Latest / Meet the Candidate - Pittsburgh & Western Pennsylvania / Brandon Dukes for Pennsylvania House District 12 (D)

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Brandon Dukes for Pennsylvania House District 12 (D) · Meet the Candidate - Pittsburgh & Western Pennsylvania

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  Speaker 1: And welcome in. This is Meet the Candidate, designed to
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  Speaker 1: give you an opportunity to hear directly from the people
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  Speaker 1: who are asking for your vote. No endorsements, no debate,
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  Speaker 1: just a conversation about the candidate, the issues, and where
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  Speaker 1: they stand, so you can make up your own mind. Today,
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  Speaker 1: we're talking with Brandon Dukes, the Democratic incumbent representing Pennsylvania's
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  Speaker 1: 12th House District. Meet the Candidate, Brandon Dukes, thank you
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  Speaker 1: for joining us.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me, John. I appreciate it.
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  Speaker 1: All right, so is there one thing you want voters
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  Speaker 1: to understand about your campaign.
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  Speaker 2: And Yeah, I mean, since the primary this summer, we've
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  Speaker 2: been about one thing. It was about making your life better,
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  Speaker 2: and that's what we ran on. Those were the issues
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  Speaker 2: that we took to heart, that we told you that
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  Speaker 2: we were going to fix in Harrisburg, and You know,
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  Speaker 2: also community, right? We are about everybody, including everybody in
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  Speaker 2: the district, whether you lived here your entire life or
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  Speaker 2: you just moved here last week. You know, we're still
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  Speaker 2: representing you and I'll continue to do that. So, you know,
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  Speaker 2: all are welcome. And now that I'm your state representative,
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  Speaker 2: I'm open to listen to you, regardless if you voted
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  Speaker 2: for me or against me or like me or don't
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  Speaker 2: like me. I'm still your representative in Harrisburg. And that's
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  Speaker 2: what I'm going to do. I'm going to keep on
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  Speaker 2: representing you until the day I'm not.
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  Speaker 1: Brandon, you've spent much of your career in banking and lending.
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  Speaker 1: What do you believe is the single biggest thing Harrisburg
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  Speaker 1: can do to help Pennsylvania businesses grow, create good-paying jobs,
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  Speaker 1: and keep people working here in our area?
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  Speaker 2: I think there's a slew of things. I mean, one
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  Speaker 2: thing I hear a lot of from local business owners,
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  Speaker 2: especially small business owners, is that when it comes to permitting,
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  Speaker 2: when it comes to red tape, there's a lot of
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  Speaker 2: like you know, process to get permits to run your business.
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  Speaker 2: I think there's some things that Harrisburg could do to
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  Speaker 2: like make the process easier to open up a business. Um,
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  Speaker 2: you know, there's a lot of like fees associated with
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  Speaker 2: the business. I'll tell you one thing, um, since it's
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  Speaker 2: more state related is that restaurants and bars, especially up
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  Speaker 2: here in Butler County, liquor license, um, are ridiculous. They're
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  Speaker 2: astronomically expensive. A lot of them are, um, in the
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  Speaker 2: six figure range. So if you're trying to open up
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  Speaker 2: a bar or a restaurant with a liquor license, um,
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  Speaker 2: You know, you got to pay $ 100, 000 to get that
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  Speaker 2: liquor license alone. So a lot of new companies, a
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  Speaker 2: lot of new restaurant owners don't have that kind of money.
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  Speaker 2: So that's one thing to be specific about that. A
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  Speaker 2: lot of restaurants is the liquor licensing, which is, again,
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  Speaker 2: very astronomical. But also, too, a lot of times you need,
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  Speaker 2: you know, locally a permit to open up a restaurant. Um,
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  Speaker 2: there's a lot of, you know, background noise that you
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  Speaker 2: have to go through a lot of hoops to jump through.
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  Speaker 2: And I think Harrisburg can make a lot easier for
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  Speaker 2: a lot of these small businesses to thrive. So that's
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  Speaker 2: something I'm looking forward to working on in Harrisburg.
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  Speaker 1: The new buzzword is affordability. Uh, people are feeling the
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  Speaker 1: pressure at the grocery store, housing, healthcare, uh, and when
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  Speaker 1: they pay bills, um, what can you do as a
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  Speaker 1: state representative to make life more affordable?
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  Speaker 2: One thing the House already did was we passed the
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  Speaker 2: Minimum Wage Act to raise it to 15 an hour,
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  Speaker 2: which has now been sent to the Senate, I think,
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  Speaker 2: a few months ago. It's still sitting there. So we
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  Speaker 2: passed that in the House already. That's something I'm supportive of.
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  Speaker 2: And I feel like that's one way to help others
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  Speaker 2: in this cost of living crisis that we're living in.
