Neal Gale
Neal Gale (Green Party) ran for election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to represent District 1. Gale did not appear on the ballot for the general election on November 3, 2020.
Biography
Neal Gale completed the architecture program at Drexel University in 1988. His professional experience includes working as the director of the Home Energy Survey Program, Chair of the Technical Subcommittee for the CACs Working Group, and manager of a low-income energy affordability program for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. His organizational affiliations include New Jersey Clean Energy, Abington Township Energy Advisory Council, PennEnvironment, BucksMont Citizens Climate Lobby, and the EAC Network.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 1
Incumbent Patrick Harkins won election in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 1 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Patrick Harkins (D) | 100.0 | 17,919 |
| Total votes: 17,919 | |||
 = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Neal Gale (G)
- Daniel Fishman (L)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 1
Incumbent Patrick Harkins advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 1 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Patrick Harkins | 100.0 | 6,741 |
| Total votes: 6,741 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Pennsylvania
Incumbent Bob Casey Jr. defeated Lou Barletta, Dale Kerns, and Neal Gale in the general election for U.S. Senate Pennsylvania on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Bob Casey Jr. (D) | 55.7 | 2,792,437 |
 | Lou Barletta (R) | 42.6 | 2,134,848 | |
 | Dale Kerns (L) | 1.0 | 50,907 | |
 | Neal Gale (G) | 0.6 | 31,208 | |
| Total votes: 5,009,400 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Pennsylvania
Incumbent Bob Casey Jr. advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Pennsylvania on May 15, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bob Casey Jr. | 100.0 | 752,008 |
| Total votes: 752,008 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Brian Kelly (D)
- Ray Uhric (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Pennsylvania
Lou Barletta defeated Jim Christiana in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Pennsylvania on May 15, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lou Barletta | 63.0 | 433,312 |
 | Jim Christiana | 37.0 | 254,118 | |
| Total votes: 687,430 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Joseph Vodvarka (R)
- Cynthia Ayers (R)
- Paul DeLong (R)
- Bobby Lawrence (R)
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Neal Gale did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2018
Ballotpedia biographical submission form
The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:
| “ | What is your political philosophy?
Revoke Citizens United - remove corporate money from the political process and make grass roots democracy possible. Work for re-regulating our banks, insurance and real estate industries to reign in the financialization of our economy. I will work to reorder our budgetary priorities and advocate for real tax reform, to benefit all sectors of our society, not just the upper 1%. Declare a state of emergency on the Senate floor regarding climate change and advocate for an immediate transition to a 100% renewable energy economy. demand the political will at the federal level to recognize the existential threat that climate change represents and that there is no more time to wait. We must act now! Work for social justice throughout our society, including prioritizing education, decriminalizing cannabis and sex work nationally, reviewing our voting practices and strengthen our laws where necessary to provide easy access for all citizens to vote. Work for the disarmament of nuclear weapons, worldwide. Advocate for more international diplomacy to develop stronger economic, social and cultural ties among all nations, to reduce the existing areas of tension and lessen the likelihood of future hot spots. I will press for re-directing the trillion dollars designated for upgrading the U.S. nuclear arsenal to other purposes that will support the common good. Is there anything you would like to add? I am not a politician, nor do I want to become a politician. On the contrary, I will work as hard as I can, to avoid the shortfalls of our current political leaders, and strive to represent every Pennsylvanian who does not now have a seat at the table. And that includes all of us in the lower 99%. I will not be moved by monied interests! I understand that Pennsylvania is a big state with many people holding various opinions on the issues of the day. My campaign has taken me around the state and I have spoken with thousands of its citizens. I have heard that we share common concerns, which we will never resolve as long as we refuse to listen to one another. This is the moment to change all of that and begin the transition to a grass roots democratic process. One where we all have a voice and we sit at the table together until we work out the solutions we require. That's the only way we can create a nation and a society as great as we imagine it can be. Not looking back to a whitewashed past, blind to the very real flaws made throughout our history, but forward to a very real, sustainable, and just nation, worthy of handing off to our children.[2] |
” |
| —Neal Gale[1] | ||
Campaign website
Gale's campaign website stated the following:
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Neal Gale participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on September 9, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Neal Gale's responses follow below.[4]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | I will support repeal of Citizens United and will advocate for and support the tenets of the American Anti-Corruption Act. I will propose and support legislation to implement the transition our existing, carbon-based, fossil-fuel energy economy to 100% clean, renewable energy as quickly as possible, incorporating the framework of the Green New Deal. I will push to repeal the 2001 Authorization of Use of Military Force (AUMF) and do whatever I can to eliminate our nuclear arsenal and nuclear weapons, worldwide.[5][2] | ” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | Climate change and environmental stewardship, our economic model and regulations that favor the financial industries, good, affordable health care as a human right, removing corporate money from our legislative and executive processCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[2]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Neal Gale answered the following:
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow and why?
