In the May 15th primary, voters of the 80th District of Pennsylvania will elect candidates for a new State Representative to replace Judy Ward, who is running for the PA State Senate.

Jim Gregory of Hollidaysburg is one of two Republican candidates who will be running for the 80th district seat.  The other Republican candidate on the ballot is Cris Creek, and on the Democratic ticket is Laura Burke.

Gregory graduated from Greater Latrobe High School in 1980. He then went on to major in Broadcast Journalism at Ohio University until 1984. He has had a long career in TV and radio in central Pennsylvania. He is best known currently as a radio host on WRTA in Altoona. Gregory also currently serves on the Hollidaysburg School Board.

According to Gregory, Senator John Eichelberger’s May video press conference in 2007 inspired him to get his foot in the door of politics. He is excited about the prospect of becoming a full-time representative.

“The people of the 80th District deserve my full attention to the issues and demand my full-time effort. The issues most important to me are solving the complex problem of opiate addiction of our people and the state’s responsibility in addressing it. It is unconscionable to me that our state spends hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to fight this drug crisis while at the same time promote massive expansion of another addiction tax, gambling, to balance of our state budget,” said Gregory.

Recently Jim’s opponent in the race, Chris Creek, has launched a political ad pledging to serve no more than three terms and to work for term limits. When asked about the issue of term limits, Gregory said, “term limits could change state government forever.  It would level the playing field for rural districts like ours. I pledge no more than five terms. Our area needs to improve the pool of younger Republicans who should be thinking about being leaders that run for office. Too many people don’t view running for political office as a calling or a personal goal.”

“I want this job, I don’t need this job. Nobody asked me to run. I wanted to run. I’ve displayed a caring for the people of this district that will serve me well always. The stories that people have shared with me as I work every day to win is what drives me to know that I’m doing what’s right. I’m not a political insider or an establishment candidate. I’m just a person who is running for elected office, for the first time, asking people to believe in me the way that I believe in myself,” said Gregory.

Asked what issues he thinks are most important to him, Gregory said “The issues most important are the issues of crisis: opiates, pension, dairy and budget. My goal is to remove the word crisis from all four of them. We are able to provide answers from the people of this district that can solve these issues of crisis.  By attending meetings and getting out of my living room and into the meeting rooms and boardrooms, I have heard voter ideas for solutions to these problems.”

He added, “Many of the people of this district are hurting financially.  As a rural district we must stand up and demand conservative values be heard and financial responsibility is done. I will vote the wishes of my district and not the wishes of House leadership. I also look forward to accomplishing something more than attending ribbon cuttings or parades and headlines of ‘look what I did’. That doesn’t make a difference or mean anything of substance to the people I may represent.”

Gregory also discussed school security as it has been a hot topic in recent months following the Parkland incident.

“I have become immersed in the issue of school safety and education as a member of the Hollidaysburg School Board.  We must continue to maintain local control of our schools in all decision making that isn’t already mandated by state and federal intrusions.Having attended a Tyrone School Board meeting in March, I heard how local residents are very concerned about how they see a lack of enough security.  We cannot continue to believe that, Tyrone is a rural safe place where something bad won’t happen. It’s the new normal and we must take every measure to secure our kids safety not only in the school but in their buses on their way to and from school.”