William Foster (Pennsylvania)

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

William Foster

Fostering Our Vote

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

Carnegie-Mellon University, 1981

Ph.D

University of Pennsylvania, 1993

Personal

Religion

Christian

Profession

Scientist

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Twitter

William Foster (Fostering Our Vote) ran for election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to represent District 165. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Foster completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

2022

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2022

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

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 34,604
= 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 165

Incumbent Jennifer O'Mara advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 165 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jennifer O'Mara	100.0	8,675

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,675
= 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 165

Nichole Missino advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 165 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nichole Missino (Write-in)	76.5	2,251
		Other/Write-in votes	23.5	692

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,943
= 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

• Robert Jordan (R)

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

William Foster completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Foster's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I’m running as an independent for PA state house because, like many of us, I see that we are not being represented. Candidates for state office in Delco are chosen by party leaders, run in uncontested primaries, raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign money from elsewhere, and typically never get any of their legislation voted on in Harrisburg. Our representatives are unable to be heard in Harrisburg and we are unable to be heard by them, because their time is not spent with us but with large donors and energized party members.

As an independent I can be different. I can spend my time talking with citizens rather than party leaders and donors. That matters because partisanship is stealing all of our futures.

For me, Pennsylvania is important and worth helping. My wife and I are raising our two teens born in Abington, and educating them in Pennsylvania public schools. I’ve lived in Allegheny, Philadelphia, Bucks, and Delaware counties. My career in science was possible because of education in Pittsburgh in chemical engineering and in Philadelphia in neurophysiology and molecular biology. Pennsylvania is a great state, but it can be better if we end partisanship and work together.

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?

• 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.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

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.

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

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?

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?

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?

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

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?

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.

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

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?

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?

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?

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.

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?

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?

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?

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?

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.

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?

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?

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?

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.

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Candidate

Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 165

Website

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Joanna McClinton

Majority Leader:Kerry Benninghoff

Minority Leader:Jesse Topper

Representatives

District 1

Patrick Harkins (D)

District 2

Robert Merski (D)

District 3

Ryan Bizzarro (D)

District 4

Jake Banta (R)

District 5

Eric Weaknecht (R)

District 6

Bradley Roae (R)

District 7

Parke Wentling (R)

District 8

Aaron Bernstine (R)

District 9

Marla Brown (R)

District 10

Amen Brown (D)

District 11

Marci Mustello (R)

District 12

Stephenie Scialabba (R)

District 13

John Lawrence (R)

District 14

Roman Kozak (R)

District 15

Joshua Kail (R)

District 16

Robert Matzie (D)

District 17

Tim Bonner (R)

District 18

K.C. Tomlinson (R)

District 19

Aerion Abney (D)

District 20

Emily Kinkead (D)

District 21

Lindsay Powell (D)

District 22

Joshua Siegel (D)

District 23

Dan Frankel (D)

District 24

La'Tasha Mayes (D)

District 25

Brandon Markosek (D)

District 26

Paul Friel (D)

District 27

Daniel Deasy (D)

District 28

Jeremy Shaffer (R)

District 29

Tim Brennan (D)

District 30

Arvind Venkat (D)

District 31

Perry Warren (D)

District 32

Joe McAndrew (D)

District 33

Mandy Steele (D)

District 34

Abigail Salisbury (D)

District 35

Vacant

District 36

Jessica Benham (D)

District 37

Mindy Fee (R)

District 38

John Inglis (D)

District 39

Andrew Kuzma (R)

District 40

Natalie Mihalek (R)

District 41

Brett Miller (R)

District 42

Dan Miller (D)

District 43

Keith Greiner (R)

District 44

Valerie Gaydos (R)

District 45

Anita Kulik (D)

District 46

Jason Ortitay (R)

District 47

Joe D'Orsie (R)

District 48

Timothy O'Neal (R)

District 49

Ismail Smith-Wade-El (D)

District 50

Bud Cook (R)

District 51

Charity Grimm Krupa (R)

District 52

Ryan Warner (R)

District 53

Steven Malagari (D)

District 54

Greg Scott (D)

District 55

Jill Cooper (R)

District 56

Brian Rasel (R)

District 57

Eric Nelson (R)

District 58

Eric Davanzo (R)

District 59

Leslie Rossi (R)

District 60

Abby Major (R)

District 61

Liz Hanbidge (D)

District 62

James Struzzi (R)

District 63

Josh Bashline (R)

District 64

R. James (R)

District 65

Kathy Rapp (R)

District 66

Brian Smith (R)

District 67

Martin Causer (R)

District 68

Clint Owlett (R)

District 69

Carl Metzgar (R)

District 70

Matthew Bradford (D)

District 71

Jim Rigby (R)

District 72

Frank Burns (D)

District 73

Dallas Kephart (R)

District 74

Dan Williams (D)

District 75

Mike Armanini (R)

District 76

Stephanie Borowicz (R)

District 77

Scott Conklin (D)

District 78

Jesse Topper (R)

