Aaron, Jeff, and Rachael are once again joined by Mary Kusler, Senior Director at NEA’s Center for Advocacy, to break down the 2025 election results and what they mean for educators heading into 2026. The conversation covers major wins for pro–public education candidates, Pennsylvania’s role as a key swing state, growing policy threats like Project 2025, and how sustained educator advocacy translates into real political power.
Aaron, Jeff, and Rachael are once again joined by Mary Kusler, Senior Director at NEA’s Center for Advocacy, to break down the 2025 election results and what they mean for educators heading into 2026. The conversation covers major wins for pro–public education candidates, Pennsylvania’s role as a key swing state, growing policy threats like Project 2025, and how sustained educator advocacy translates into real political power.
Do you have some feedback for us? Send an email to podcast@psea.org.
Learn more and watch for upcoming episodes at psea.org/podcast.
Voiceover:
Welcome to Duty Free Lunch, the official podcast of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Join us as we unpack the issues that matter most to you. From cutting edge classroom strategies to thought-provoking policy discussions, if it impacts PSEA members, it's on the menu.
Aaron Chapin:
Hello, and welcome back to Duty Free Lunch. I'm PSEA president, Aaron Chapin. I'm joined today by PSEA vice president, Jeff Ney, and PSEA treasurer, Rachael West. Greetings, good day to both of you.
Jeff Ney:
I don't know how to quite act to this. Aaron, are you trying something new?
Aaron Chapin:
It's my professional voice.
Jeff Ney:
Oh.
Aaron Chapin:
Yes.
Rachael West:
Oh, so that's different than the usual podcast voice that we're used to.
Aaron Chapin:
That's right.
Rachael West:
Okay.
Jeff Ney:
You're just trying out some new things, like every podcast from here on in is going to have a-
Aaron Chapin:
I'm listening to viewer feedback.
Jeff Ney:
Oh. So you do listen to somebody?
Aaron Chapin:
No.
Jeff Ney:
Oh, okay.
Rachael West:
All right. I'm glad you cleared that up.
Aaron Chapin:
How are you folks doing this afternoon?
Jeff Ney:
I am doing quite ... Well, it's pretty cold at this time of the year that we're recording this podcast.
Aaron Chapin:
Rachael?
Rachael West:
Listen, it's not as cold as it was at home, so I'm going to just take this chilly weather and go with it.
Aaron Chapin:
Understood. Everybody, you'll be listening to this in the new year, so happy new year to all of you. Let's get started. Today, we're talking politics and power ...
Jeff Ney:
Oh, my God.
Aaron Chapin:
... as we head into a critical election year.
Jeff Ney:
There we go.
Aaron Chapin:
And to help break it all down, we're pleased to welcome back our friend, Mary Kusler. She's the senior director at NEA's Center for Advocacy. I'm sure we got the title wrong. Mary leads advocacy efforts for more than three million educators nationwide. She oversees NEA's political and policy work. She manages relationships with elected leaders. Again, nice job, Mary. And helps guide the strategy that supports educators and students in every state, including the most important one, Jeff, ours, ours, Pennsylvania, Rachael. Mary, welcome back to Duty Free Lunch. Thanks for being here.
Mary Kusler:
Thank you so much for having me again. I'm always delighted to be with you all. And I'm just curious if we are changing the official designation from Pennsylvania from a commonwealth to a state in this.
Aaron Chapin:
Well played.
Mary Kusler:
And I say that calling in from the other commonwealth in the nation.
Aaron Chapin:
Yes. Thank you for correcting us. I'll make sure that the script is more accurate next time. Let's get started because we got a lot to get through.
Jeff Ney:
I have a lot of questions.
Aaron Chapin:
Oh, I got a lot of questions too because 2025 was a dumpster fire. And I don't want to be blaming you, Mary, but we might be.
Mary Kusler:
It's not been great. It's not been my favorite year.
Aaron Chapin:
No, no. Odd years usually are odd. I'm really looking forward to a good even year. So here we go. Let's start, unfortunately, looking back at the 2025 elections, which actually is a bright spot in a year that really wasn't spectacular. We had incredibly strong showing for pro-public education candidates here in Pennsylvania, the commonwealth, as well as states across the country. Pennsylvania, as everybody who's listening, because if you're listening to this podcast, you know all this stuff. We successfully elected nearly all the pro-public educated candidates on our PACE-recommended list, including those three key state Supreme Court seats, those retention races that we are working so hard for. There was a lot of school board races where PSEA-PACE-recommended candidates won. In fact, we won 152 seats in 50 districts. Did you know that, Rachael?
