Note: This is the fourth article in a series recognizing ten people who have impacted our community and are great role models.
Here is a trivia question you can spring on your friends. In the recent Pennsylvania primary, what Republican received the most votes for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives? By the title of this column, it should not be hard to guess. In the April primary this year, our local Pennsylvania State Representative for the 84th District, Joe Hamm, received 9,194 votes from his district — the most of any Republican, either incumbent or candidate, in the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania!
I am an unashamed superfan of Joe Hamm. It began the first time I met him in 2017. I was a Clinton Twp. Supervisor advocating for a regional police force for our township and was looking around for a model. I found it in the Tiadaghton Valley Regional Police Department located in Jersey Shore. I called the office and talked to borough manager Joe Hamm, who invited me to visit his office and talk about it in person.
When we met, I had a short list of questions and did not want to take more than half an hour of Joe’s time. Joe kept me for an hour and a half to ensure I had all the necessary information. It made a powerful impression on me because he had absolutely nothing to gain by talking to me other than trying to be helpful.
When Joe Hamm became President of the Lycoming County Republican Party, he asked me to be on an advisory board with him, and it was there that I really saw the passion and expertise this man had for politics. His impact on the Republican Party in Lycoming County was nothing short of amazing. And when he decided to run for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2020, I was all in. I knew this guy would be great.
Yet, little did I expect him to be this great! It starts with his conviction to be a good legislator, not just to vote on bills but to sponsor them. Right now, Joe Hamm has eight prime-sponsored bills, not just partisan ones. For example, his House Bill 424 is designed to address a glitch in the National Guard’s life benefits, which they pay for. National Guard troops are to be deployed in their own state, of course, but there are situations when they can be deployed outside their state, even overseas. If they die in this course of duty, federal law states they should receive their benefits, but the state law only acknowledges death in Pennsylvania. Joe’s bill resolves this enigma and guarantees these troops get the benefits they deserve. Joe Hamm is also the best person to present this bill as he served in the National Guard and was himself deployed in combat overseas.
When Joe is not in Harrisburg, he is all over his district. His latest weekly email, “We the People of the 84th Report,” runs over 1,500 words and gives a great picture of how hard this man works for his district. It tires me just to read the six or eight events he attends each week, such as a Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce PM Exchange, a volunteer fire company banquet, an NRA banquet (banquets are hard to avoid), a Little League opening day, a Girl Scout troop event, a municipal summit, you get the idea. These events might not sound very important, but they become much more important when their state representative honors them with his presence.
Joe Hamm is also astounding because he can have a continual schedule in Harrisburg and throughout his region and still have a happy family. His wife Melissa is a companion seen often in Joe’s work, and his daughters, Madison and Kennedy, are excellent students and are also not strangers at various events. Joe does not sacrifice his family for his career, as seen also in the family’s active membership in Community Baptist Church in Montoursville.
A good leader also needs to get outstanding people to work with them, and Joe excels in this as well. His staff, Erica Wurster, Kathy Koch, Sarah Brown, and especially his right-hand man, Eric Houser, are all super smart and have the same commitment to serving their community as Joe does.
With 203 members, Pennsylvania has the largest full-time state legislature in the United States, with a population of approximately 63,000 residents in each district. In April’s primary, five seasoned Democratic PA House of Representatives had more votes than Joe Hamm, four of whom were from Philadelphia suburbs and the other from the greater Pittsburgh area. These officials probably have 63,000 residents in one square mile or so. Joe’s district is exactly the opposite, as it is the fourth largest in geographical size among all the 203 districts. His district is spread over two counties! For Hamm to accomplish receiving that many votes from that diverse an area is an amazing election phenomenon. Keep up the good work, Joe. You are an inspiration to us all.
