For many years, Jesse Streeter has felt that the role of Pennsylvania lieutenant governor is largely ceremonial, or a “paper-pushing job,” as he feels the people who have occupied the role have either treated it like a second job, or have been lazy and done nothing while in the office.
“You get out what you put in. That role is deserving of someone willing to put the work in, not just a placeholder,” Streeter said.
Therefore, Streeter, who currently resides in Beaver County with his family, has announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor during the May 17 Republican primary election.
Background and past work experience
Streeter grew up in Sayre, Bradford County. He graduated from Lock Haven University in 2006, before working at PNC Bank in Allegheny County.
At PNC Bank, he was in the capital markets area, working on derivative interest rate swaps and commodity swaps, which are financial tools for the gas and oil industry.
Following his time there, Streeter and his family moved to Beaver County.
Streeter remembers being told one day “Don’t go to the places where everything is going great, go to the places that are really struggling, and be the reason why they become great.”
This led him to him investing in different properties and areas in the community that others were afraid to take on, and needed a lot of work, in order to recoup a bigger long-term investment.
Three years ago, he bought his first hotel that others passed on, as well as the restaurant right next to it, stating they would be a lot of work to fix and make successful.
“They were right, it was a lot of work. Today they are two successful businesses that have survived the pandemic and are going strong,” Streeter said.
Streeter said he decided to run for lieutenant governor to not only bring his hard-work ethic to the office, but to go against politicians who he feels have used the pandemic to their advantage.
“For the past couple years, we had to watch as our leaders jostled for power and used the pandemic as a tool and cost people their lives and livelihoods,” he said. “That’s why I decided to run. That’s why I decided to be a part of it.”
Added Streeter: “President Trump showed us exactly what happens when a hard-working political outsider finally takes office. As your next lieutenant governor, I’m going to take that exact style of leadership to Harrisburg, because Pennsylvania needs a lot of work.”
Helping the schools
Streeter said, if elected, one of his main focuses would be in schools, particularly the relationship between the schools and the parents/guardians.
He said for the past couple of years in the pandemic, as schools shut down, went virtual, and more, the parents, despite being very vocal about their concerns, have felt largely ignored by school administration and the teachers’ union.
“The teachers’ union has tremendous power, and I feel like the pandemic has really opened up a lot of parents’ eyes to that,” Streeter said.
He said parents have had to juggle matters such as whether to go to work or stay home with their kids due to virtual learning and have felt like nobody was listening to them.
“If I’m elected, the parents will have Harrisburg’s support,” Streeter said.
Streeter believes parents/guardians should be able to send their children to the school of their choosing, regardless of where they live or their ZIP code, and believes students need more protection from bullying, particularly from cyberbullying.
More: Cyberbullying is on the rise, and girls report 3 times more harassment than boys
Other campaign viewpoints
Streeter believes law enforcement officials should receive the public’s full support, and believes by increasing the number of personnel, they can increase police visibility, making the community safer for everyone.
He believes some people have been using the pandemic as a way to push their agendas and ideologies on others.
“This unfortunate behavior has divided so many people, especially those who remain influenced by irresponsible media outlets continuously pushing hysterics and fear, proposing ludicrous ‘solutions’ in the way of perpetual lockdowns, ongoing vaccination demands, and imposing even more personal mandates,” Streeter said.
He said he does not want people to live that way and wants to return to a sense of normalcy beyond the pandemic.
Streeter wishes to repeal the state voting act, Act 77, believing it compromises election integrity; wants to incentivize businesses to stay and come into the state; to make sure the transition to newer forms of technology is handled in a responsible way; to increase the commission vendors receive on the sale of lottery tickets from 5 to 7%; help with the problems of drug use in communities, especially in rural communities; and to change child support to make it a 50/50 default with exceptions for absent and/or harmful parents.
He believes the state should not be in the retail business of alcohol, and should make its Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores a private enterprise. To make up for lost revenue, he believes putting a sales tax on alcohol could bring in an influx of cash.
He believes it should be up to the counties, not the state, to make their own ATV/UTV laws.
“State law has ATVs illegal on the road, while many other states put this in the hands of the counties and many opt to make ATVs street legal because it simply makes good sense for the citizens,” Streeter said.
Identifying the root causes of problems
Streeter believes in order to solve long-standing problems in the state, such as people gradually leaving the state every year, and the shortage of EMS workers, one has to solve the root cause of the problems.
This philosophy, known as Six Sigma, which he has been trained in, was created by American engineer William Smith Jr.
“People leave Pennsylvania for a number of reasons and I am the only candidate who is trained in Six Sigma, and can identify the root causes and reverse this trend,” Streeter said.
He said by using the Six Sigma method, he can go in and figure out the exact reasons why problems, like population loss, are happening, and what can be specific actions that can be taken to address those problems, such as perhaps investing more in the oil and gas industry for jobs.
“I need to find the causes. I need to find the true cause instead of guessing, throwing money at it,” Streeter said.
Willing to help all Pennsylvanians
Having worked and lived in different types of counties in the state, Streeter said he wants to be someone who truly represents all Pennsylvanians, and not just be a politician who is from a major city like Philadelphia or Pittsburgh.
“I think it’s about time we’re represented by a true Pennsylvanian,” Streeter said.
More: Campaign website and Facebook page
Nicholas Vercilla is a staff reporter for the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at nvercilla@gannett.com.