Rachael West:
I did not know that.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, you do now. It's huge. So from your vantage point, Mary, what stood out the most from the election time? And what do you think these results signal as we're headed into 2026?
Mary Kusler:
Yeah, absolutely. Listen, let's just be honest, the '25 election was the election we all needed. We all needed that boost in the arm. We all needed to see pro-public education ballot success all over the country, in our communities, at the state level. And as you just said, we saw it in Pennsylvania, which was fabulous, but we also saw it in the election of the first female governor in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We saw it in the first Democratic-elected governor in New Jersey. We saw huge pickups in states across the country, and we saw a massive wave of turning tides of pro-public education candidates winning at the school board level all over. We saw massive wins and ballot measures from securing the ability to have more representation in California to stopping repeals and making it harder to vote in Maine. So from coast to coast, we saw wins across the country.
What I really think is critical here though is the number one trend, which is the work of our educators nationwide, the work that our PSEA members did, volunteering, making phone calls, texting, and most importantly in this environment, talking to their neighbors about why that Supreme Court race was such a big deal for PSEA. So many individuals had no idea that that was a big race. And it's our incredible membership that really did the important work of being the spokespeople in their community that we know our educators, our trusted messengers.
And as we go into 2026, we are expecting this trend to continue. We are expecting more people who honestly want to express frustration about the current state of our country, and they are coming out and voting in droves. And we're expecting to see that going into '26 where we have so much on the ballot, including governor's races right down, I don't know, maybe a certain commonwealth state Senate.
Rachael West:
Maybe. So Pennsylvania has a reputation as a key swing state, and it always makes for an interesting or sometimes exciting election season. This year was no different, and with some key races that could determine the balance of power at the state and federal levels, people often call Pennsylvania the keystone to democracy.
Aaron Chapin:
That's catchy.
Jeff Ney:
It is. We should use that.
Rachael West:
I wonder if there's a place we could use that here at PSEA. Do you think, Mary, that you could talk to us a little bit about why Pennsylvania is so important heading into 2026 and why it's critical for our PSEA members to keep staying motivated and doing the things that you just mentioned?
Mary Kusler:
Yeah, absolutely. And I think about the fact that my last electoral cycle that I actually worked directly on a campaign was in 2000 right there in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has been truly a keystone in our national politics for decades upon decades. And I think about the incredible opportunities that Pennsylvania presents this cycle, not only to reelect a governor who has been working really hard to stand by our educators, but also when I think of ... Rachael, just thinking the other day about how you and I and my son, Sam, went door to door for a congressional race that is within our grip right there.
Rachael West:
Absolutely.
Mary Kusler:
And I think when you think about the chances of Janelle Stelson or other candidates who are running this year, as well as our key reelects in some of these tight races like Susan Wild's race, we know that there are going to be races across the ballot in Pennsylvania that are not only going to matter what's happening in the commonwealth, like getting a budget on time or investing in our public schools, but it's also going to matter for the direction of our country. And we know we have a huge opportunity to take back a pro-public education, pro-labor control of the House of Representatives in DC, and that's going to come right through the commonwealth, right through Pennsylvania. And our members are going to be front and center in that as they always are.
Jeff Ney:
You can see the energy, Mary, that you bring into the job that you have. And you have talked to many of our members and you know that sometimes there can be that sense of fatigue. There's a lot of excitement leading up to an election, but sometimes you've seen it with some of our own PSEA members, they might feel a little bit worn down by the time they get it. So what would be your recommendation to help people see the connection between a sustained advocacy run and real policy outcomes that we're hoping for in this next election?
Mary Kusler:
So I think a couple of things to that, Jeff. I think let's just start and acknowledge that this year was tremendously hard. And even if you take the national political scene and the hardcore politics of it all, take that out, there has been a lot of trauma this year, and we know that our educators have been on the front lines for so many years with our students, and this year has not been an easy time for so many. And so we have to acknowledge that we're all facing a little bit of exhaustion and burnout in this moment.
So totally hear you on like, oh, fatigue around advocacy, fatigue around fighting for this stuff, but I also think we need to acknowledge the moment that we're in, and it's hard, and we're tired. Even I'm tired, and it's hard, but at the same day, at the same time, we need to think about what is the work ahead and what do we owe our students and our communities.
