What would motivate a Democrat to run for State Representative in an overwhelmingly Republican district?
Meet Ashlee Caul.
I set out on a Sunday morning to meet with Caul, the Democratic nominee for State Representative in District 15.
The gerrymandered district includes parts of Beaver and Washington counties, running alongside the western Pennsylvania border from just west of Beaver down to West Alexander and East to the right outside of Washington. About 90% of its 750,000 residents are white. Most are registered Republicans. Although 36% of voters are registered Democrats, many have historically voted Republican in recent decades.
I met Caul at Kitchen on Main, a lovely West Middletown restaurant. The meeting place was precisely what you expect from a local food establishment. It has a cozy interior setting worthy of its 200-year-old exterior, great homemade food, and, of course, there was a colonial-style bed and breakfast next door. Ashlee entered with her wife of nine years, Janet, her biggest supporter. They met at a Steelers party in Squirrel Hill twelve years ago and have been inseparable ever since. A few years into their relationship, Caul moved in with Janet in Independence Township, Beaver County. Just 2,300 people live in the township.
Caul got her political start by going door to door with voter registration packets since that seemed logical, straightforward, and especially easy. She was elected as a Beaver County Democratic Committeewoman in 2018 and held volunteer positions to help many local causes. It was never on her radar to run for public office until she noticed that there wasn’t a Democrat running for State Representative in District 15 in 2024.
“I couldn’t let it go uncontested and just give the seat away. It wasn’t in my heart to let this go without at least some sort of fight. I knew it would be an uphill battle, but there had to be a Democrat on the ballot. I knew then that if no one was going to step up, it would be me. I won’t call it a calling, but it was a definite pull to do it. It was the right thing to do for me and our district.”
Since filing her candidacy, Caul said she has attended as many events as possible. She has been traversing the district door to door in hopes of not only getting Democrats out to vote but rallying the support of Republicans and independent voters.
“I want to make a difference here. We have shared interests that aren’t just red and blue. As community members, we all share our values and want to live comfortably,” she said.
“Families have lived here for generations,” Caul continued, “and they will be here for generations. How do we ensure they have the ability and the means to do just that?”
“Our district is home to the cracker plant in Potter Township. We also have fracking here as well. These are two significant economic stimulants to our area. The constituency wants both. It then becomes our job to inform and protect each resident from both industries’ benefits and inherent risks.”
Beaver County was a hub for the steel industry in the 1940s and was traditionally highly Democratic. After the industry crashed in the 1980s, unemployment plagued the region and collapsed the local economy.
The area had to reinvent itself. Today, there is a greater focus on education and the healthcare industry. Although the area hasn’t bounced entirely back, it is making progress.
Caul hopes to ensure that the area is represented and said she would fight to increase the funding of the Pennsylvania Farm Bill, which offers grants and other resources. She also supports replacing the current property tax system and having “fair funding” for every school district in the state.
Also high on her list is ensuring volunteer fire departments have adequate and up-to-date equipment. She said that communities with lower populations don’t get enough funding to procure such items as fire trucks. This is a significant capital investment, and each local fire department spends too much time fundraising when there should be funding from the state and access to grants to ensure public safety. Another issue is fraud protection for senior citizens. Caul says seniors are being taken advantage of at an alarming rate, and she would like to see more put in place through banks to protect them.
Everything, though, hasn’t been rainbows and unicorns. Caul recalls a post she made on a local community Facebook page. It was a simple post of her and her wife, along with Jill Biden, taken during Pittsburgh Pride this year. The picture was meant to be a proud moment but soon turned political.
“It’s hard NOT to be political when all we choose to see is politics,” Caul remarked.
For this battle, Caul is not only optimistic but realistic. She realizes she is climbing a massive hill to get elected, but she is optimistic that she is at least moving the needle even a little.
“I’d like to tell people I’m the candidate for everyone. Hopefully, seeing me, hearing me, and getting to know me, they realize that I’m one of them. I have my house and my yard, and my troubles are their troubles,” she said. “I’m also hoping they realize that they will get a representative that will work not only for them but with them.”
I left West Middletown feeling good about my conversation with Ashlee Caul and her wife. I firmly believe in a person’s intentions — where is their heart? Where is their energy going? Do they believe that what they are doing will help others? I can confirm that Ashlee checks all those boxes.
You can find out more about Ashlee at here.
Leave a Reply
View Comments