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Jonathan McCabe
Jonathan McCabe (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to represent District 54. He lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Biography
McCabe graduated from Burrell High School in 2014. He is the co-founder of My Vote Matters, a student organization at Penn State New Kensington.[1]
Campaign themes
2018
Campaign website
McCabe's campaign website stated the following:
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Educating for Tomorrow: Several decades ago, a high school diploma could open the door to a variety of fulfilling, middle-class careers. Today, that is not the case. With degree inflation in full effect, an associate's or bachelor's degree is now required for the same jobs high school graduates once filled. Similarly, master's and doctoral degrees are now required for jobs B.A.’s once filled. With the rising cost of college that leaves too many struggling with debt just after graduation, opportunity is slipping out of reach of the hard-working students who have earned it. If elected, I will oppose any funding cuts to public education and move to reverse any funding cuts that have already taken place. I will support legislation that increases funding to Pennsylvania’s 14 state-controlled universities, allowing them to substantially lower tuition and fees, increase scholarship and work-study opportunities and allow the average in-state student to graduate debt-free after four years. I will also act to make community college tuition-free and encourage credit transferring between community colleges and four-year universities. While reducing and, in some cases, eliminating the cost of college is key to expanding opportunity to our youth, I realize college is not for everyone. Because those who work with their hands deserve an equal chance at success, I support expanding vocational training programs, building more vocational schools and increasing student awareness of the many successful careers to which vocational training can lead. I also support working with and strengthening unions to allow for more apprenticeship opportunities and good standards of living for those in the trades. Building Our Economy: The crumbling state of Pennsylvania’s infrastructure is unacceptable. Pennsylvania currently has the highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges of any state, and it’s also home to some of the nation’s worst roadways. Not only are these deficiencies unsafe and costly to Pennsylvanians in terms of tire replacements and other repairs, they’re also bad for business. When companies determine where to do business, they consider the state of an area’s infrastructure. Businesses want to ensure consumers have easy access to their locations, their merchandise is able to reach shelves on time and they are able to attract the best talent to the areas where they set up shop. The effects of infrastructure deficiencies are most pronounced to small businesses, which lack the resources of their larger competitors to deal with them. If elected, I will support legislation that brings Pennsylvania’s infrastructure from among the worst in the nation to among the best. I will move to increase funding to road and bridge repair projects and incentivize these projects to be completed ahead of schedule. Where appropriate, I will support public-private partnerships that allow Pennsylvania’s existing businesses to reinvest in their communities. I will also support land conservation projects that help make Pennsylvania a beautiful place to do business. Taking these steps will immediately pour millions into Pennsylvania’s economy and create jobs by allowing for the hiring of more construction and conservation workers. These steps will continue to create jobs down the road as companies move into Pennsylvania to take advantage of a strong infrastructure plan. Caring for Our People: Currently, we have a multi-payer health insurance system in Pennsylvania. The Payers are private insurance companies. Each company offers a multitude of plans, each with varying levels of deductibles, co-payments, and coverage. This privatized multi-payer system puts profits first, denies claims to maintain profit margins, and is responsible for over 60% of Pennsylvania bankruptcies. The average physician spends $84,000 annually to interact with private insurance companies. This multi-payer system is grossly inefficient. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege. I support making healthcare affordable and accessible to all Pennsylvanians. I support legislation such as HB 1688 and SB 1014, which would expand Medicare and Medicaid for all on the state level. Patients should have the right to choose their doctor and hospital. A simplified healthcare system would save Pennsylvania $4 billion from state and local government, and $33 billion from private insurance. The Opioid Epidemic The opioid epidemic has ripped through working-class communities, too often resulting in heartbreak. Sadly, many of us have been impacted by addiction in some way, whether through personal experience or through that of a family member or friend. With my psychology background, I believe those suffering from opioid addiction should not be treated as criminals, but rather as people with a disease who need help. To provide these people with the care they need, I believe it’s paramount we ensure our state’s mental health services are fully-funded and accessible to all Pennsylvanians. I also support