State of the States
Joe Sudbay interviews Elizabeth Moro (Democrat, Pennsylvania House District 160)
Progress presents State of the States, and now your host, Joe Sudbay.
Host: Hello everyone, welcome back. As I mentioned in the open, we’re talking Pennsylvania. We’re going to talk a lot about Pennsylvania over the next few weeks and months, because the House is so tight — 102 to 101 — and the Senate is 27-23, Republican controlled. We need to keep and expand the House margin. One of the candidates who’s going to do that ran in 2024 and came so close, but she’s back. Elizabeth Moro, welcome back to State of the States.
Elizabeth: Thank you so much. We had so much fun on our last conversation, and we worked so hard to flip this seat. So we’re going to give it another go, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be here with you.
Host: Let’s take a few minutes and have you reintroduce yourself to our SiriusXM Progress audience.
Elizabeth: I am running for Pennsylvania 160. That’s in southeastern PA. It’s the last little part of Delco and a little part of Chester County that’s still red — it’s surrounded by a sea of blue. I’m a mom. My husband Vince and I have a blended family of five kids. We’re restoring a historic farm — it seems like it’s taking forever, but that’s because we keep doing all these projects to help our community.
I’m a real estate broker, and I own a small business. With a small business, I’ve learned how all the costs are going up and just how important it is to pay a livable wage. My business is just over the Pennsylvania line in Delaware, and we have different rules in Delaware — people have paid family medical leave, they have the ability to save money in a 401(k) that the state helps with, and they also have a $15 minimum wage. We pay $15 or higher so we can support our employees.
I’m also community focused, and that’s why we have the small business — to bring people together around the big table. That comes from my background. I’m one of 12 kids, the 11th. I had eight brothers, so I can handle Harrisburg. But the small business has really shown us the work we can do with our neighbors and in our community.
It’s based on the book I wrote, The Civil Graces Project — 12 core principles that, despite our differences and our political backgrounds, we can agree on as neighbors and come together around. I saw that in action when my husband and I worked to save a local historic treasure, Crebilly Farm. We organized our neighbors around a common cause. We wanted to save this farm, and we were successful after a seven-year battle. I know we can work together as neighbors, and that’s the message I’ll carry to Harrisburg.
Host: I love it. One of the things I remember from our last conversation — and it’s something you’re doing now — is that you’re really focused on building community. It comes across, and you do it on a regular basis, like bringing people around the table. Talk a little bit about that for us.
Elizabeth: When I was growing up, you had to be at the table — that was mandated. If you weren’t there, somebody was coming to find you. And it was a good thing too, because with eight brothers and three sisters, if you didn’t get there, you weren’t going to get anything for dinner.
But I watched so much of the interaction with people. My parents often had guests, relatives. My siblings brought friends home from college who were from around the world and had nowhere to go on the holidays, so we kind of had an international conversation, and as a little kid I just listened to everybody. I was so excited about the world outside. My dad always said, “To whom much is given, much is required in return,” so I always wondered what would be my gift. My gift has evolved over the years. It seems like something we take for granted, but it’s the common practice of just getting together with one another, and that has become my focus.
Like I said, I wrote a book about it. I founded a business upon it. And with Crebilly, we did, I think, 19 farm-to-table dinners to try to raise the money to pay the legal bills, but we also had a number of events just to bring the community together to believe we could do something impossible. People said it was a done deal. We never gave up, and we worked together as a community. I even did a TED talk on bringing people together at the table. It’s something we’ve done for hundreds of years, and I think it still works today.
Host: I love it. So you ran in 2024 — very close, 1,521 votes — in a year that was challenging for a lot of Democrats, no doubt. Now we’re heading into 2026. I want to get into some of the issues, but I’m also interested in what, if anything, might be different as you’re talking to voters this time, as you’re knocking doors. Are there differences between what you heard from folks back then and what you’re hearing now?
Elizabeth: So much emphasis in the news is on Washington, and Congress is always talking about these ideals — what they’re going to do for the entire country. But when you get to the reality of what we all live with, no one impacts your daily life as much as state and local government. I really believe last time we were overshadowed by a massive presidential election, and we never got our message out about what I was concerned about as a small business owner. I knew prices were going up. I knew things were expensive.
I’m able to talk about that more now, and to listen to people’s concerns about their health care going up, electric costs going up, and the concern about data centers and what they mean to our community. At the state level, we’re with our neighbors every single day, and I talk to people every single day. They come to the cafe just to connect with me. I think the state level can make a really huge difference, so that’s the message I carry.
