurship to grow our economy; access to emergency care for every township and borough; support for kids and families in and out of local public schools; after-school child care district-wide; preserving farmlands and our historic family farms, and defending our values and rural way of life.
Jacobson has a keen intellectual mind but is not uneasy with people. Rather, he has a policy-type mind, and can gather information on a needed project for his district and then figure out a way to implement it to meet those needs.
Like former Rep. John Showers, Jacobson plans to do a lot of door-to-door campaigning to ensure he gets a good idea of what the district’s citizens want to improve their lives and what they expect him to do in trying to meet those needs.
Jacobson said he appreciates all the help of his volunteers and said a blast of rain and wind at the Freeburg Firemen’s Carnival “threatened to send the tent and me off to Oz.” Another man saw the problem and ran to help Jacobson save the tent.
In further complementing his band of volunteers, Jacobson said, “That is it works when a storm hits. You get wet, then you get to work. If you are feeling the rain these days, I hope you’ll remember all the work we have done and that we are doing as a District and as a country. We are the builders.”
In looking at the entire district, Jacobson said, “People in our district work hard. I want to go to Harrisburg and work hard for them. I understand policy and the politics of getting legislation drafted and passed.” He will show up and deliver for the people of the district.”
I am not related to Jacobson and have never met him before. However, I was very impressed with his views and how he plans to meet the needs of the district.
This 76-year-old codger thinks that 23-year-old man is going to do a lot of good for our district.
Bob Derr, The Old Codger, lives in Selinsgrove.