District 79

Louis Schmitt (R)

District 80

Scott Barger (R)

District 81

Richard Irvin (R)

District 82

Paul Takac (D)

District 83

Jamie Flick (R)

District 84

Joe Hamm (R)

District 85

David Rowe (R)

District 86

Perry Stambaugh (R)

District 87

Thomas Kutz (R)

District 88

Sheryl Delozier (R)

District 89

Rob Kauffman (R)

District 90

Chad Reichard (R)

District 91

Dan Moul (R)

District 92

Marc Anderson (R)

District 93

Mike Jones (R)

District 94

Wendy Fink (R)

District 95

Carol Hill-Evans (D)

District 96

Nikki Rivera (D)

District 97

Steven Mentzer (R)

District 98

Tom Jones (R)

District 99

David Zimmerman (R)

District 100

Bryan Cutler (R)

District 101

John Schlegel (R)

District 102

Russell Diamond (R)

District 103

Nate Davidson (D)

District 104

Dave Madsen (D)

District 105

Justin Fleming (D)

District 106

Thomas Mehaffie (R)

District 107

Joanne Stehr (R)

District 108

Michael Stender (R)

District 109

Robert Leadbeter (R)

District 110

Tina Pickett (R)

District 111

Jonathan Fritz (R)

District 112

Kyle Mullins (D)

District 113

Kyle Donahue (D)

District 114

Bridget Malloy Kosierowski (D)

District 115

Maureen Madden (D)

District 116

Dane Watro (R)

District 117

Jamie Walsh (R)

District 118

James Haddock (D)

District 119

Alec Ryncavage (R)

District 120

Brenda Pugh (R)

District 121

Eddie Pashinski (D)

District 122

Doyle Heffley (R)

District 123

Tim Twardzik (R)

District 124

Jamie Barton (R)

District 125

Joe Kerwin (R)

District 126

Jacklyn Rusnock (D)

District 127

Manuel Guzman (D)

District 128

Mark Gillen (R)

District 129

Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz (D)

District 130

David Maloney (R)

District 131

Milou Mackenzie (R)

District 132

Michael Schlossberg (D)

District 133

Jeanne McNeill (D)

District 134

Peter Schweyer (D)

District 135

Steve Samuelson (D)

District 136

Robert Freeman (D)

District 137

Joe Emrick (R)

District 138

Ann Flood (R)

District 139

Jeff Olsommer (R)

District 140

Jim Prokopiak (D)

District 141

Tina Davis (D)

District 142

Joseph Hogan (R)

District 143

Shelby Labs (R)

District 144

Brian Munroe (D)

District 145

Craig Staats (R)

District 146

Joseph Ciresi (D)

District 147

Donna Scheuren (R)

District 148

Mary Daley (D)

District 149

Tim Briggs (D)

District 150

Joseph Webster (D)

District 151

Melissa Cerrato (D)

District 152

Nancy Guenst (D)

District 153

Ben Sanchez (D)

District 154

Napoleon Nelson (D)

District 155

Danielle Friel Otten (D)

District 156

Christopher Pielli (D)

District 157

Melissa Shusterman (D)

District 158

Christina Sappey (D)

District 159

Carol Kazeem (D)

District 160

Craig Williams (R)

District 161

Leanne Krueger (D)

District 162

David Delloso (D)

District 163

Heather Boyd (D)

District 164

Gina Curry (D)

District 165

Jennifer O'Mara (D)

District 166

Gregory Vitali (D)

District 167

Kristine Howard (D)

District 168

Lisa Borowski (D)

District 169

Kate Klunk (R)

District 170

Martina White (R)

District 171

Kerry Benninghoff (R)

District 172

Sean Dougherty (D)

District 173

Patrick Gallagher (D)

District 174

Ed Neilson (D)

District 175

Mary Isaacson (D)

District 176

Jack Rader (R)

District 177

Joseph Hohenstein (D)

District 178

Kristin Marcell (R)

District 179

Jason Dawkins (D)

District 180

Jose Giral (D)

District 181

Malcolm Kenyatta (D)

District 182

Benjamin Waxman (D)

District 183

Zachary Mako (R)

District 184

Elizabeth Fiedler (D)

District 185

Regina Young (D)

District 186

Jordan Harris (D)

District 187

Gary Day (R)

District 188

Rick Krajewski (D)

District 189

Tarah Probst (D)

District 190

Roni Green (D)

District 191

Joanna McClinton (D)

District 192

Morgan Cephas (D)

District 193

Torren Ecker (R)

District 194

Tarik Khan (D)

District 195

Keith Harris (D)

District 196

Seth Grove (R)

District 197

Danilo Burgos (D)

District 198

Darisha Parker (D)

District 199

Barbara Gleim (R)

District 200

Christopher Rabb (D)

District 201

Andre Carroll (D)

District 202

Jared Solomon (D)

District 203

Anthony Bellmon (D)

Democratic Party (101)

Republican Party (101)

Vacancies (1)