There’s a local development actually underway that people don’t want, and they’re organizing “Save Ridge” to stop it. Because of my experience with Crebilly Farm, I’m able to listen to their concerns and offer guidance along the way. People know, on both sides of the aisle, that Donald Trump is withholding funding from the states — with health care, with education — and now there’s this conversation that maybe he’s going to hold up the housing reform he was promising because of the SAVE Act. When Washington fails, neighbors come in to do the work to fix it. So that message of “roll up our sleeves, let’s get to work, let’s get creative, let’s figure out a way to exhaust every option the state has” is what I carry.
But we also have to make sure our state Senate is willing to take up the bills our House has passed. The House has passed some really amazing things that the Senate, just out of spite for political points, says it won’t pass. To me, we’re in a day and time when political posturing is a waste of people’s money — taxpayers’ money — and our time. People need results, and they need more people in Harrisburg. I know there are a lot of great reps doing the work, but we need more people to stand with our leadership and say, “Let’s get the job done.”
Host: Right. And you point to the roadblock in Harrisburg. You have a Democratic governor running for reelection — Governor Shapiro running a great campaign — House Democrats working to expand their margin, including in your district, and then the Senate, which right now is controlled by Republicans. There are some really important races there.
It’s one of the things that’s interesting, Elizabeth, and I’ve picked this up from other candidates and legislators around the country. Back in 2024, and over the years doing this show, the focus has been primarily on how to make life better for constituents in their state. There really hasn’t been that federal overlay of danger coming from Washington — and I use the word “danger” in terms of cutting money, cutting funds, cutting health care, not solving problems. It feels like what’s happening in Washington has really become a much bigger issue for someone like yourself who wants to go solve problems in Harrisburg. Are you picking that up? Do people sense that?
Elizabeth: People are very frustrated with Washington. It feels like so many of the things being done are just so out of control. I’m knocking persuasion doors, talking to Republicans, and sometimes they say, “I can’t talk to you, I’m a Republican.” I always say, “That’s ridiculous — we’re neighbors.” I even invite them to coffee. I do a coffee every single Monday morning at 8 a.m. at a local coffee house that’s special to the area.
The one thing I hear often is despair and disgust with what they see coming out of Washington, and this sense of, almost, “What are we going to do about it?” What I try to do is help people realize there’s strength in numbers. Those are our federal tax dollars that we’re sending. Those are our representatives that we’re sending. They need to begin to listen to us. So I always press: we have to continue to do what we can. Contact your congressmember, contact your senator, and make sure we’re letting them know. And you see everyone taking to some of the protests and different things that are happening. Americans are fed up, and they have a good right to be.
Host: Yeah, I pick that up more and more, and it’s this cloud of DC and the uncertainty. You mentioned housing — this week the president was supposed to sign a bipartisan housing bill. It passed; there were only five votes against it in the Senate. Housing and housing affordability is one of the issues you mentioned, and people are clamoring around the country to get it under control. A lot of it is going to fall back to the states to try and fix, and that’s going to create some real challenges.
Elizabeth: It is. I entered housing after the 2008 crash, so I literally got a crash course in what goes wrong with housing. When you see outside investors coming in to take up our affordable housing and drive up the prices, they sit on it and wait to dump it at some point. Those are some of the things we have to address at the state level. We have to begin to have the conversation of how we make affordable housing for the next generation, because I care deeply about the next generation and what their opportunities are.
Part of what made America strong was home ownership, and a lot of politicians use that as a tool to say, “Oh, look, we’ve increased home ownership.” But it almost feels like a canker sore for us now, because we can’t manifest it with all the different things happening. With interest rates and everything continuing where they are, it’s less and less affordable — and they also don’t want to help young people with college debt and other things that really stand in the way.
Host: Really stands in the way. So you mentioned you’re knocking doors. What are “Mondays with Moro” like? You host them at a place in Chadds Ford — I’m really intrigued by this, I love the concept. Talk a little bit about it and who shows up.
Elizabeth: One of the things I see happening right now is that our current representative is not accessible. That’s one thing I hear. I spent the last year talking to local leaders, fire departments, police officers, libraries, our school officials, and different organizations within the 160th to ask what’s working and what’s not working. One of the things I feel this district deserves is someone willing to work as hard as they do. So I thought, let’s create an opportunity for them to meet with me — even though I’m not their representative — and let’s bring people together at the table so we can talk about the issues they’re concerned about. It really varies week to week who comes, and we’re starting to see more people take advantage of it.