| “ | Robert Kennedy. While he came from a wealthy family he empathized with those who did not and was able to reassess his beliefs based on what he could see. He had very strong opinions but was always willing to listen to advisors and where appropriate, revise his course of action.[2] | ” |
| “ | Donut Economics by Kate Raworth and "This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate" by Naomi Klein[2] | ” |
| “ | The maximum good for the greatest number of people must be paramount in proposing or supporting any legislation. An elected official must be willing to listen to all views with an openness to opposing perspectives, be able to think critically and make decisions based on his or her guiding principles, perhaps modified by new information.[2] | ” |
| “ | I am responsible for managing a statewide, low-income energy efficiency and affordability program and in that capacity I have had the opportunity to help develop and steer the program from its inception in 1996. I have been a part of its evolution, providing guidance to corporate leaders as well as the utility managers, based on my years of experience in the clean energy and energy conservation fields, going back to 1978. As a manager, I have had to understand and accommodate the realities of the program’s limits, while pushing those limits to improve the effectiveness in reducing energy waste in our low-income customers’ homes. I have seen first-hand, the connection between advocating for needed changes with those who control the spending, and the positive impacts those changes can bring to those who benefit from the program.[2] | ” |
| “ | A U.S. Senator must propose and support legislation that addresses the issues that adversely affect the health, well-being and prosperity of the citizens of his or her state as well as those in the rest of the country. While doing so, I believe a Senator must also lead the citizens of the state by invoking his or her vision for the future and propose and support legislation that will best direct the nation to that end. Such vision must look to the long term sustainability of our economic system as it provides for a baseline standard of living, below which, no one may be allowed to fall. At the same time, the economic vision must account for the limits on our natural resources and not exceed them for near term profit.[2] | ” |
| “ | I would like to be remembered as the Senator who created the political will at the federal level to implement the transition from our carbon-based, fossil-fuel energy economy to a 100% clean, renewable energy economy.[2] | ” |
| “ | The Cuban missile crisis. I was 10 years old.[2] | ” |
| “ | I worked in a laundry/dry cleaning shop when I was 17. I mostly sorted shirts and marked the collars with the customer's names. I did that for a year.[2] | ” |
| “ | 6th Grade, Debbie Smith. Took her to a movie (my dad drove) and I spent most the movie with my arm over her shoulder on her seat back, not knowing what else I should do. It was a long movie and my arm was numb by the end.[2] | ” |
| “ | Thanksgiving, because it is all about hanging out with the family and usually friends, and eating some of my favorite foods. There's also always a sense of actual thanks for everything good that happened in the intervening year. Just a great, warm feeling![2] | ” |
| “ | Earth Abides, written in 1949 by George R. Stewart. It was the book that first got me thinking about the fragility of our civilization and how little it would take for it to disappear.[2] | ” |
| “ | Malcom Reynolds (Firefly). For obvious reasons.[2] | ” |
| “ | I have a photograph that I took of my older daughter in 1985, sitting on my grandfather's lap when she was about a year old, with my grandmother watching them. I have since printed it on canvas. It is such a strong reminder of how quickly time passes and at the same time, how the important things somehow remain. Could be my favorite thing in the house.[2] | ” |
| “ | Flute Thing by The Blues Project[2] | ” |
| “ | Eating without much sugar and fat.[2] | ” |
| “ | Senators have the longer term and seemingly the greatest experience in the legislative branch which perhaps implies some measure of wisdom. I believe the Senate is where the long-term interests of the people of the United States are best determined.[2] | ” |
| “ | It is, of course, important to understand the logistical workings and even the political history within the Senate, but I believe that there is something to be said for coming into it with fresh eyes and an updated view of the issues. In those cases where a Senator enters the job without previous experience as an elected official, it should be possible to develop the skill set to manage the practical aspects of its operations and bring new perspectives to the floor.[2] | ” |
| “ | It can be an effective tactic where other options to block the majority pushing through questionable legislation are unavailable. As long as it remains possible to change the filibuster rule, I support its use.[2] | ” |
| “ | The Senate should consider the ability of the appointee to carry out the required tasks associated with the appointment. That would include previous experience in the subject area, relevant statements and writings by the appointee on the subject, suitability of the nominee's temperament and overall likelihood that the nominee will perform the tasks in alignment with the best interests of the people of the country.[2] | ” |
| “ | Removal of corporate money from the legislative and executive process and recognizing that we need greater participation in a grass roots democratic process; implementation of a plan to transition away from the carbon-based, fossil fuel energy economy to a 100% clean, renewable energy economy; removal of the growing threat of an accidental or even intentional nuclear launch somewhere in the world; and the reformation of our economic model to one that recognizes the need for a baseline standard of living and a limit to resource depletion and environmental destruction beyond which we may not go.[2] | ” |
| “ | It is crucial to develop relationships with Senators from all political persuasions, if we are to move beyond the highly charged, partisan politics that have us unable to address the truly pressing issues facing us today. I believe there may be some intentionality in the current tribal stand off, allowing some to avoid public commitment to various controversial issues and postpone actual debate and votes. I will do whatever I can to create consensus among all members of the Senate to move forward in a real way, on the issues I mentioned above, which I believe require immediate and urgent attention.[2] | ” |
| “ | Energy and Natural resources, Environment and Public Works, Finance, Foreign Relations, Joint Committee on Taxation, Joint Economic Committee[2] | ” |
| “ | I would be interested in leading any Green Party members of the Senate in forming coalitions with other Senators in support of the initiatives I mentioned previously, transition to 100% renewable energy, reformation of our economic model, repeal of Citizens United and the dismantling of worldwide nuclear weapons.[2] | ” |
| “ | As stated above, I would model myself after Robert Kennedy.[2] | ” |
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted on Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form on September 5, 2018
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Neal Gale’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed November 1, 2018
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Neal Gale's responses," September 9, 2018
