Ex-Boyertown School Board member running for state Senate
Jill Dennin seeking Democratic nomination in the 24th Senatorial District
After dipping her toes into the waters of state politics with an unsuccessful run for a House seat two years ago, Jill Dennin was not sure she would ever venture down that path again.
But circumstances can change.
With the recent approval of new legislative maps for Pennsylvania, Dennin saw an opportunity that had not existed before. The seat in the 24th Senatorial District was suddenly vulnerable, with longtime incumbent Sen. Bob Mensch retiring and the district’s new boundaries making it now more prime to be flipped from Republican to Democrat.
So, the former Boyertown School Board member has decided to toss her hat in the ring once again.
“I have the infrastructure in place to run a campaign like this,” the Montgomery County Democrat said. “I just feel like I had to do it because, in my opinion, we were struggling to find a really strong candidate. And the redrawn district gives Democrats a good chance to flip this seat.”
Dennin will first have to face challenger Emanuel Wilkerson, a former Pottstown School Board member, for the Democratic nomination in the May 17 primary. The winner of that race will compete against the winner of the two Republicans — state Rep. Tracy Pennycuick and Washington Township Supervisor David Moyer — who are seeking the GOP nomination.
Dennin said she is ready for the fight ahead.
“I’m running for this Senate seat for the same reason I ran for the House seat — to give the people who I have been advocating for a voice in Harrisburg,” she said. “Through my community service and my work experience, I didn’t like the inequities that I was seeing.”
Those inequities, she said, are having a big impact on students in the public school system, senior citizens who find themselves struggling to make ends meet on fixed incomes and those who need help navigating the health care system.
“I have seen a need in my community to address the disparities in funding, not just in my school district but in Pottstown and Reading,” she said. “The state was not keeping up with funding education fairly, so those communities have seen property taxes rise so that we could continue to provide a good education for students.”
But raising property taxes to help educate students placed a burden on seniors. Dennin said the best solution to that problem moving forward is to ensure that those districts are receiving their fair share from the state.
She is also concerned that seniors are not getting the help they need to successfully navigate a complex and expensive health care system.
“I worked with an 86-year-old woman who could not navigate the system and, because of that, went undiagnosed with colon cancer,” she said. “She passed away within three weeks of getting diagnosed. She just didn’t have the knowledge to navigate the system and deal with the insurance issues.”
Dennin said those kind personal experiences are what motivated her to run for office. She said she feels there are solutions to these problems, but too few people in Harrisburg who are willing to take action.
State senators serve a four-year term and receive an annual salary of $95,432.