Jodun to continue campaign in the new 15th District
Despite his home town of Mill Hall being redistricted away from what was the 5th District and into the 12th District, Democrat Wade Jodun has decided to continue his quest for a seat in U.S. Congress in the newly minted 15th District.
Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Howard Township, who’s held his seat since 2009, is the incumbent there.
The new congressional map, handed down by the state Supreme Court on Monday, puts most of Centre County in the 15th District, which encompasses much of the old 5th District, with the exception of State College and the southeast portion of Centre County, Clinton County and Erie.
The new map puts Mill Hall just outside the boundary, into the 12th District.
Jodun’s decision to run in the 15th district, he said in a release, is to continue to be able to represent those he’s met so far on the campaign trail.
“We spent four months, traveled more than 4,000 miles, held 24 campaign events (including nine town halls) in counties like Centre, Clearfield, Clarion, Elk, McKean, Jefferson and Venango. We had a lot of hard-working people from these counties volunteer, make donations, pledge their support, and ask us to remain in the race” Jodun said in a release.
Jodun, who has a degree in environmental science from Lock Haven, spent more than 20 years working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Lamar, starting as a biologist who worked with endangered Atlantic sturgeon.
He remains committed, he said, to the primary focus of his campaign, which is weeding out corruption in politics and rebuilding the middle class.
Jodun was originally running for the Democratic nomination in the 5th District against Brookville lawyer Kerith Strano-Taylor and Penn State professor Marc Friedenberg.
Strano-Taylor announced Saturday that she suspended her campaign for Congress and will instead be seeking a seat in the 66th District of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives. Friedenberg will continue to run for Congress in the 12th District.
This story was originally published February 24, 2018 at 10:59 PM with the headline "Jodun to continue campaign in the new 15th District."