Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 165 candidate surveys, 2022

Elections in Pennsylvania, 2022

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On the ballot: U.S. Senate • U.S. House • Governor • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Special state legislative • Local ballot measures • Municipal

This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 165 who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

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• Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 165

Incumbent Jennifer O'Mara defeated Nichole Missino and William Foster in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 165 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jennifer O'Mara (D)	61.1	21,145
		Nichole Missino (R)	37.7	13,056
		William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)	1.2	403

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 34,604
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

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Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

Our politics in Pennsylvania have become perfected for partisanship. In Harrisburg, elected officials in the minority now get zero of their bills considered for a vote. Members of the minority often don’t even get agendas to meetings about law making ahead of time. This leaves many of our legislators in a terrible job, where they know that even their most non-partisan, moderate ideas will go nowhere because of their party label. Many of us in Delco believe that the most sensible way forward is to start walking away from the party partisanship and outside money. That means encouraging independent’s to run for office, which is what over 400 of my fellow citizens of all parties did by signing a petition to put me on the ballot.

Beyond encouraging and electing Independents, we need to do everything possible to weaken partisanship’s hold on Pennsylvania law making and elections. That includes requiring primary races to have more than one candidate in order to appear on the ballot. There’s no point in Pennsylvania administering uncontested political party primary races. It also includes allowing the voters of each legislative district to decide if they want their November elections to be less partisan by using ranked-choice on their ballots. It means working to change the committee rules in Harrisburg so that meeting agenda’s are created in public well ahead of the time of the next meeting and that a chamber’s majority can recall bills from committee for votes.

Our public schools are our largest Pennsylvania government expenditure. But our school boards and school superintendents are overwhelmed by all that Harrisburg has put onto them. We need to simplify the work so our local school leaders have more time for the job they were designed for, education. Our children are being exposed to an unregulated jumble of internet content as if they are adults at age 13. They are not. Pennsylvania should join other states in providing more protection for our children online. Our area’s hospital and ambulance system is rapidly unraveling. The solutions put forward by our area’s representatives are getting zero support from their colleagues in the majority. We need solutions that are clearly non-partisan.

Nichole Missino (R)

I will fight to keep and restore freedoms. I have been tirelessly fighting over the last two years to keep my son safe from tyrannical mandates.

I am not a politician. I am a business owner. I am not running for this position to stay in politics forever; I would like to serve my time as a public servant, make a difference and then allow the next candidate to step in.

Education is a huge part of my campaign. Children are the voices of tomorrow and right now, we need to be the voice for them. My son who is ADHD and has a GIEP, needs special services at school, and I have been his advocate since he was 3. I would love to help advocate for other children if I am elected.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

I am passionate about education. There are many issues in education that are not about money, they are about how we work together. When our school boards and superintendents become overwhelmed with litigation, bond issues, tax rates, crisis management, public relations, contract negotiations, etc. there is no time and energy left for teachers, parents, community, students, and administrators to work on what matters most, education in the classroom. We can fix this.

I am also passionate about opportunities for our cities and rural areas to work together to create jobs that help each other. We need to focus on opportunities that knit Pennsylvania together. I am passionate about us bringing jobs back to the United States and that those jobs will create a smarter, greener future. We will be a stronger Pennsylvania when we rely more on Pennsylvania things like wind and solar and less on oil from authoritarian countries.

I am passionate about us working together to manage inflation for retired Pennsylvanians as we bring jobs home.

I am passionate about getting our democracy to function the way it was intended to function: voters and candidates rather than voters, candidates, political parties, big donors, focus groups, etc. Not one person I have spoken with said they love our political party system. Many think there’s no way out of this bad relationship, but many of us do think there is a way out. We can get back to basics and say no to the money and the partisanship.

