A Republican has represented Philadelphia’s 177th District for more than 30 years — a fact Joe Hohenstein is looking to change.
The immigration attorney, and Democrat, is running against 32-year incumbent state Rep. John Taylor in this November’s election. Both candidates ran unopposed in their party’s respective races in the primary.
The 177th encompasses parts of Fishtown, Kensington, Frankford, Port Richmond, Bridesburg and Northeast Philadelphia.
Hohenstein, 49, is a native and current resident of Frankford. The first-time political candidate said he was prompted to run after last year’s lengthy state-budget impasse — which he contends shone a light on the need for new representation in the 177th.
“I was always frustrated our district was represented by a Republican but the line has always been, ‘Oh he’s a decent guy, he’s from the neighborhood,’ and he is. But the problem is his votes have gone from being somewhere in the middle to over on the right,” Hohenstein said. “He’s so much more closely aligned with Tea Party Republicans now.”
Hohenstein said Taylor voted “straight party line” through the first half of the budget crisis last year.
“His true colors weren’t of that middle-of-the-road guy,” he said. “And there was also that he had the job of cutting the deals from the Republican side with [lawmakers from] the city of Philadelphia, and he just doesn’t seem to have the ability to do that. He made an effort and it didn’t work and that’s precisely because his party is way too far over to the right. There aren’t enough people in the party interested in what I would call true governance, the concept that we all have to compromise. We have to recognize there’s something for the greater good in being able to move forward.”
If elected, Hohenstein said he’d focus on three areas: adequately taxing corporate entities, including natural-gas companies; righting the fiscal health of the Philadelphia School District; and developing new jobs in the 177th District, including those using sustainable energy.
The district has seen its fair share of changes in recent years, Hohenstein noted, with an influx of new residents into areas like Fishtown.
He said he’s eager to bridge gaps between newcomers and a demographic often referred to as “generationals” — whose families have resided in the district for generations.
“I was going through Fishtown the first time I heard that word in that context and it was said almost in a derogatory way,” said Hohenstein, whose own family dates back to the area for five generations; his great-grandfather ran a saddle shop on Frankford Avenue. “To me, the implication of that word in this way means somebody who’s resistant to change. And yeah, that’s going to happen but there’s also the point that some things shouldn’t change. We have to deal with change but we have to make the right kind of change — change that lifts everybody, not that gentrifies the neighborhood and forces people out, or where some people are paying higher taxes than others. We have to respect what came before us and at the same time be prepared to move forward.”
Fishtown and Old Richmond, in particular, Hohenstein said, provide opportunities to integrate new residents into the neighborhood in a responsible way.
“That’s where it’s playing out most significantly but if the trend continues, that’s going to go straight through the rest of the district,” he said. “So now is the time to make sure we get it right. If we don’t get it right, we’re going to have an imbalance in our neighborhoods and when you see inequities, that’s when things start going downhill. We’re only as good as how the most vulnerable among us live; if we can’t make sure that there’s a standard of living at the lowest level, that all people can attain a certain level of happiness, then I think we’re failing.”
That idea extends to LGBT equality, he said. Hohenstein noted that, in his private practice, he has worked with numerous same-sex binational couples, both before and after the federal ban on same-sex marriage was dismantled.
The issue also hits home for him, as his daughter is a member of the LGBT community.
“The community’s issue are personal for me,” he said. “This is something I’m paying attention to but, beyond that, I want to get to a culture of normalcy for the acceptance of diversity — whether it’s gender, sexuality, race, religion — the concept that there are more things that make us the same as human beings than make us different. But there will never be a question as to whether I would support an initiative or lead on an initiative that would increase equality or people’s sense of belonging in society.”
Hohenstein said he would work to advance nondiscrimination and hate-crimes legislation that are fully inclusive of the trans community, strengthen anti-bullying policies and mandate safe access to bathrooms for all citizens.
Hohenstein plans to participate in the DNC LGBT Happy Hour July 24 at Woody’s and the July 26 counter-protest for the planned Westboro Baptist Church picket outside Mazzoni Center.
In the coming months, he said he could use both financial support and volunteer time.
“Any time somebody takes on an established candidate, they have to do something completely different. For me, what’s going to have to be different is how to run Election Day; we have to create our own network of supporters that day. Having people ready to be a part of that is a real key for me.”
For more information on Hohenstein’s campaign, visit www.electjoehohenstein.org.