State Rep.-elect Josh Bashline (R-Clarion) (Contributed photo)
Josh Bashline originally wanted to be in law enforcement.
The son of a military veteran, Bashline graduated from Edinboro University and served as an infantryman in the Army for 12 years.
His career goals changed when he returned from deployment.
“I kind of got into, I guess, the political bug as people call it,” Bashline told the Capital-Star. “I’d always been knowledgeable, watching the news, keep myself updated on issues, paying attention to what’s happened on the national level, plus within the state, but I really changed, and made it my– I don’t like to use the word career, but I guess that’s what it is —when I got back.”
Bashline started volunteering with his local committee, with the Trump campaign, and eventually worked his way up to running Stacy Wallace’s campaign for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.
After working on other local races and helping with Mehmet Oz’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2022, he became GOP state Rep. Parke Wentling’s chief of staff.
Bashline received a call from GOP state Rep. Donna Oberlander, who told him that she was not seeking reelection in 2024. He decided to run to succeed her.
“When the door opens like that, you don’t not run,” Bashline said. “And my number one reason for running, although I kind of think it’s a cliche, but I say it anyway, but you always petition the government. You petition your elected officials to do things, but when the opportunity to be hands on and step up and do it yourself, you can’t turn that down. So that’s my number one reason. You know, you can’t complain if you’re the one making the decisions.”
In a four candidate field for the Republican nomination for the 63rd state House District, Bashline won the primary election and defeated Democrat Pat Ritchie in the general election.
Bashline said he learned a lot from his experience working with the Pennsylvania General Assembly in his previous role and it will be helpful for him when he runs his office after he’s sworn in.
He enters the Pennsylvania General Assembly when Democrats hold a one seat majority in the chamber. He thinks there can be some common ground between the parties, specifically pinpointing businesses.
“I think it’s over 70 or 80% of the bills that are passed out of the house in PA are bipartisan,” Bashline said. “We definitely bump heads on a lot of social issues and things, but the people of Pennsylvania are not focused on that. They’re focused on their finances, energy.”
He believes common ground can be found on the budget next year and added a personal goal of his is to be accessible and show the general public the role they have in their local government.
“I think a lot of people get so fed up with politics that they become uninterested in the civics part,” he said. “I’d like to be able to explain… how people can be involved and really learn more about it. You can’t just go in there and try to be a one man or woman wrecking crew and think ‘I want to do this for any kind of issue on whatever side you’re on.’”
This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.
Capital-Star: What makes your district unique?
Bashline: From the top to the bottom, it takes over an hour and a half to get through the whole district. So it’s big.
I think what’s really unique is we are, like in the Northwest, we are directly center, from my house in Clarion, you can be in State College, Pittsburgh, or Erie in an hour and a half exact, so we are smack dab in the middle.
I guess you could say we’re a standard rural county. You have a lot of small towns, which is my favorite part, because every small town has their festivals and themes., Some of them, that they’ve been doing it for over 100 years. So there’s that real small-town charm to it.
A lot of good small businesses are a real big thing here.
And then we have a lot of agriculture. I’d say in between those two cities is tons of farmland, obviously, big part of Pennsylvania in general.
It’s two counties, basically, but they’re made up of all these nice, small towns that all feel different and have their own distinct personalities and people.
Capital-Star: What would you say is the most pressing issue in your district?
Bashline: With the way the economy and things have been going the last couple years, inflation, and prices at the grocery store and energy, that just brings everyone down, and then it kind of rolls downhill. If gas is too expensive and you can’t heat your house and you can’t invest more in your business, you can’t do things to better yourself and your family.
Getting out of the way or any way that, like me as a legislator, could make it easier on people, whether it be reducing fees or less government regulations, things like that.
National issues that were big: People talked about the war in Ukraine or the Middle East or the border was huge, but the number one thing that everyday families and every single [person] brought it up was the inflation and the economy and getting it back on track.
Capital-Star: When you’re sworn into office in January, what would you say your top legislative priority is going to be?
Bashline: If you look at surrounding states, especially Ohio, we have almost double the natural resources. Businesses and other groups that would provide thousands upon thousands of family sustaining jobs will choose to go to an Ohio or a Tennessee or a Florida when we actually have more than them.
So why are they choosing to go there instead of here? I’d really like to look into how government can get out of the way to help people thrive. And then that’ll take a lot of research to see the specifics, talking to even small business owners, why couldn’t you expand, or why couldn’t you hire more employees, and really kind of getting to the root of it.
Capital-Star: Are there specific bills you plan to introduce once in office?
Bashline: I’ve been working, just doing some personal research on something to help the Treasury and unclaimed property. That’s a big thing that people like. And our state treasurer has done a really good job with the billions that she and her team’s given back to Pennsylvanians.