Hyper-local politics today is all the rage. When you look at the left \u2013 meaning most Democrats \u2013 you see an interest in joining school boards and neighborhood associations as a \u201cmust do\u201d endeavor. Get involved, they say. True change begins at the local level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In many ways, I believe that, although you still must be careful of Trojan horse influences. I\u2019m thinking specifically of when I first moved to the Riverwards neighborhood and joined the Olde Richmond Civic Association many years ago. I didn\u2019t last long because joining the group were ex-New Yorkers and people from other states whose goal seemed to be to remake Olde Richmond into a Colonial Williamsburg version of Northern Liberties.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
These were the early days of woke so certain tics in this direction could be detected in the newcomers, who were on the same page politically and had the same views on virtually every subject from abortion to race. It was as if the neighborhood had been invaded by a left-wing version of the Stepford wives. And yet despite this change, there was one bright light, namely Representative John Taylor, a Republican who oversaw the predominately Democratic 177th District that included Bridesburg, Fishtown, Port Richmond, Frankford, Northwood, Kensington, Wissinoming, and Harrowgate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taylor had wide appeal and a reputation for constituent service. His popularity was often linked to his relatively moderate political views, so much so that Philly Democrats forgot he was Republican, while Republicans were grateful that one of their own was so popular in a blue city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Republican-Democrat consensus like this could never happen in 2026, but Taylor had the good fortune to be working before Democrats lost their minds with woke policies and Trump Derangement Syndrome.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taylor\u2019s tenure was from 1984 to 2017; he was reelected easily year after year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
That relatively benign political landscape is long gone. When you asked a local Democrat then why they supported Taylor, they might have said, \u201cWell, a local Republican politician isn\u2019t like one on the national stage. The main thing is he really cares about the neighborhood.\u201d It was the same thing when Philly Democrats explained why they loved the local edition of Fox News: \u201cIt\u2019s not like national Fox news. They do the best city coverage, period.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Taylor retired in 2017, Democrats knew an era had ended and lined up like hungry raccoons to take Taylor\u2019s place. Trump had just been elected and the party was feeling a newfound fanaticism. One Democratic leader<\/a> in Harrisburg stated, \u201cThe fact is that for too long the representative from the 177th District has supported Republican leadership that does not share the values of Philadelphians. Rep. Taylor\u2019s decision to not seek reelection creates a real opportunity for House Democrats to add a seat to their ranks\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n One Democratic candidate emerged from the field of hopefuls, the good looking and charismatic Joe Hohenstein, a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School in 1993, who grew up in a Philly working-class neighborhood. As a lawyer he did some immigration work; his father was a member of the Philadelphia Teacher\u2019s Union, his mother was a shop steward with AFSCME DC 47.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Though his parents were Roman Catholic, somewhere along the line Hohenstein became a Quaker. Quakers are rarely traditional or conservative, although they can be stick-in-the-mud stubborn (The Quaker mentality kept Philly\u2019s skyline in dwarf status until the arrival of developer Willard Rouse III who shattered that prohibition with a 60-story skyscraper, One Liberty Place.)\u00a0<\/p>\n Quakers in recent decades have often defined their political role as opposition and protest. In Quakerism, the concept of a heaven or hell has been traded for the pursuit of a more \u201cjust\u201d society.\u00a0<\/p>\n As City Journal observed<\/a>, \u201cOver the centuries, Quaker schools became some of the East Coast\u2019s most prestigious educational institutions. That legacy of excellence, though, is now in jeopardy as Quaker schools embrace critical race theory, undermining more than 300 years of commitment to objective truth and betraying the tenets of Quakerism itself.\u201d<\/p>\n In short, a woke mentality has overrun Quaker education. Among the 22 Philly regional K-12 schools listed by the Friends Council on Education, 17 have adopted similar diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statements. Spiritual content is null and void. Quakerism is a political religion where racism is a sin and abortion and reproductive rights for women is practically a sacrament.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hohenstein campaigned door-to-door for Taylor\u2019s seat and won. His victory was the beginning of the end for the 177th District. Indigenous working class families bought Hohenstein\u2019s charming smile, citing his union connections and his commitment to economic equity, while not seeming to be aware of his support for late-term abortion rights and trans issues, such as his endorsement of pronouns<\/a> and terms like \u201cbirthing person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Many of the Democratic \u2014 largely Catholic \u2014 voters in the 177th District (\u201cMy father was a union man and because of that our family has always been Democrat!\u201d) brushed these issues aside, citing old clich\u00e9s like, \u201cHohenstein is nice. He is for the people. Trans rights? I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Hohenstein smiles, shakes hands, nods his head, and appears to listen like any smart politician. I\u2019ve spoken with him several times and he is somebody you\u2019re drawn to \u2014 until he opens his mouth and the Democrat psychobabble pours forth.<\/p>\n On ICE: \u201cI have 30 years of experience<\/a> in the immigration system \u2014 before ICE even existed. I have never seen civil immigration laws enforced with such reckless disregard for public safety. ICE\u2019s paramilitary tactics must be reined in and made accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n