Ward Looking Forward to Challenge of Senate in 2019

In 2014, Judy Ward won election to the Pennsylvania General Assembly, becoming the first female to represent the 80th District in the state House. On Jan. 1, 2019, Ward will be sworn in to the Pennsylvania state Senate, becoming the first woman elected to the seat from the 30th District.

Although proud of being the first female elected to those seats, Ward said she never made her gender an issue when running for office.

"I never made my campaign about being a woman," she said. "I always wanted to be the best person for the job. I am honored to be that first woman – it sets you as an example."

Ward said she never set out to hold public office, but knew she wanted to serve the public. After a career in nursing that spanned more than 20 years, Ward decided to run for a seat on the Republican State Committee.

"I wanted to have good people representing me," she said. "I wanted to help good people get elected."

While serving on the State Committee, the idea of running for office herself was first brought up by her son.

"I remember my oldest son, about 12 years ago, said, 'Mom, you would be a great state rep,'" she said.

When Rep. Jerry Stern announced in 2013 that he would not be seeking re-election, Ward decided to throw her hat into the ring.

"Jerry Stern called me five years ago, right after the election, and told me he wasn't going to run for another term," she said. "I talked to my family and we decided to do it. They were very supportive."

Ward said her first campaign for state representative was a challenging experience. She faced a primary challenge and also had an opponent in the general election.

"It can be a bit intimidating," she said. "But I like people and tried to be up on the issues. It was a very clean campaign."

After four years in the General Assembly, an opportunity to run for the Senate came up when Sen. John H. Eichelberger Jr. opted not to seek re-election in order to run for U.S. Congress.

"I had no aspirations for the Senate," she said. "I never thought about it. But with Sen. Eichelberger getting into the congressional race, it left the seat open."

Ward said she went through the same thought process when she ran for the Senate as she did four years earlier when she decided to run for the General Assembly.

"I just kept thinking, I can do this," she said. "It just seemed like a good fit because I know the issues and I know the people. It's a much larger area, but I felt like I was prepared."

Ward said although she is a conservative, she has formed relationships across the aisle and with key members of Gov. Tom Wolf's cabinet, citing Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding as an example. Redding has visited the district a few times during the past year at Ward's invitation.

"I have worked on legislation across the aisle and have worked with members of the governor's cabinet," she said. "Let's face it, there are times we are going to have very different opinions, but I have never had a problem working across the aisle."

One issue that Ward will not compromise on is the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.

"There is a strong lobby for legalizing recreational marijuana," she said. "We have a drug war going on, a battle we are losing. Why would we interject a drug that could get the ball rolling?"

Ward voted against medical marijuana, not, she says, because she doesn't think it works, but because she felt more time was needed to study it.

"I'm not saying it doesn't work," she said. "I know physicians who are certified to prescribe it and they tell me that it is extremely helpful. I don't doubt that for a minute. I just wanted to make sure we did it the right way."

Ward said the vote on legalizing medical marijuana was extremely emotional.

"It was a very emotional vote," she said. "It didn't matter party affiliation, people were emotional on both sides."

Another concern Ward had in voting no was the fear that if medical marijuana passed, an immediate push to legalize it for recreational use would follow.

"As soon as we had that passed, a sponsorship memo went out for legalizing recreational marijuana," she said. "It happened immediately. That's where I draw the line."

Ward said her goals for the next four years are to make government more accountable and business friendly.

"Transparency and accountability, those things are very important to me," she said. "We need to make our state more business friendly with less regulations and better permitting times."

Ward said her transition from the House to the Senate is going smoothly and that she is looking forward to the challenge.

"Sen. Eichelberger really set the bar high," she said. "He gave great service and fought hard for the things that are near and dear to our hearts in the 30th District and our area. I'm really excited about it and I really feel up to the challenge."