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  Speaker 2: And another issue as well is a lot of these
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  Speaker 2: big corporations do is price gouging. So I think a
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  Speaker 2: lot of you know anti-price gouging legislation to make sure
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  Speaker 2: that these big companies aren't raising prices just for the
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  Speaker 2: heck of it and going way above market value and
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  Speaker 2: taking advantage of you know the less fortunate the people
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  Speaker 2: who really aren't you know aware of what's going on
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  Speaker 2: so i think those are two big things that we
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  Speaker 2: can definitely uh tackle one we already did we just
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  Speaker 2: need to get it through the senate the minimum wage
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  Speaker 2: hike and i think once we bring in a lot
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  Speaker 2: of these corporations making them pay their fair share and
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  Speaker 2: everything like that i think that's you know one way
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  Speaker 2: that can really a few ways that can help with
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  Speaker 2: the cost of living.
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  Speaker 1: Here in pennsylvania Now, Pennsylvania has a real opportunity to
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  Speaker 1: play a major role in America's energy and technology future.
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  Speaker 1: How do we attract those jobs and investments while protecting
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  Speaker 1: the communities where that development is happening?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so funny story. When I was out canvassing this summer,
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  Speaker 2: we came across a gentleman who happened to own a
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  Speaker 2: solar panel company. And they were high-paying jobs he had.
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  Speaker 2: But what happened was when the federal subsidies went out,
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  Speaker 2: ran out, or canceled, people stopped getting solar panels. And
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  Speaker 2: by therefore... It kind of hurt his business a little
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  Speaker 2: bit here because a lot of solar paneling is very renewable.
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  Speaker 2: It's clean. It's something that's what I feel like is
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  Speaker 2: the way of the future when it comes to energy.
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  Speaker 2: And that would definitely help protect Western PA status as
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  Speaker 2: an energy hub here in the country. So I do
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  Speaker 2: think focusing on renewable energy and I think Harrisburg could
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  Speaker 2: be the first step to investing in that type of
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  Speaker 2: energy here. And that's something that we can fight for
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  Speaker 2: in Harrisburg to again, protect, rather, Pennsylvania's role as an
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  Speaker 2: energy hub here in Western PA.
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  Speaker 1: Now, you talked about investing, and you've talked about investing
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  Speaker 1: in public education as well, community colleges and trade schools.
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  Speaker 1: What do you believe Pennsylvania needs to do differently to
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  Speaker 1: prepare young people for the jobs of tomorrow?
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  Speaker 2: I think a lot of times, again, I think they
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  Speaker 2: need to, you know, reiterate the importance of community colleges,
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  Speaker 2: two-year universities versus just four-year universities. Growing up, it was
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  Speaker 2: always four-year college, but I did a community college for
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  Speaker 2: about two years and I transferred over to Pitt. So
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  Speaker 2: I think a lot of the, and it saves costs
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  Speaker 2: to the students as well. Your tuition bill is pretty
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  Speaker 2: much cut in half versus those who went the full
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  Speaker 2: four years. But I do think a lot of trade
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  Speaker 2: schools are another investment that we can definitely push forward.
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  Speaker 2: And I think, you know, teaming up with, I met
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  Speaker 2: a lot of unions this past year and got a
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  Speaker 2: lot of their endorsements. And a lot of them were
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  Speaker 2: pretty focused on, you know, workforce, partnering with a lot
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  Speaker 2: of local colleges, whether they be community colleges or universities.
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  Speaker 2: I know up in Slippery Rock, they just introduced a
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  Speaker 2: new degree, a construction management degree and stuff like that.
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  Speaker 2: So we're definitely seeing a change in the college system. front,
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  Speaker 2: but also too, I think it's important that they work
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  Speaker 2: locally with the workforce for students who are about to graduate.
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  Speaker 2: So they have a job lined up before graduation because, um,
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  Speaker 2: You don't see it too often. Now, real quick, I
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  Speaker 2: did graduate right after the financial crash of 2008. So
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  Speaker 2: college and it's been pretty rough. So I understand what
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  Speaker 2: the students go through. There was no job, you know,
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  Speaker 2: relationship lineup for any of us. So I think it's
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  Speaker 2: important for people who colleges and their things. So I
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  Speaker 2: still think they have a fair shot in the workforce.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that's one way we can invest in
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  Speaker 2: when it comes to jobs and training and education in
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  Speaker 2: the States.
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  Speaker 1: Southern Butler County has experienced tremendous growth, and the roads
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  Speaker 1: haven't really kept up. You've made improving the Route 228
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  Speaker 1: corridor a major priority. What progress have you made, and
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  Speaker 1: what still needs to happen?
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  Speaker 2: So right now we're on the final phase of Route 228.
