District Round-up 05.10.26
Dear Neighbor, Thank you for reading my District Round-up. As your candidate for Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional District, it is my honor and pleasure to deliver to you where I’ve been and what issues I’ve tackled in the past week. Criss-crossing the counties of Adams, Franklin, Fulton, Bedford, Cambria, Blair, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Cumberland, and Somerset gives me great opportunities to meet with voters, hear what is on your hearts and minds, and the chance to voice my fight for Everyday Americans. If you would like to contribute to my campaign, please donate here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/beth-farnham-for-congress-1
Happy Mother’s Day
to all of the mothers in their hearts.
Sometimes, it doesn’t go perfectly.
But every woman (including mothers) deserves the right to vote, to make decisions about her own body, to open independent financial accounts, to be paid equally for equal work, to own property, to be considered equally human.
While I find my family photo amusing, I also realize the pivotal changes these women supported. They were registered Democrats, not the die-hard kind, but those who lived out the equality others fought so hard for.
My great grandmother was born in 1906, so she saw her mother and older sisters vote for the first time in Georgia in 1922, due to registration rules.
My grandmother opened her own business in the 1980’s, holding financial accounts in her name only.
My mother divorced my father and had to pay child support because she simply chose not to seek custody of us.
And I was born the month after Roe v. Wade was decided 7-2 in favor of women’s bodily autonomy, only to see it overturned in June 2022.
Now, like so many mothers, I have to worry that my own daughter could die of sepsis if she: moves to a state where abortion is pretty much outlawed and miscarries. I have to worry that the Save America Act (see Mercersburg Springfest post below) will pass the Senate and inhibit our rights to vote.
But I keep on fighting. It’s why you see pink on my signs and in my logo. I will never forsake our causes. And pink was my mother’s favorite color, so it’s a nice reminder of her.
I choose Women’s Equality, I Choose Democracy and I hope you do too.
Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs!
On Monday evening, Team Beth Farnham for Congress assembled hundreds of yard signs and loaded them onto a delivery truck. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I drove the truck, accompanied by Campaign Manager, Jack Stansbury, around the district to deliver those signs to Democratic Committee chairs, as well as put up the 8ft signs in the yards of our supporters.
Many, many thanks to Jack for his very hard work in putting them up – he did the lion’s share of the rebar hammering – and to the wonderful people also made this possible – Garrett Blanchet who made the frames, Danajoy Monroe, Matthew Lane, Farmer Rachel, Betsy Mason, and Dr. Bill Freeman for providing the settings, and the Democratic Committee chairs who accepted the hundreds of yard signs to be placed at the polls for the Primary Election on May 19th.
Even if Republicans don’t vote for me in that election, they will be familiar with my name so that when Trump crosses a line they didn’t know they had, they will have the confidence to vote for me in the General Election because my name has been a steady alternative to our current congressperson who only supports Trump.
Together, we #ChooseDemocracy !
Endorsements Alert!
Many thanks to the Progressive Voters Network for their endorsement!
Together, we #ChooseDemocracy !
Their statement reads:
Why Beth
Beth Farnham stands as a true fighter for the working class and oppressed in PA-13, refusing to compromise with corporate Democrats or the billionaire class. She recognizes that real change demands dismantling systems of exploitation, not tweaking them. As an everyday activist turned candidate, Beth has marched for Black Lives Matter and demanded agency over our bodies through full reproductive freedom, including unapologetic abortion access without restrictions. Her vision rejects the status quo of profit-driven healthcare and instead fights for Medicare for All because no one should die or go bankrupt while the rich hoard wealth.
Beth’s commitment to immigration justice energizes those who understand borders as tools of white supremacy and capitalist control. She calls for abolishing ICE, ending the cruel machinery of deportation and family separation that terrorizes our communities. Clear paths to citizenship for all aren’t just policy. They’re reparations for decades of imperialist plunder. Beth will confront the fascist border regime head-on, standing with migrants as essential workers who built this country, not criminals to be hunted. This unyielding stance against carceral solutions separates her from milquetoast liberals who fear truly transformative action.
Beth demands a living wage, universal healthcare and raising taxes to fund the people’s needs, directly challenging the capitalist order. She backs union power without apology and recognizes that public education must serve as a tool for liberation, not standardized testing factories that reproduce inequality. Her pledge to fight affordability crises by confronting corporate greed resonates with everyone tired of scraping by while billionaires buy politicians. Beth knows climate change demands radical action now.
Beth Farnham’s record includes bold calls to impeach those undermining democracy and to prioritize people over profits. She has spoken truths about gun violence as a public health epidemic rooted in a sick society, pushing for real safety measures that go beyond thoughts and prayers. For those building power from below, Beth represents the kind of representative who will amplify movements, not co-opt or silence them, voting to check executive overreach and corporate capture at every turn.
In this moment of crisis, voting for Beth Farnham is a declaration that another world is possible. One free from war, policing of the poor and environmental destruction for profit. She turns activism into governance, carrying forward the struggles of unions, civil rights fighters and everyday resisters. PA-13 needs her uncompromising voice in Congress to push the boundaries leftward and deliver for the many, not the few.