Nichole Missino (R)

If elected, I would like to focus on some policies that mean a lot to me, which are election and education policies. I believe every American should have to show identification to vote. If you need identification for many other things than I think you need identifications to vote. Education is big for me because of my 13-year-old son. I want him to have a great education no matter what he chooses to study. I would like to focus on making higher education less expensive. The average student comes out of college with a debt in the amount of $33,264.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

There are really so many in my life who I have looked up to. Mostly it's easy to look up to the people you see are doing or have done good things that appear impossible for yourself. I've seen teachers and boy scout leaders connect to and inspire groups of young people where I thought "wow, you've really got this talent that is pure magic." They were not famous, but they were famous to me for being really good at something that matters. As far as famous people,when I watched a recent documentary about Ben Franklin, I found his combination of hard work to better himself and his community as examples worth following. He created libraries, schools, fire houses for his community, he ran a really successful business, dealt with hardships positively, and strove to learn and understand. Through all his successes and challenges he had a strong sense of humility and deep wonder about the world.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

When you get older, you realize that people's prior lives and experience are helpful. That past is vast, but in every piece of it you can get at some values and issues that are very relevant today. Even really difficult reads like the book of Leviticus with its mixture of ancient rules that are not followed anymore by anyone to rules most of us still aspire to uphold is well worth reading. You'll see commandments there to take care of each other and to take care of the land which are still very good ideas today. And you'll see in the writing biases explicitly described in quantitative economic terms about women, children, men, youth, and the elderly.

We didn't come from nowhere and in some ways it's comforting to see our struggles are truly ancient. They are not easy and we have to keep trying. History helps put political struggles into perspective.

Likewise reading of Roman history is worthwhile. In Rome there was for hundreds of years a culture of public office holders vying with one another to accomplish good works for their community and a slow journey towards reforms to make holding public office more accessible for people who were not wealthy. Later the political culture became more vying for power and money regardless of any input from the people. That history seems realer today for us than ever.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

All the oldest principals of our country - being hard working, honest, open to listening and learning, and humble. We're just passing through and we need to leave a better world for the future.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

State legislative powers are under the U.S. system the most intrusive and sweeping powers. They define so many aspects of our lives that we don't even notice them - the schools, municipalities, counties, police, insurance, courts, criminal justice, medical care, and on and on are defined by the legislature. It's important that we make these systems work well because we all depend on them.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Nichole Missino (R)

I want to leave my son in a free country.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

Growing up we always watched the evening news on TV. I remember night after night after night when I was about 10 years old the graphics on the maps of explosions in Belfast and Vietnam and Cambodia and footage of war. It deeply saddens me that I could hardly hope to list all the battles, wars, and violence that have happened since. Though we seem stuck with violence, the folks who study our most ancient history by looking at human remains actually believe that violence has been getting less over time. This makes sense as you can't build a complex civilization when you can't cooperate and are constantly doing battle with one another. Science says that cooperation has been slowly, slowly winning over war.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

A summer job in construction in high school. At that time the economy was slowing down and I would get up early every morning and call in hoping to hear there was a job site where I was needed. Many days there wasn't and that meant no money.

When there was work, it wasn't easy work. It involved some heavy lifting like moving stacks of rebar, or moving lumber to create forms for pours. Sometimes it was hours of bending down tying rebar together or it was even unsafe work about 25 feet with no safety harnesses inching along steel beams to wire brush welds and paint them.

I definitely learned that if you want to make real things like buildings, you have to do some real work.

Nichole Missino (R)

I had a paper route delivering the town talk at 11 years old, I delivered the paper until I got working papers at 14. My dad made me keep that job because he told me "You never quit one job without another". It taught me work ethic. I can honestly say I have never been on unemployment in my life until the pandemic hit.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Nichole Missino (R)

Cinderella

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

They should work together. The governor has responsibility to execute and enforce the laws the legislature passes. When an idea the legislature had is not actually working well in practice, even if it had in the past, the governor should make sure there is strong communication back to the legislature craft solutions.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

Our biggest challenge right now is getting the partisanship out of all levels of government so that government is functioning as something more than a campaign apparatus and instrument of division.

Another important challenge is that as we bring jobs back to the U.S. where pay is higher and working conditions are better, there will be an extended period of time where there are inflationary pressures. We're going to have to continually work on how to help retired Pennsylvanians and those who work at smaller businesses lacking the strength of organized labor and an extended set of global or national customers.

We also have a very important challenge of updating our transportation and energy infrastructure to be more modern and sustainable. As gasoline prices were very high this year, I could hear the drivers of the newer electric vehicles, even the cheaper ones with less range, celebrating being able to charge their cars at home at 1/5th the price of gasoline for the same distance. They also loved knowing that the money they were paying for electricity was going to Pennsylvania utilities and producers rather than an authoritarian government overseas.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of a unicameral state legislature, in your opinion?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

I haven't thought about it. Pennsylvania is bicameral and that's not going to change.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

Definitely. My Pennsylvania school board experience is hugely helpful. Firstly I know a great deal about the nuts and bolts of Pennsylvania's largest expenditure, education.