And we have a chance to make a difference. We have a chance to do right by kids and to stand up for the country that we believe in, that is the vision of what we want to see for America, for Pennsylvania, for our communities. And that's hard, but I think the other thing to always remember is nobody goes into education to go into politics.
Jeff Ney:
True, yeah.
Mary Kusler:
Not one educator in Pennsylvania was like, "I want to go into politics, so I'll be a bus driver, or I will teach." But the reality is we know politicians are making decisions that impact teaching and learning in our classrooms, policies that impact child nutrition, other aspects of the administrative life of our school systems or higher ed systems. And so therefore, we cannot sit on the sidelines and let others make those decisions. We do politics to make sure that we are getting the best and the brightest pro-public education, pro-labor people, and especially NEA members running for office, which I know there are some right here in Pennsylvania. We need to get them into these positions because we know that those who are closest to our students are going to make the best decisions for our students, and we owe it to them even when we're tired.
Rachael West:
You mentioned something about the things that happen in the community that affect us in education. And we spoke in 2024 about the dangers of Project 2025, and we're seeing some of those things become reality now from the SNAP cuts to the efforts to dismantle the US Department of Education, and then even just broader attacks on public services in general. So what does that mean for our educators and our students? What do you think are the most immediate risks for our public education and our communities?
Mary Kusler:
So I think there's a lot of risk, and a lot of it we're not talking enough about. The effort that is being done by Secretary McMahon, formerly of the World Wrestling Entertainment world, she is literally dismantling the US Department of Education while nobody is looking or having any outcry. We're trying, but there is so much happening, so much bad happening, it's hard to break through. But explain to me how it makes sense to take the money and authority to oversee education for our most disadvantaged youth, our entire accountability systems as they exist for our states, and transfer that authority to the Department of Labor. We are not just training future workers; we are training and educating and inspiring future global citizens, and our students deserve more than that, but we also know so much of what has happened has not even hit or impacted our communities yet, and it's coming.
So I think about, Rachael, you just mentioned the nutrition cuts in SNAP, those have not fully taken effect yet. And so people in Pennsylvania have no idea that we're going to see kids losing access to school lunch across the state, we're going to see families struggling to make ends meet and to feed their families.
And the last thing I really want to talk about is we know there are massive cuts coming in Medicaid. Did you know that the majority of children in the United States get their healthcare off of Medicaid?
Aaron Chapin:
I did, yeah.
Mary Kusler:
I mean, it is a key program, not only for children, but for our communities. Well, let me give you one step further. I would argue Pennsylvania had a little bit of a challenge trying to pass a budget last year. And I think Pennsylvania's experience is only going to pale by comparison of what we're going to see in Pennsylvania and states around the country this year as the federal government is going to pass down these cuts into your state, and all of a sudden, Pennsylvania is going to be left holding the bag on these massive shortfalls in Medicaid, in nutrition. And at the end of the day, where are they going to get that money from?
Aaron Chapin:
Wow.
Mary Kusler:
They're going to have to cut from higher education, they're going to have to cut from K-12 education. And so the budget situation and the actual impact that people in Pennsylvania are going to feel may not hit until another year, and this is our challenge at the moment.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, and it is a challenge, Mary. And so like, obviously we heard a lot of this talk when it was just the campaign. So as 2024 has [inaudible 00:15:05], it's all this campaign rhetoric. And now in 2025 and as we head into '26, it's the actual implementation of it. So how do states affiliate like PSEA, how are we supposed to be part of this whole national response then?
Mary Kusler:
Yeah. And I have to give huge kudos to PSEA because PSEA has been stepping up all over and just ... particularly let's just give a great example of that. The work that we have tried to do to make people realize that there are going to be these massive cuts in child nutrition and nutrition programs in our communities is not going to work if you send out a press release. But the work that PSEA has done to partner with our locals so that they could be right there giving donations to the food banks and their communities. I know so many locals in Pennsylvania ran food drives. I know that they are really committed to making sure their communities are fed. And why do they need to do that? Because we're about to see and are starting to see massive cuts in our nutrition program. So not just telling about it, but doing something about it, which Pennsylvania and PSEA has really been leading on.
Jeff Ney:
So Mary, real easy for you. Of all of the affiliates in NEA, which one do you like the most, and why do you think PSEA deserves that ranking in your opinion? No, I'm teasing you, I'm teasing you.