Together, we #ChooseDemocracy
Mercersburg Springfest
As I approached the gentleman walking by my Beth Farnham for Congress campaign tent with my request for him to vote for me, he paused and asked sharply, “What party?”
“I am a registered Democrat,” I proudly told him.
“Nah, no Democrat” he answered with a dismissive wave of his hand and continued his walk.
To his retreating back, I said, “I celebrate your freedom to choose.”
An hour later he was back at my tent with a question.
“Do you support open borders?”
“No,” I responded simply.
Perhaps he expected a big fight or some kind of talking point, but whatever conservative media told him I’d do didn’t happen and he was stupified for a moment.
Finally, he asked, “What about the illegals who get all that money? Especially in the sanctuary cities?”
I told him, “Undocumented immigrants might receive money from charities, but they are not receiving bunches of money from our government. They are here because American employers hired them, from whom they received an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, then they pay federal, state, local, and sales taxes. We rely on them for their cheap labor and the taxes they pay, especially in Franklin and Adams county where they pick our fruit and contribute to our economy. Those who overstay their visas are then considered, “undocumented” but they continue to do work and pay their taxes.”
“Yeah, and then they vote,” he responded.
I replied, “Non-citizens do not vote and there isn’t massive fraud as the Republicans are claiming, but the Save America Act is going to infringe on the rights of many married American women.”
“Well, not if you have a real I.D.” he retorted.
“Unfortunately, the state of Pennsylvania is not one of the states where a Real I.D. will not count as proof of citizenship for people whose names don’t match those on their birth certificates, mostly married women,” I answered.
“But you can use a Real I.D. to fly around the United States. My wife has one of those,” he asserted.
“Yes, but again, Pennsylvania is not one of the five states where the Real I.D. can count as proof of citizenship. Your wife will need a current passport to prove her citizenship when she re-registers to vote due to a change of address, political party, name, or if she is purged from the voting rolls for not voting often enough,” I explained.
“Yeah, well, she has a current passport,” he said.
“Great,” I told him, “As long as she maintains a current passport for the rest of her life, renewing it as necessary, she won’t have to worry about proving her citizenship to register to vote with the state of Pennsylvania anytime she moves, etc.,” I let him know, but the truth was dawning on his face as he began to realize the older she got, the more challenging that situation was going to be.
“You see,” I went further, “If a woman needs to spend $200 on obtaining a passport just to prove her citizenship to change her address as a voter with a state that already was satisfied when she first registered to vote with her social security card, driver’s license, and marriage certificate long ago, it’s an undue burden like a poll tax on that woman and everyone like her whose name doesn’t match that on her birth certificate.”
“Yeah, well every state should have the Real I.D. that counts,” he added.
“States’ rights,” I quipped and he blinked.
“You know, my best friend and I are the only survivors of our unit that went to Vietnam. [I thanked him for his service.] But we don’t agree on politics so he never talks to me about it. I just want to have a conversation, but he won’t open up. You talked to me though,” he mused.
“It’s my pleasure. Please vote for me,” I said.
And he walked away, very, very quietly.
This is why I put my tent up in the deepest, reddest parts of our 13th Congressional District. I know there are a lot of voters out there who have not been given information they deserve to know.
Many thanks to my volunteers – Campaign Manager, Jack Stansbury, Deb Martinez, Claire Meissner, Sue Oberman, Angie Sulman, and Chris for their tremendous help at the Mercersburg Springfest to make this moment possible.
May that veteran #ChooseDemocracy.
(Photo credits: Jack Stansbury and Sue Oberman, gentleman in story not pictured)
Radio Interview
Many thanks to Lloyd Roach of Bedford County Speaks Radio Program for interviewing me ahead of the May 19th Primary Election. Lloyd asked great questions and uploaded it to the Bedford Speaks website.
Please listen to it, then vote for me in the May 19th primary.
If you’re a registered Democrat, I’m on your ballot to vote for.
If you’re a registered Republican, please write in my name, Beth Farnham, then darken the corresponding oval, instead of choosing John Joyce.
Together, we #ChooseDemocracy!
Charity of the Week!
Please support My Neighbor’s Bounty, if you can.
My Neighbor’s Bounty is a 501(c)(3) that supplies food free of judgement in Mercersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
https://www.facebook.com/p/My-Neighbors-Bounty-100070004910686
Comparing and Contrasting Votes on Legislation
Check out how Joyce recently voted, how I would have voted in comparison, and why!
If you’re like me, you love this country as much as I do and work to make a positive difference. In the midst of this Constitutional Crisis, please consider reaching out to your local Democratic committees or Democratic candidates so that we can strengthen our Democracy instead of letting it slide into fascism. We don’t just #ChooseDemocracy, we choose Pennsylvania, we choose The United States of America, we choose Humanity and I am deeply glad to work along side you. Sincerely, Beth