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  Speaker 2: I think right now they are waiting for the full funding.
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  Speaker 2: A total of $ 102 million is needed to fund the
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  Speaker 2: final phase. You know, half that was supposed to come
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  Speaker 2: from federal grants that local governments here were working on getting. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 2: they didn't make it this round. But I had a meeting,
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  Speaker 2: a policy meeting that I hosted with the PennDOT Secretary
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  Speaker 2: Mike Carroll here in Cranberry Township last week with all
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  Speaker 2: local elected officials. And some of my colleagues where I,
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  Speaker 2: you know, was able to get a commitment from him
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  Speaker 2: to fund the other half, the $ 50 million for PennDOT.
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  Speaker 2: So it was actually $ 25 million back in June, originally,
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  Speaker 2: when they sent the letter out to the county. And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, at this meeting, he was willing to, you know,
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  Speaker 2: invest in $ 50 million at least for the other half.
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  Speaker 2: So once they get, you know, the $ 50 million, $ 100
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  Speaker 2: million plus fund, We can go ahead and get started.
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  Speaker 2: They already started the groundwork. They got the plans and everything,
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  Speaker 2: and everything is set in motion. We just need to
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  Speaker 2: fully fund the rest of the project in order for
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  Speaker 2: us to start. So that's where we're at right now
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  Speaker 2: on that portion.
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  Speaker 1: Now, you've been to Harrisburg just a short time. What's
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  Speaker 1: the biggest surprise you've encountered since taking office? And has
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  Speaker 1: there been anything that changed your perspective on how government
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  Speaker 1: actually works?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think seeing, like they say, watch the sausage
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  Speaker 2: being made. You know, you get to see how many
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  Speaker 2: deals are made, how much bipartisanship is actually up there.
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  Speaker 2: It's actually surprising. We voted on a lot of bills
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  Speaker 2: from the Senate that was run by Republicans that came
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  Speaker 2: to the House and vice versa, and they passed, sometimes unanimously.
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  Speaker 2: There are some that I was on there right now
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  Speaker 2: that I voted for. You know, one bill that came
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  Speaker 2: through was the allowing independents to vote in the primaries.
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  Speaker 2: That came on the House floor. It kind of got
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  Speaker 2: contentious in a good way, but we had a lot
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  Speaker 2: of Republicans jump on board, and we had a few
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  Speaker 2: Democrats who weren't supportive of it. So it was kind
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  Speaker 2: of one of those issues where it was like, man,
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  Speaker 2: this can really, um, uh, appeal to a lot of
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  Speaker 2: people and, you know, can also appeal to different people.
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  Speaker 2: But I think learning the process and learning my way
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  Speaker 2: around Harrisburg and also, um, you know, not having a
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  Speaker 2: nine to five schedule anymore, like I had for the
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  Speaker 2: last 16 years in the corporate world is actually a
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  Speaker 2: sigh of relief. Um, I never thought I would thrive
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  Speaker 2: off like a chaotic schedule, but I feel like I
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  Speaker 2: am up there because there's a heck of schedule. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: you have like three meetings within the same hour and,
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  Speaker 2: You got to make time for each of them. You
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  Speaker 2: go in for 10 minutes, 10 minutes. And I thought, well,
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  Speaker 2: I just can't leave this meeting.
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  Speaker 1: But I did.
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  Speaker 2: And nobody cared. And that's what you have to do.
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  Speaker 2: You have to stay on pace. You have to stay
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  Speaker 2: on target. You have to do a press conference, another meeting.
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  Speaker 2: And they've got a session at the caucus. They go
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  Speaker 2: back to session and vote. And then afterwards, you go
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  Speaker 2: out to meet other constituents, stuff like that. So definitely
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  Speaker 2: different from the nine to five world. That's what really
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  Speaker 2: shocked me. So that's something I'm now getting used to.
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  Speaker 2: And I think I can do it for another two years.
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  Speaker 1: You won a special election, and it was close. It
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  Speaker 1: was really, really close. What did that experience teach you
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  Speaker 1: about the people you represent?
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  Speaker 2: Well, first, it taught me that every vote matters. Every
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  Speaker 2: vote counts. Don't take any vote for granted. But also
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  Speaker 2: taught me that, you know, regardless of the demographics there politically,
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  Speaker 2: I know they had a two to one registration, but
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  Speaker 2: people were just sick and tired of the chaos that
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  Speaker 2: they're seeing from the top, so to speak, on the
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  Speaker 2: federal level that they wanted their voices heard sooner than
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  Speaker 2: the midterms. So a lot of them showed up to
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  Speaker 2: show their support. disdain for that uh we had a
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  Speaker 2: lot of crossover appeal you know i think there was
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  Speaker 2: about 18 2200 i think mail-in votes from the republican
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  Speaker 2: side and i think 300 of those went our way
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  Speaker 2: i believe so not a big deal but it's a
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  Speaker 2: nice you know chunk of of that uh that voter
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  Speaker 2: slice that we got so We had a lot of
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  Speaker 2: appeal across the party because we ran just on practicality
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  Speaker 2: and everyday issues that offend, not offend, excuse me, that
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  Speaker 2: affect people. You know, like I said, we up until today,
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  Speaker 2: I believe we're close to the 30,000 door mark. We've
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  Speaker 2: knocked on almost 30,000 doors, which is pretty much almost
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  Speaker 2: half the district, the residents that live in the district.
