Photo Courtesy of Logan Hoover
Mason student Logan Hoover announced candidacy for Pennsylvania State Representative
BY BRAD BYRNE, NEWS EDITOR AND SYDNEY JOHNSON, NEWS ASSISTANT
Mason student Logan Hoover announced his candidacy for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 98th Legislative District. This district encompasses Hoover’s hometown of Elizabethtown.
Hoover is currently a senior in his last semester at Mason and has been continuing his education virtually for the past two years, “I haven’t been on campus for a class in two years now. I was involved as a brother of Chi Psi on campus and in Student Government for a few years being a student senator and being a part of the Executive Cabinet as University Life Secretary.”
One of his brothers of the fraternity, senior Steve Taglieri, noticed how his charisma within the organization “pulled them out of the gutter” at times.
“The nice thing about Logan is that even though him and I have very different political opinions, we have never found ourselves in a difficult situation.” Taglieri said. “Logan is steadfast in what he believes. He likes to help others, which is a big takeaway I get from his campaign.”
Hoover was also a part of College Republicans at Mason, but according to their 2nd Vice Chairmain Joe Szymanski, he hasn’t been active since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hoover, running as a Republican, is hoping to make a change in his district as Rep. David Hickernell recently announced his retirement and is not seeking reelection.
Despite not holding office before, Hoover has worked as an intern for Rep. Lloyd Smucker, who represents Pennsylvania’s 11th congressional district. Hoover said that the experience he had drove him to run for office, “That sort of led me to having just a deeper understanding and a deeper passion to be an elected official myself, to take the steering wheel and drive my own ship.”
“It starts with a conversation with just an individual in a one-on-one and I think that I would have the opportunity and plus I’ve lived in this area for 21 years,” Hoover points out.
He was grateful for the opportunities that George Mason has given him, “George Mason has given me the opportunities and sort of the foundation to run for office. I would say if you have any local office that you want to run for, do it. I man I did it because maybe I won’t win or I’ll come up short, but in 80 years when I look back, I’m certainly not going to regret it.
In terms of young people in office, Hoover stressed that more young people should run for office. “This is going to be our country. This is going to be our state. Why wouldn’t we have that foundation of younger people trying to run and trying to make our voices heard?…I think it’s exciting for a younger person such as myself to put my hat in the ring and go for it in our age group,” Hoover exclaims.
One platform issue that Hoover wants to address is the revitalization of small towns, “I think this biggest thing I’ve heard growing up in this small town is that ‘I want to leave’ or ‘there’s nothing to do’…However, a lot of people are sticking around after college or coming back in from college to live here…I think the answer to all of this is that we have a younger voice to get people excited to stay.”
In an interview, Hoover stresses the importance of trade schools for those who didn’t want to go to college, but did not address all of his education platform.
According to his campaign website, Hoover stated, “Additionally, being a strong advocate of school choice and the process of allowing every family to choose the K-12 education options that best fit their children… No child should be indoctrinated. Especially no in theories that tell them they are inherently less than someone else.”
And after the 2020 Election, Hoover ensured that he would be for election integrity, “Everyone wants to have their voices heard in elections and trying to have that establishes the forefront of this campaign because it’s a pressing issue. People are scared or worried and I want to be there to say, ‘Hey look, you’re safe.’ The voting systems should be fair and should be upheld in our democratic process.”
The primary election for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives will take place on May 17, 2022.
