Ben Popp

Benjamin Popp was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Twin Valley High School. He earned a bachelor's degree from the West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 2020 and a graduate degree from the University of Chicago in 2022. His career experience includes working as a researcher.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am running because Washington has sold this country to billionaire donors and corporations. It’s time to restore power to the people and end and oligarchy.

My campaign does not accept any corporate contributions and is 100% people-powered.

I grew up in beautiful Chester County, where I still live, graduating from Twin Valley High School in Berks County in 2016.

In 2020, I graduated from West Chester University with a B.A. in history. At West Chester, I immersed myself in the campus and community and built a reputation as a servant leader as a member of the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Friars’ Society, a community service organization. In 2022, I graduated with an M.A. in social sciences from the University of Chicago, where I studied right-wing extremism and conspiracy theories. While at UChicago, I helped construct the first comprehensive database of January 6 insurrectionists.

Since 2021, I have worked as a researcher and intelligence analyst combating right-wing extremism and white supremacy. My portfolio of extremists includes neo-Nazi groups, anti-immigrant extremists, the Proud Boys, and Christian nationalists. Over the last few years, I have watched dangerous right-wing extremist ideologies become more normalized and accepted in mainstream politics.

I am also a musician and small business owner. As a guitar player, I regularly gig in the Philadelphia area. I also run a guitar effects pedal company with my buddy Sean.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

End Oligarchy and Corporate Hegemony

For too long, our country has catered to corporate interests and allowed a tiny fraction of the most wealthy to exponentially expand their wealth and influence, abandoning the American people. This oligarchy must be dismantled by:

- Creating congressional and judicial term limits and ending gifts from billionaires and corporations to all elected and unelected government officials

- Abolishing congressional stock trading

- Overhauling the tax system to ensure elites and corporations pay their fair share, akin to mid-century American tax rates

- Overturning Citizens United, abolishing super PACs and ending so-called “dark money” practices in politicsMedicare for All

Healthcare is a basic human right, and every resident of the United States must have access to quality healthcare without compromise. The United States has the highest healthcare costs in the world, with measurably worse outcomes than other comparable nations. This broken system cannot continue.

We need a system of guaranteed healthcare that prioritizes the well being of working-class Americans over the profits of insurance companies and their billionaire executives.Confront the Climate Crisis and Protect America's Natural Resources

We are in the midst of a climate and ecological crisis, and life itself is under threat. Meanwhile, Trump and DOGE are dismantling decades of science-based environmental and public health protections to benefit corporate polluters. We must:

- Reverse the Trump administration's dangerous climate policies and its attacks on America's national forests and national parks

- Reach "net-zero" carbon emissions by 2050

- Rejoin the Paris Agreement

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

1. Climate Justice and Environmental Protection

2. Justice System Reform and the Abolition of the For-Profit Prison Industry

3. Empowering the Working Class and Raising the Minimum Wage

4. Ending Corporate Hegemony, Dark Money Practices, and super PACs

5. Medicare for All

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

In the face of growing authoritarianism and unprecedented income inequality, the country needs leaders who are unwavering in their dedication to representing the interests of their constituents and the American people over that of lobbyists and corporations.

What is your favorite book? Why?

My favorite book series is either George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) or Tolkien's legendarium. I am a huge fantasy nerd. I love getting lost in other universes with rich histories, especially when the stories and characters display themes that relate to our own experiences. For instance, Tolkien's rejection of industrialization seems even more poignant in the face of the unprecedented levels of environmental destruction we are seeing today.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Probably Samwise Gamgee. He's the unsung hero of the Lord of the Rings.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

The Distance by CAKE. Genius songwriting on display there.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

Yes and no. While experience is beneficial in progressing a legislative agenda, what is clear is that many career politicians in Washington spend decades in office raising their net worth through insider trading and supporting legislation that benefits their corporate donors.

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

The next decade will be defined by how we respond to the looming climate crisis and the authoritarian dismantling of democratic institutions and government departments designed to protect the American people so that corporations and billionaires can reign supreme. These crises pose existential threats to both the nation and the world.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

The U.S. needs both congressional and judicial term limits to combat the overwhelming influence of lobbyists and corporations on policy.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

The Congressional "power of the purse" should be used to ensure the highest possible standard of living for working Americans. This includes pursuing Medicare for all, raising taxes on mega-corporations and billionaires who pay little to no taxes, and reestablishing a rigorous social safety net.