On April 11, the Centre County Democratic Committee 2026 Spring Breakfast was held at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. This event was an opportunity for the local Democratic Party to rally its members and candidates and raise money to support their campaigns.

The doors opened at 8:30 a.m., and soon members filled the hallway, chatting and enthusiastically greeting each other as they filed into President’s Hall. At 9 a.m., Penn Stater staff ushered attendees to the breakfast buffet, one table at a time. A slideshow containing memes poking fun at President Trump and expressions of gratitude toward patrons was projected above the podium.

The series of speeches began with John Zangari, a candidate for the 171st District of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives. This district encompasses parts of Centre and Mifflin counties. His main priority is making Pennsylvania more affordable, a sentiment echoed in his speech. He discussed the affordability crisis and how it is affecting residents in rural areas.

Next was former congressman Conor Lamb, who served as a representative of District 18 from 2018-2019 and District 17 from 2019-2023. Lamb spoke about the affordability crisis across the nation and the war in Iran.

“Voters around here know they didn’t vote for those higher prices, and they did not vote for this war,” Lamb said.

Next was Ray Bilger, a candidate for Congress for District 15, a seat currently occupied by the nine-term incumbent Glenn Thompson (R). His priorities include affordability, healthcare, and infrastructure. According to his website, he plans on executing this by expanding the small business incubators in Centre and Clearfield Counties and restoring subsidies for the Pennie Health Insurance exchange.

Bilger remains confident in his pursuit, despite the disparity in funding between him and his opponent. Thompson has brought in $1.2 million for the 2026 race so far, and in the district he currently represents, Republicans outnumber Democrats 2-to-1.

But the choice ultimately comes down to the voters, not the donors, and Bilger said, “My qualifications far exceed Glenn Thompson’s.”

“I’ve served 35 years in the intelligence community…So I understand a lot of different things. I’ve worked with Secret Service. I’ve worked with FBI. I’ve worked with the IRS. I’ve worked with the Department of Homeland Security, the ODNI. I’ve been on executive protection delegations with the president, the vice president, and secretary of state, going back to George W. Bush and on through even Trump’s first term,” Bilger said. “So…I have some very specific knowledge about how our intelligence services operate and how our foreign diplomacy and our domestic policy affect how our national security operates.”

Concerning issues relevant to current high school students, Bilger acknowledges the heavy burden many students face: college tuition.

“At the very minimum, we need to find ways to lower the cost of higher education. We need to either get more grants or more scholarships available,” Bilger said. “And certainly with Penn State, I think we could definitely hold their feet to the fire on the land-grant institution responsibilities that they have. I think a lot of people are afraid to do that. I’m not afraid.”

Bilger also mentioned implementing a system similar to the post-secondary education system in Poland.

“In Poland, higher education is paid for completely. However, it’s extremely competitive to get in. But once you get in, you can study for as long as you need to, as long as you have passed the requirements, passed the testing for that particular field that you’re in,” Bilger said. “I would love to see something like that, because that model works amazingly well.”

Next were the three candidates for the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee: Laura Shadle, Joanne Tosti-Vasey, and Jeremy Breon, all of whom are running for reelection. This means they represent Centre County Democrats to the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

“[This event] is building upon the enthusiasm that we see from Democrats, especially in a very pivotal swing county like Centre County,” Shadle said. “We’ve got great congressional candidates. We have, and of course, the state party chairman, Eugene DePasquale, former Congressman Conor Lamb, and Governor Josh Shapiro, all here to really rally the troops and say that we are all in this together and that we’re going to have a successful midterm election 2026 in Centre County…and across Pennsylvania.”

Shadle spoke about how elections are incredibly important, especially in 2026.

“We’re seeing this across the country, the anxiety and certainly discontent with the Trump administration and all the way down how these policies are affecting folks…We got here by voting or lack thereof. And so we need to pay attention to all of these races. And every election and every election cycle builds upon each other,” Shadle said. “So we have to really focus on these midterms here. Not just even in Centre County, Pennsylvania, as a whole, it’s always that pivotal state that the whole nation’s watching.”

Shadle said the goal is to have a clean sweep, just like last year’s judicial races.

“We’re going to do the same thing in 2026, keep that momentum going all the way through 2027, 2028 and beyond,” Shadle said.

Next was Scott Conklin, the Pennsylvania Representative of the 77th District. Conklin opened his speech by praising the “melting pot” that is Centre County and speaking up against the persecution he has witnessed in his past and present. His speech echoed the goals of the entire breakfast, as he encouraged younger generations of democrats to work together to stand up to injustice.

After him was Paul Takac, the Pennsylvania Representative of the 82nd District, who is also running for reelection.

Takac also recognized the main challenges students face.

“Unfortunately, not everybody in high school has the same opportunities, right? So what we want to do is create an equitable educational experience for everybody. But looking ahead, I mean, I think students are really affected by affordability and housing and food insecurity and a lot of the things that go into creating stress, right, in their lives that could potentially hold them back,” Takac said.

Takac suggested that instead of allocating funds to the war effort or drastically cutting the federal budget for certain departments, leaders should invest more in community programs.

“Affordability right now, I mean, some of them are thanks to tariffs or a war of choice or, you know, some of the budget cuts that have been happening at the federal level,” Takac said. “What we’re trying to do is do what we can at the state level to… keep costs down or taxes down, but also fully funding education, funding human services, food programs, housing initiatives, those sort of things that really are going to make an impact in people’s lives.”

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair, Eugene DePasquale, spoke as well, and like the other candidates, emphasized the importance of showing up to the polls.

“Everyone in the country that pays attention to politics knows that we have the most contested, flippable congressional races in the United States of America, meaning it is up to us if Donald Trump becomes a lame duck president,” DePasquale said.

After all the candidates had spoken, the room began to buzz with anticipation as volunteers, such as Mark Higgins, the Chair of the Centre County Commissioners, passed out signs with the slogan “A Governor Who’s Got Your Back” and the letters “GSD” in big bold letters, which stood for “Get Stuff Done.”

The crowd erupted in applause as Governor Josh Shapiro entered the room. As he waved to the crowd, people cheered and waved cutouts of his face.

Shapiro called upon the audience to vote for him in November, so he can continue to fight Trump’s policies. Shapiro promised he would stand up to Trump, attesting to all the times he has sued the administration and won. He recognized the effects of the administration on local workers.

“Donald Trump has literally made everything cost more in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said in his speech. “Go visit and talk to some of our farmers here in Centre County. They’ll tell you how these tariffs not only made fertilizer cost 36% more for them, but how markets in Canada and Mexico have been shut down.”

He praised local leaders, including State College Mayor Ezra Nanes, for their determination, and insisted that Pennsylvania voters have the power to limit Trump’s power through their vote, not just in the presidential election, but also in the primary on May 19 and the general election on Nov 3.