Ismail Smith-Wade-El

Ismail Smith-Wade-El was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He earned a high school diploma from the West Nottingham Academy and a bachelor's degree from Carnegie Mellon University in 2014.[1][2]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Born and raised in Lancaster, Ismail Smith-Wade-El was first elected to the PA House of Representatives in 2022 after serving on Lancaster City Council for five years.

During his time in elected office, Izzy has written legislation to address housing access and affordability, to protect queer and trans youth, to create structures of support for immigrants and refugees, and has relentlessly worked to deliver a fully-funded education for every student in the Commonwealth.

Outside of legislating, you will find Izzy on a picket line with workers, cycling, baking, or reading American poetry and Catholic theology.

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?

As a state representative, I will fight to:

Increase tenant protections and support tenants’ right to organize.

End the use of eviction records to deny tenants housing by sealing eviction records.

Invest in good-quality, affordable housing in communities like Lancaster.

Ensure that public housing is regularly maintained and improved.

Build Community Land Trusts that make our communities resilient to gentrification.In Harrisburg I will:

Fight for every Lancaster school by advocating for fair funding. Fair funding doesn’t just improve the quality of our public schools and level the playing field across the state, it also reduces burden on homeowners and makes housing more affordable for all Lancastrians.

Oppose the construction and expansion of charter schools.

Support educators as they fight for better wages, safe classrooms, and the freedom to do their jobs.I will fight for:

Raising the minimum wage.

The right of every worker to unionize and exercise their collective rights.

Safe staffing ratios for our healthcare workers.

Ending wage theft and workplace discrimination.

Demanding equal pay for equal work.

Investments in good union jobs for long term projects such as rebuilding our roads and bridges and transforming our infrastructure under a Green New Deal.

Obstructing and ending the PASSHE consolidation effort in support of APSCUF.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Ending the housing crisis, especially for students.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Working Families Party, SEIU, Planned Parenthood, Ceasefire PA, Indivisible, Our Revolution,

Ismail Smith-Wade-El did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

The City of Lancaster is my home. After finishing college in Pittsburgh, I returned to

Lancaster and plunged headlong into civil service. I first ran for City Council in 2017 and have spent four years fighting for our city’s working families. I believe that families belong together in safe, stable housing. I believe that folks who work hard should be able to afford to live in their homes on one good job. I believe that the key to public safety is to make sure everyone has the resources and support they need to thrive. And I believe that the power to make change and enact policy belongs to people in the community, not representatives on the other side of the state who will not be impacted at all. As a State Representative, I want to ensure that the people in Lancaster have the power to shape their futures. That means having a fighter in office ready to take on entrenched powers and organize with black, brown, queer, and working class communities to deliver hard-won victories for our families and values.

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?

The people of the Commonwealth deserve safe, affordable homes for their families, healthy lives for themselves, and beautiful childhoods for their young ones - we know this. The fight is whether we can organize to deliver what our communities deserve.Our communities - our cities, townships, and boroughs - have had the power to govern themselves taken away from them by the state legislature. Whether it is keeping housing affordable, giving municipalities the power to decide on taxation, or making safer streets for our kids to talk on, we’re going to Harrisburg to get what belongs to you back.Voters are worried about their child’s education, about the cost and quality of healthcare, about their ability to provide for their families. We will fight for more funding - especially special education funding - for public schools. We will ensure safe staffing ratios in hospitals and that windfalls to nursing homes are invest in patient care When my mother, an educator, was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of breast cancer, it was the health insurance her union fought that gave us ten more years together as a family. We’re going to protect working people. Every family deserves what my family got, and we’re going to make sure that they get it.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Families belong together in safe, stable homes that they can afford. The end of the federal eviction moratorium left thousands and thousands of families at risk of losing their homes as COVID continues to ravage communities and children are returning to in-person learning. Having worked in housing coalitions and nonprofits for years, I know the intricacies of how to secure and direct money directly to renters in need, rather than absentee landlords looking to make a quick buck. This includes measures that will require landlords remove lead from houses and will seal renters’ evictions and expungements. In addition, I will fight to make it legal for municipalities to diversify their revenue options outside of property taxes, which disproportionately impact black and brown families and make it hard to fund nonprofit affordable housing projects. The bottom line is this: municipalities like Lancaster shouldn't be forced to choose between their chief revenue generator and providing the services that their residents need.