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  Speaker 2: So we heard a lot of stories. We heard similar stories.
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  Speaker 2: about the cost of living, of course, like we spoke earlier,
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  Speaker 2: funding education, a lot of teachers who are worried, a
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  Speaker 2: lot of school-age children, parents who had kids in school
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  Speaker 2: who are worried about schools possibly being defunded, if that's
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  Speaker 2: ever a thing to come up in the future. And,
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  Speaker 2: of course, infrastructure. Cranberry Township is a growing... area with,
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  Speaker 2: you know, massive gridlock. And I think it's important that
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  Speaker 2: we invest in infrastructure and the district can keep doing
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  Speaker 2: so all across it. So those were a few things
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  Speaker 2: that we heard. And that's what we, you know, ran on.
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  Speaker 2: And it resonated pretty well as becoming the victor on
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  Speaker 2: August 18th. And hopefully we do it again November 3rd.
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  Speaker 1: Well, the last word is yours. What do you want
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  Speaker 1: the voters to know about you and your campaign?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, listen, like I said earlier, I mean, our campaign
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  Speaker 2: is open to everybody. This is a campaign run on
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  Speaker 2: community values. Again, I want to reiterate, you know, I
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  Speaker 2: don't care how long you live in the district. If
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  Speaker 2: you're a lifelong resident of Butler County or the district,
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  Speaker 2: I'm still representing you. And if you moved here just yesterday,
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  Speaker 2: I'm still going to represent you. It's different now because
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  Speaker 2: I'm also the incumbent. So we have that behind us working.
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  Speaker 2: And we also have a district office that's open serving constituents.
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  Speaker 2: We already brought back 1.3 million, 1.4 million now to
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  Speaker 2: the district and state grants to help local infrastructure, EMS,
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  Speaker 2: community development, and a lot of local organizations that help
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  Speaker 2: with like food banks and stuff like that. So that's
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  Speaker 2: what we've been able to do in six weeks. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we voted on legislation already. I've introduced a bill that would, uh,
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  Speaker 2: help regulate, uh, AI in our schools across the Commonwealth
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  Speaker 2: to make sure that our, you know, curriculum is rigorous
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  Speaker 2: and our children are kept safe to make sure teachers
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  Speaker 2: aren't using it to grade papers or come up with
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  Speaker 2: curriculum or for students use it to cheat. Um, and
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  Speaker 2: I also introduced the flock camera ban. Uh, there were
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  Speaker 2: several actually introduced, but I was one of them that
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  Speaker 2: introduced one that would, you know, um, keep our privacy
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  Speaker 2: intact here in the Commonwealth, make sure that they're not
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  Speaker 2: taking footage of you and putting it God knows where.
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  Speaker 2: So hopefully that gets passed out of committee here soon.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, like I said, we are here for you. We,
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  Speaker 2: I believe in public service. We are, you know, a
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  Speaker 2: campaign of many. We started out small and of course
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  Speaker 2: we flipped the seat that was, you know, we had
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  Speaker 2: no business flipping, but we just talked to voters. We
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: got out there. We weren't afraid. We just didn't talk
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  Speaker 2: to our party. We talked to everybody and that's important.
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  Speaker 2: We need to get back to that. You know, I'm
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  Speaker 2: not interested in slinging mud. I'm not interested in name-calling
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  Speaker 2: or finger-pointing. We have been working on issues since August 19th,
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  Speaker 2: the day after the special election, and being sworn in
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  Speaker 2: shortly after and getting to work and My first vote
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  Speaker 2: was at the Independence Hall on September 9th, the vote
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  Speaker 2: on the 250th University of the United States. So a
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  Speaker 2: lot has happened. A lot of history was made there
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  Speaker 2: for me personally. And we just kept running, go back
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  Speaker 2: to Harrisburg. And we just keep working on legislation and
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: making the lives better of the 12th District because that's
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  Speaker 2: what we ran on.
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  Speaker 1: Brandon, thank you so much for your time. We do
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: I appreciate it, Johnny. Thank you so much. And I
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: appreciate the opportunity.