Hank’s restaurant is a really special place. It was destroyed in a massive flood we had a few years back. It’s an iconic restaurant — part of the Wyeths and the local artist community would attend there. When this little restaurant was washed off its foundation, they literally had to rebuild from the mud up. They did a massive renovation, and it’s a symbol of resilience in our community. What’s so cool is that even the mugs we drink coffee out of — the owners had the foresight to gather some of the mud from the flood and make the mugs. So they literally turned mud into mugs. It’s such a great symbol, and I had a personal connection to it, because having lost this last cycle was really devastating. We worked so hard, but we’ve got to keep the spirit of resilience, keep rebuilding, and keep moving forward. That message carries over. People leave feeling hopeful when they can talk — not just to me, because my job is to listen, but to connect with their neighbors on the issues that really have them concerned.
Host: What a great story. I love that — making the mugs from the mud. That’s amazing. Let me ask: we’ve hit some of the issues, but when you get to Harrisburg — and you will get to Harrisburg — what are one or two of the first things you want to do? The kind of bills you want to introduce, the policies you want to address? I know there’s probably a lot, but if you had to pick your priorities right now based on what you’re hearing from voters, from constituents, at Mondays with Moro — what would it be?
Elizabeth: There are some core issues I’ve heard at the doors. One is health care — the cost of health care. We’ve got to figure that out. I don’t get to sit in on the committees and listen to all the underlying conversations yet, but once I do, I’ll have a better handle on what tools we have at the state that we can implement.
The other is housing. We need to figure out how to create more affordable housing, and I’ll be looking at every option and being creative with that. We want to strengthen our education — Pennsylvania has a mandate to equally fund all our education and public schools, and we need to make sure we keep that solid. And then there are the economic concerns: the cost of health care, the cost of electricity, making sure data centers don’t come into our area and drive up the cost of our electricity and our water.
Pennsylvania’s Article 1, Section 27 gives the people the right to clean air, clean water, and the preservation of our open space as a public trust — not just for us, but for generations yet to come. So the work I do will be focused on now, but with a mindset for generations yet to come. Many of your listeners may not know this, but Pennsylvania has the oldest constitution in the country, and we have the first bill of rights. A lot of what I’ll be doing in my first couple of months is sorting through those articles to make sure Pennsylvanians have access to all those rights, and where we’re missing a step, to raise a hand and say, “Hey, we’ve got to take care of this area.”
Honestly, one dream of mine is to set a very, very long table — to include outside vendors, support local businesses, and set the table for the representatives and senators to sit down and have a dinner. Historically, our representatives and senators in Washington used to do this. That’s how they’d hash things out. They all fell away from that practice when social media and getting on TV became more important and going home became easier. I think we sometimes need to get to the table and wrestle it out a little bit. Those are some of the thoughts I have. There are non-negotiables I won’t be able to compromise on, but I’m willing to listen to why the other side has the perspective they have. At the end of the day, I’m listening to my constituents and delivering for them.
Host: And clearly your constituents know you’ll be available. You’re knocking doors, and you’ve probably had more town-hall-type meetings, doing your weekly meetings, than your opponent has had since he’s been in office. So we need to make sure you get to Harrisburg — winning in November, picking up those votes, because we know this is a winnable district. How can our listeners help you, Elizabeth?
Elizabeth: I have a great website — Elizabeth Moro, and it’s M-O-R-O — so ElizabethMoro.com. There are all kinds of ways you can engage with the campaign. We also have a page for how you can help serve the community, because a lot of people are hurting.
My opponent right now is really trying to make up for lost time. He hasn’t always been there, and now — somebody said, “You poke the bear” — he’s starting to do more. But the reality is, what are you doing when no one’s watching? I think that’s a really important message for people to understand. When no one was watching, I was doing the work to help our community and working toward preserving things for Pennsylvania for generations yet to come. I’m so excited to serve this district. I love my community — that’s why I’m running. We just can’t wait to get through this election and get to doing more for this community.
And a shout-out to Liam, a young man we helped get to the Naval Academy. He just left for it, and it’s a phenomenal story. He came and said, “Can you help me?” and I said, “Well, I’m not a representative, but I’ll see what we can do.” Those are just some of the things we can do at the ground level. Don’t ever think you have to hold elected office to make a connection or a change in your community. Just find your passion, and we all can do something.
Host: I have to say, Elizabeth, your love for your community really comes through. I’m so excited that we get to speak again, and I’m so glad you’re running again. ElizabethMoro.com — Democrat for Pennsylvania 160. We have a lot of listeners in Pennsylvania, and you all understand the assignment: we’ve got to expand these margins in the House, we have to take back the state Senate, and we need that Democratic trifecta. Thank you so much, Elizabeth. It’s great to speak with you again, and I hope we get to talk again — maybe before election day, too.
Elizabeth: That’d be awesome. Thank you so much, everyone. Just keep believing — we can do this.
Host: Absolutely. We’ll be back in just a few minutes here on State of the States.