I know that even a single school district, with "just" a $235 million budget is complex and worth taking seriously as lives and futures depend on it. I can now bring this hard won years of experience back to the legislature and hope to help make education better. Others could do this from municipal or county government or the judiciary. Pennsylvania needs legislators with practical knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of Pennsylvania government.

Also, frankly it helps to have direct experience with how difficult, selfish, dishonest, and lazy people in political leadership can be prior to becoming a legislator. It's very disorienting at first to see the gap between appearances, words, and reality up close. It's better to learn about these sad truths when the stakes are smaller than the entirety of Pennsylvania government.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

It's essential. Currently the data on Harrisburg shows that legislators are doing very little talking with each other. Every year about 2000 pieces of legislation are introduced but only about 20% of these get a floor vote and less than 10% become laws.

What that means is that legislators are busily writing bills that no other legislator will read or vote on. It would be a better if legislators worked together before introducing legislation. Right now a great deal of legislation is more a campaign statement than a serious effort at doing the job of legislator.

Beyond this dysfunction, Pennsylvania is a big place with different issues in different areas. High density cities are more likely to have deaths from gun violence simply because it's much harder to not hit someone with a random shot in a city. Meanwhile, rural areas have more challenges having a hospital because it's harder for health care businesses to make money when there are very few patients spread far apart.

There's no way to understand and solve our problems in a large, diverse state like Pennsylvania without legislators knowing each other..

What process do you favor for redistricting?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

A non-partisan independent commission with clear guidance on avoiding statistical outliers in district design with respect to party affiliation.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

At this point, I would love working on education or environmental resources and energy, but, that said, I'm going to Harrisburg to work, so where ever I can help, that's a good place for me to be. If there is work that no one wants but needs doing, I'll take it on.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

I think the time where legislators really worked together is so long past, that I can't give you an example.

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

No. I'd be happy if I could start changing our culture to value candidates that are independent of party in our state legislature. That would be a sufficient accomplishment for me to share with the future if it could happen.

Nichole Missino (R)

I don't know what the future holds for me; I am interested in getting involved.

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

I found many stories to be impactful. I remember hearing about how in the 1980s if you wanted to get a job as a teacher or have hope that the zoning applications for your business would go through, you had to be registered as a Republican in Delaware County. That shows partisanship is nothing new, but what is new is there is less shame in being disrespectful to each other and there is less interest in listening to each other.

But that's our politics, not who we are as a community. The great thing about working to get on the ballot as an independent is that I was able to talk to everyone regardless of party and at our front doors and on our sidewalks there is an openness and ability to talk and listen that is completely different than what we see in our politics. If we could get what is in our houses into office, we'd be fine. We're still good out here in the real world.

There were many moving stories that make you tear up. I spoke to a man in Media who had lost his son to opioids purchased online and it was tearing him and his daughter up. I spoke with a very good person From Swarthmore who had to suddenly take over caring for her grand daughter when her daughter became addicted to opioids. Not only was she helping her grand daughter but she was working to make our foster care system better. Truly inspiring to listen to.

I spoke with a veteran in Springfield about his time in Vietnam. He described how you never forget seeing what you saw and yet, after all that loss in Vietnam, we moved on to Iraq and decades of time in Afghanistan, he asked "what did we learn? " That definitely got to me and I do think, what have we learned if we can't work together and take care of one another?

Should the legislature oversee or grant the use of emergency powers?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

Yes, those powers are granted to the state by the people and their representatives. That kind of power is so important that i has to be subject to oversight.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote)

Compromise is essential and desirable. In our normal lives as citizens we share the road, grocery store, house, work, etc. It's only in our party politics that compromise is now a kind of political death sentence. That's tragic since it is the political process that defines our schools, courts, municipalities, monetary policy, immigration, taxes, etc. We're in a bad place now that reminds me of what I saw living as a Peace Corps teacher in the 3rd world for two years. When everyone is in it to win for themselves, when no one can trust each other to be honest and work together, that's what causes a country to be a 3rd world country. You can't be great if you are corrupt.

See also

More about these elections:

• Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2022

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