placing tighter restrictions on when and for what purposes doctors can prescribe opioid treatment, as addiction often begins with a serious, yet unrelated, medical incident. Because no one deserves to die due to a mistake, I support equipping Pennsylvania first responders with Narcan. I also want to give doctors and patients a safe alternative to opioid treatment by legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Pennsylvania. Marijuana has comparable success to opioids when used for pain treatment, yet it's non-addictive and does less damage to the body than alcohol and cigarettes. Expanding Pennsylvania’s marijuana laws to allow for legal recreational use, taxed and regulated similarly to alcohol, will prevent patients from turning to more harmful drugs like heroin once their prescriptions for pain management run out. Supporting Labor: Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, I have witnessed the loss of union jobs and the attack on unions by those in Harrisburg. Labor built this country and this district. Organized labor has been central in helping to build America’s middle class and has provided workers with many rights that are very often taken for granted. These rights include the right to a fair wage, vacation time, a 40 hour work week, health insurance, and so much more. If elected, I will support legislation that will raise the minimum wage to at least 10.10 on the statewide level, with a county-by-county cost of living adjustment. I will also make sure that any rises to the minimum wage are tied to inflation to ensure that our hard workers are able to keep up with the costs of living. I will also support legislation that will restore basic employee protections such as overtime. If elected, I will oppose efforts such as "right-to-work" laws, which should be called "right-to-work-for-less" laws. These laws undermine and weaken our unions right to collectively bargain. When these laws pass and unions aren’t able to negotiate and to serve as a check on corporate greed. In fact, wages in right-to-work states are lower on average than wages in non-right-to-work states, by an average of about $1500 a year. Workers in right-to-work states are also less likely to have employer-sponsored health insurance and pension coverage. Throughout history, labor unions have been the leaders in the fight for improving working conditions and providing workers with a job that allows them to achieve their full potential, all at the same time bettering the future of their families. I will continue to work alongside labor in that fight to ensure that all the gains made by labor throughout history are not lost. Fixing Gerrymandering: Pennsylvania is one of the most gerrymandered states in the union, often being called the “poster child” for gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is the deliberate manipulation of district boundaries in order to acquire political advantage. Unfortunately, gerrymandering leads to politicians who ignore the voices of their constituents because they have been assured electoral security. Politicians now use mapping technology and big data to profile voters, and then use that information to create manipulated voting districts. If elected, I will support legislation that would end the practice of gerrymandering. Currently, PA law allows incumbent politicians to draw their own districts and choose their own voters. I support creating an impartial, independent citizens commission to redraw district lines. Both bills would invest more power into the people, and provide a fairer way to redistrict Pennsylvania. Gerrymandering needs to end because it leads to a dysfunctional democracy. Voters receive fewer options at the ballot box, and incumbents end up running unopposed in almost half of PA House and Senate races. This leads to more extreme polarization in Harrisburg, and essentially no progress is made on important problems. We need to change the process of how we redistrict in order to make progress in Harrisburg, and also to assure a more transparent and accountable government.[2] |
” |
| —Jonathan McCabe’s campaign website (2018)[3] | ||
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 54
Robert Brooks defeated Jonathan McCabe in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 54 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Robert Brooks (R) | 59.8 | 16,301 | |
 | Jonathan McCabe (D) | 40.2 | 10,944 | |
| Total votes: 27,245 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 54
Jonathan McCabe defeated Robert Bertha in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 54 on May 15, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jonathan McCabe | 65.4 | 2,285 |
| Robert Bertha | 34.6 | 1,207 | ||
| Total votes: 3,492 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 54
Robert Brooks defeated Michael Korns Jr., Maryalice Newborn, and Bryan Kline in the Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 54 on May 15, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Robert Brooks | 35.0 | 1,755 | |
| Michael Korns Jr. | 26.6 | 1,333 | ||
| Maryalice Newborn | 26.3 | 1,319 | ||
| Bryan Kline | 12.2 | 612 | ||
| Total votes: 5,019 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2018
- Pennsylvania House of Representatives
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted through Ballotpedia's biographical submission form on April 23, 2018.
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Jonathan McCabe’s campaign website, “Priorities,” accessed September 26, 2018
