In an exclusive interview with Informed.org, candidate for Pennsylvania State Senate Scott Janney goes into his background–detailing faith, family, and purpose.
hloe: Hi there. Thanks so much for joining me.
Scott: Hi, I’m Scott Janney. I’m running for Pennsylvania State Senate in District PA-18, which includes much of Northampton County and the city of Bethlehem, in both Northampton and Lehigh counties.
Chloe: Great. Thanks so much, Scott. I want to start with your background. You grew up in Pennsylvania and worked in a factory before finishing college. How did that shape the way you see work and opportunity?
Scott: It’s kind of a core belief of mine that life isn’t always beautiful and it isn’t always easy. Where I grew up wasn’t always beautiful or easy. My dad was born at the beginning of the Depression. He lived in the Shenandoah Valley, and when there was a strike, his dad moved the family up to Pittsburgh. My dad’s aunts used to tell his mother, Annie, “Pennsylvania is a beautiful state—you just didn’t pick a very nice part of it,” because they lived in a factory town.
The biggest factory in our town was 40 feet from our back door. It was right there. My son—he’s 21—once told me he was thinking about writing a novel about a house next to a big factory. I said, “David, let me show you where I grew up,” and pulled it up on Google Maps. There it was.
Life isn’t always beautiful. It isn’t always easy. Every day is a gift. I know that personally. I had an older brother who died when we were teenagers. When I turned 18, I felt like I’d hit the lottery just by living that long. So life is good—but it’s hard.
I also know I can’t control the total outcome. What I put in matters, but I can put in a lot and still fail. I can put in a lot and still struggle. So you learn to play by the rules you’re given.
I remember one day at the factory. I was known as a fast, hard worker. I was a college student—I wasn’t planning to stay there forever. Around 10 a.m., the foreman handed me a big push broom and said, “Scott, I need you to sweep the parking lot.” Then he showed me: “Push, tap, wait. If you finish before 2:30, I have to send you home.” I realized he wanted me to stretch the job so I could get paid for the full day.
There are rules that don’t always make sense, but you live by them. You can’t just expect people to be nice to you because you’re special. You work within the system you’re in.
Chloe: That’s really interesting, and I think it resonates with a lot of Pennsylvanians. Thank you for sharing that. Another thing voters may notice is that you voted for a Democrat in your first presidential election. What changed for you over time?
Scott: That Democrat was Jimmy Carter. He seemed like a dream candidate—an Air Force Academy graduate, a veteran, a small business owner running a peanut farm in Georgia. I thought, wow, he’s going to do great things.
But from my perspective, once he got to Washington, he listened to people who told him to govern differently than he campaigned, to stay in his lane. There was the gas crisis, the hostage crisis. The rescue mission in the desert failed. It was a terrible time.
The next time, I voted for Ronald Reagan. He was an actor and a union president, but when he ran, he was still himself—and when he became president, he stayed himself. You could still hear that same voice from his commercials. He didn’t reinvent himself.
I’ve worked in many organizations. I like learning from people. I like listening. That can change how I do things, but it doesn’t change who I am. There’s a difference between learning to negotiate better and simply becoming whoever someone else wants you to be.
Jimmy Carter was a disappointment to me. Reagan overperformed my expectations. I’ve been a Republican ever since.
Chloe: You’ve had an untraditional path to politics. When people hear “pastor” or “gifts planner,” they don’t necessarily picture a state senator. How do you introduce yourself to voters who don’t know your background?
Scott: Most people don’t see the day-to-day work of a pastor or a fundraiser. A pastor spends a lot of time in committee meetings and negotiating—talking with people who don’t always want to do what he wants to do. It’s leadership and persuasion.
As a fundraiser, I don’t write the “give $5 right now” letters. I work in planned giving. If you’ve given away a million dollars—or are thinking about it—you might meet me. I work for the Salvation Army, and I handle major gifts, like gift annuities or estate gifts.
I actually taught hundreds of fundraisers a technique called “delay the sale.” When someone says, “Scott, I’d like to give you X,” I don’t immediately say, “Sign here.” I ask, “Why do you want to give that? Why that amount?” I want a conversation. I listen.
