Fern Leard

Fern Leard was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Her career experience includes working in healthcare.[1][2]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I’m Fern Leard, a NEPA native, mom of twins, healthcare advocate, and candidate for State Representative in Pennsylvania’s 120th District. I grew up in public housing and foster care and entered adulthood without a safety net. I worked as a dishwasher, waitress, bartender, and CNA before building a stable life for my family. I know what it feels like to work hard and still struggle to get ahead.

When my twins were diagnosed with a rare disease, I spent more than a decade fighting alongside families and lawmakers from both parties to help pass the federal Lymphedema Treatment Act. That experience taught me that regular people can take on powerful systems and win.

I’m running because working families deserve that same fight in Harrisburg. My priorities include lowering utility costs, delivering meaningful property tax relief, strengthening consumer protections, supporting our public schools and small businesses, and making healthcare more affordable. I’m also fighting unchecked data center development and support a three-year statewide moratorium while Pennsylvania addresses the risks to our water, power grid, utility bills, and communities.

I believe government should work for the people who live here, not corporations, wealthy donors, or political insiders. I don’t take corporate PAC money because my job is to answer to the people of District 120.

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?

Government Should Work for People

I’m running because government should answer to the people it represents, not wealthy donors, corporations, lobbyists, or political insiders. I don’t take corporate PAC money because I never want there to be a question about who I work for. I support stronger ethics and transparency laws, banning gifts to legislators, protecting consumers, and making government more accountable and accessible. I spent more than a decade advocating for families before I ever ran for office. I know regular people can take on powerful systems and win, and that is the kind of representative I will be in Harrisburg.Protect Our Communities From Data Centers

I’m already fighting unchecked data center development here at home, and I’m running to take that fight to Harrisburg. I support a three-year statewide moratorium so Pennsylvania can fully understand the impact these massive projects will have on our water, power grid, utility bills, land, and communities. Data center companies should pay their own infrastructure costs, not ratepayers. Communities deserve a real voice in what gets built in their backyard, and corporations should never be allowed to leave taxpayers paying for the consequences.Make Hard Work Pay Again

Too many families are doing everything right and still falling behind. People are working extra shifts while groceries, utilities, healthcare, housing, and property taxes keep climbing. I believe hard work should provide stability, not just survival. I’ll fight to lower utility costs, deliver meaningful property tax relief, strengthen consumer protections, invest in public schools, and stop giving wealthy corporations advantages that small businesses and working families don’t get. Our economy should work for the people doing the work.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I’m most passionate about policies that give regular people a fair shot and protect them when powerful systems put profits or politics ahead of people. That includes making healthcare affordable and accessible, lowering utility costs, providing real property tax relief, strengthening consumer protections, and making sure our public schools have the resources they need.

I’m also deeply focused on protecting our communities from unchecked data center development. I’ve already been doing that work locally, and I want Pennsylvania to put strong protections in place for our water, power grid, utility ratepayers, and local communities.

Underlying all of these issues is government accountability. I believe public officials should answer to the p

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

Integrity, accessibility, empathy, and the courage to stand up for people even when it means standing up to powerful interests. An elected official should remember that the position belongs to the people, not to them. You have to listen, show up, be honest about what you can and cannot do, and be willing to work with people you disagree with when it benefits the community. Most importantly, you should never forget who you work for.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

A State Representative’s first responsibility is to the people they represent. That means being accessible, listening to residents, helping them navigate state government, and making sure their voices are heard in Harrisburg. It also means carefully considering legislation, protecting taxpayer dollars, and fighting for policies that improve people’s everyday lives. I believe representatives also have a responsibility to be transparent about who is influencing government decisions and to put the public interest ahead of donors, corporations, or party politics.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I want to leave things better than I found them. I want people to know that you don’t have to be wealthy, powerful, or politically connected to make a difference. I came from foster care, experienced houselessness, worked service jobs, raised children with complex medical needs, and spent more than a decade fighting a system that told families no. If my legacy is that I opened doors for people who usually don’t get a seat at the table and made government work a little harder for regular people, I’ll be proud of that.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Financial security has been a struggle at different points in my life. I aged out of foster care at 18 without the kind of safety net many young people have. I worked service jobs, experienced houselessness, and had to figure out adulthood largely on my own. I became a home owner shortly after experiencing houselessness through hard work and perseverance. Later, I became a mother to twins with a rare disease and had to fight insurance companies just to get them the care they needed. Those experiences shaped how I see government and policy. When you have lived through instability, you understand how one unexpected bill, illness, or setback can change a family’s entire life.

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

I believe the greatest challenge facing our country over the next decade is affordability. People are working hard, sometimes working two jobs, and still struggling to afford housing, groceries, healthcare, utilities, and raising a family. For too many people, one unexpected bill can put everything they’ve worked for at risk. We need to bring down everyday costs, protect consumers, make housing and healthcare more affordable, and stop shifting more costs onto working families. People who work hard should be able to build a stable life, raise a family, own a home, and have something left at the end of the month.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Yes. I spent more than a decade working with Republicans and Democrats to help pass federal healthcare legislation, so I know firsthand that compromise can produce meaningful results. Compromise does not mean abandoning your values. It means finding common ground where you can and staying focused on the people who need you to get something done. I will work with anyone when it helps the people I represent. I also believe there are times when you have to stand your ground, especially when basic rights, public safety, or the interests of the people you represent are at stake.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

I’m proud to have earned the support of organizations, labor, community leaders, and elected officials from across Pennsylvania.

Organizational and labor endorsements include Represent PA, Vote Mama PAC, PA Stands Up/NEPA Stands Up, Pennsylvania Working Families Party, Center for Freethought Equality, Committee to Protect Health Care, Lead Locally, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, PSEA-PACE, Greater Wilkes-Barre Labor Council, Jane Fonda Climate PAC, Greater Than PAC, and the FFRF Action Fund.

I’ve also received support from elected and community leaders including State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, State Sen. Nikil Saval, Luzerne County Council members Denise Williams, Patty Krushnowski, Steve Coslett, and Br

Fern Leard did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am the mother to special needs twins who have led me to healthcare advocacy. The treatment of their rare disease lacked coverage and a bill in Congress would remedy that for Medicare patients, so I began to advocate for its passage in D.C. with the hope that it’ll trigger a domino effect for other insurance companies to follow suit. The decade I spent working toward that provided an extensive education on political process.

Later, I encountered many roadblocks getting educational supports in place for my autistic son. That’s when I began to learn about disability rights in relation to education and added student rights advocate to my resume. I’ve never been one to sit back and do nothing when I can stand up and do something.

I also spent time in the financial sector in service and marketing then later changed careers to work in healthcare – both fields required strict adherence to complex regulations. In almost a decade of working in healthcare, I worked with the pediatric and geriatric communities in facilities and homecare. My unique perspective from first-hand experience will provide valuable input on ways we can improve the lives of Pennsylvanians in these essential areas.

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?

Protect our Reproductive Freedom and improve access to reproductive care.Accessible, Affordable Healthcare including coverage for preventative care.Fairly fund our public schools to allow all Pennsylvanian public school students a quality education, regardless of their zip code.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am personally passionate about Reproductive Rights. Abortion is healthcare and the decision on what to do regarding a pregnancy is not up to any government body.

I am greatly concerned about our healthcare in general. There are initiatives to treat and cure illness, not prevent it and that is a huge problem.

Public education is another area that is in shambles. Our schools are underfunded as it is but more so in low-wealth districts. We owe it to our children to adequately fund schools to provide all public-school students a quality education to prepare them to thrive in adulthood.

We need to take climate action and transition away from the fossil fuel industry to ensure a sustainable environment for our children and grandchildren to grow up in.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to my grandmother. She broke through many barriers that paved the way for future generations of women. She was subject to ridicule for wearing slacks when it was considered taboo for a woman to do so. She worked in many male dominated roles throughout her life, often met with resistance but she rightfully determined that it was their problem. She worked laying railroad tracks, she ran a farm, and eventually took a union job in a steel factory.

She taught me that there are times in life when the only person you can rely on is you and the best thing to do is learn as much as you can, wherever you can, because you never know when you're going to need those skills. She also taught me the importance of teamwork because there are going to be things that cannot be done on their own.

Her example of being true to yourself despite what others think at home and at work is one worthy of following. Work hard and do what you want to do and you can accomplish great things.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The first historical event I remember is the September 11 attacks. I was 16 years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I entered the workforce when I was 15 years old and earned my keep washing dishes at a local restaurant. I held that position until the restaurant went out of business then worked at a fast food restaurant through the remainder of my high school years.