Sometimes that means negotiating internally, too. The Salvation Army operates across 12 states, plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. We’re cautious about accepting real estate because it carries risk. But we’ve accepted a $5 million apartment property in Massachusetts and a $50,000 hunting camp in northwestern Pennsylvania.
To make that happen, I negotiate with legal, finance, and property departments. I explain the risks and how we can manage them. It helps donors accomplish what they want while helping us serve the poor, the hungry, and the homeless.
So when people hear “pastor” or “fundraiser,” they might think preaching or asking for money. But really, I’m a professional negotiator. And that’s what the Senate needs. I won’t be the CEO of the Senate—I’ll be someone trying to bring Republicans and Democrats together around shared priorities.
The Democratic Party leadership is focused on a lot of things I don’t think many Democrats themselves believe in. I think we need compromise—not compromising our core beliefs, but finding agreement on specific initiatives to serve our constituents.
Chloe: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Pennsylvania right now?
Scott: There’s a kind of economic reset happening. Insurance rates went up more than 17 percent in 2024, but projections for 2026 show less than a 1 percent increase. Interest rates are going down. Gas prices are going down.
But when you look at a map of states where gas is under $2, most are red states. Pennsylvania stands out. Why aren’t we fully participating in that economic momentum?
We call ourselves the Keystone State. Historically, that meant pushing westward beyond the original colonies. Now we’re wedged between high-tax states like New York and New Jersey and lower-tax states elsewhere. People are moving from high-tax states to low-tax states—and Pennsylvania is losing more people than it’s gaining.
I love Pennsylvania. I have a 21-year-old son, and I want him to build his life here. But it’s expensive compared to many other states. Taxes are high. We need to decide whether we’ll participate in what’s going well nationally or keep hitting the brakes.
There’s also the issue of county policy on illegal immigrants. In Northampton and Lehigh Counties, if a citizen and an illegal immigrant are arrested for the same crime, the citizen goes to county prison, but the illegal immigrant is released. That’s county policy. If they’re processed, ICE gets notified, and local officials don’t want that.
Regardless of how people feel about ICE’s methods, it’s wrong for citizens to be treated worse than non-citizens for the same alleged offense. Pennsylvania shouldn’t tolerate that.
Chloe: What does Pennsylvania get right that national politics often ignores?
Scott: I love Pennsylvania. I’ve lived here most of my life. I lived briefly in New Jersey and worked in Georgia, but Pennsylvania is home.
In 2024, PBS NewsHour came to Northampton County. I was the Republican host. The reporter said Northampton County has picked the winner in every recent presidential election going back decades. In 2020, we went for Joe Biden by less than 1 percent. We’re truly a bellwether.
That balance reflects the Keystone identity. We’re not extreme. We’re closely divided.
One state office I especially respect is the Attorney General’s charitable organizations division. In my work, I’ve interacted with them frequently. I once thanked a senior associate attorney general for helping our charity in a case. He stopped me and said, “Scott, I’m not working for you. I’m working for the people your charity serves. I will fight anyone who tries to take money from them.”
That stuck with me. That office protects charitable assets and ensures they go where donors intended. I’ve worked in 12 states, and in some, charities are afraid to call the attorney general. In Pennsylvania, that division has been helpful—regardless of whether the AG is a Republican or Democrat. They make sure charities and the people they serve are protected.
Chloe: Finally, where do you think Harrisburg is most out of touch with everyday Pennsylvanians?
Scott: Too often, politicians think the only choices are raising taxes or cutting services. But that’s a false choice. There are other ways.
People talk about fraud, waste, and abuse, and there really is a lot of it. For example, legislators can claim a per diem instead of submitting actual receipts for expenses in Harrisburg. My opponent frequently takes the per diem. That means she may be reimbursed more than she actually spends.
Her salary is around $110,000. It’s not outrageous, but when you consistently take per diem instead of actual expenses, you’re treating taxpayer money casually.
There’s also the energy beneath our feet—resources we could responsibly develop rather than overtaxing our residents.
Harrisburg often looks at A or B when there’s a whole alphabet of options. We need leaders willing to look beyond the obvious choices.
Chloe: Thank you so much, Scott. It was great speaking with you, and I look forward to seeing how the campaign unfolds.
Scott: Thank you, Chloe. I appreciate it.