Aaron Chapin:
You're going to make Delaware cry.
Jeff Ney:
I was just going to say.
Aaron Chapin:
Oh, no, geez.
Jeff Ney:
But no, Mary, you know that our members here in PSEA, they have a long history of advocating for their students and their profession. And it's easy for Rachael, Aaron, and I to sit here, and we could boast about our members all day long, but I'd love to know from your perspective, your national perspective, how does PSEA member engagement stand out maybe from other things that you have seen, and what impact that level of involvement has on elections and policymaking?
Mary Kusler:
Do you know that in 2025 alone, PSEA members and supporters alone, just PSEA members and supporters, sent over 100,000 messages to Congress? Just this [inaudible 00:17:26].
Jeff Ney:
Wow.
Mary Kusler:
Your number one topic that you engaged on was don't let the Trump administration dismantle the US Department of Education.
Jeff Ney:
So they are listening.
Mary Kusler:
We know that with the work that you have all been doing with your educator defenders work and making sure that we have educators on the frontline standing up to why we need our public education system and why we need to make sure that we have public schools for every student, regardless of their zip code, we know that you all are on the front lines about this. You may not have known that Pennsylvania beat out 36 other affiliates sending messages to Congress this July at our representative assembly.
Jeff Ney:
That means that 13 beat us.
Aaron Chapin:
Would you like to list every one of the states that we beat?
Mary Kusler:
You know what, it's funny, I think we're short on time here today. [inaudible 00:18:22].
Aaron Chapin:
It would make me super popular at Super Week.
Mary Kusler:
Yes, Jeff, that means that some beat you, but that means we can always work on our continuous improvements.
Aaron Chapin:
That's right, Jeff. Always working to get better.
Rachael West:
I have a question about how we might do that. So as we're looking ahead to 2026, what are some of the most effective actions individual educators in Pennsylvania can take right now, even outside of election season, to protect public education and influence the political landscape?
Mary Kusler:
Yeah. So let's be honest, a lot of people think that elections happen between Labor Day and election day.
Aaron Chapin:
Err.
Mary Kusler:
Exactly. We lose a lot by having that mindset. Pennsylvania, again, has been pushing that envelope with battleground summer over the years, but even now talking about let's hold our members of Congress accountable. Let's call out Scott Perry for not worrying about people's healthcare costs in Pennsylvania. That's on him. He's about to go home for recess without taking one vote to look at extending those healthcare subsidies so that everyday costs are not rising on people in Pennsylvania. We need to talk about this in community. Educators can talk about this at the holiday table, depending on the family, but even without. You can talk about it with friends and family. You can talk about it on your social media. There are all sorts of ways we need to continue this conversation so it's not just trying to convince people to do right by students in our communities between Labor Day and election day.
The best thing we can do right now, Rachael, let's start talking about this now, starting to make sure that people know the Department of Ed is being dismantled right in front of everybody's eyes. So we're going to see these massive cuts in child nutrition and in our Medicaid program moving forward.
Aaron Chapin:
Oh, what are you doing? You got a question? You got a follow-up?
Jeff Ney:
No. But I was going to ask Mary to pull out her crystal ball.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, yeah, but you have to let me prime this up.
Jeff Ney:
Oh, okay, all right.
Aaron Chapin:
Jeff, get ready, it's bonus question.
Jeff Ney:
Well, I thought you were going with the whole new zen-
Aaron Chapin:
No, I gave it up. Go ahead.
Jeff Ney:
All right. So Mary, you've spoken in front of our delegation before. Everybody in our delegation feels like you have the ability to predict the future. So I need you to take out that crystal ball, haul shit up, and tell us one surprise that you think is going to happen in 2026 that could have a major impact on educators or education, something you feel very strongly about based upon what you have seen so far. We won't hold you to it.
Aaron Chapin:
I will.
Jeff Ney:
Oh, what? Are you going to hold her to it?
Aaron Chapin:
I am.
Mary Kusler:
Aaron's totally holding me to this. This is going to be played [inaudible 00:21:23].
Aaron Chapin:
I'm going to call her out during our PAC meeting in February.
Mary Kusler:
Yeah, I was going to say I'm never going to hear the end of it.
Aaron Chapin:
I'm going to boo her like nobody's been booed before.
Jeff Ney:
Or you're going to cheer her for being right.
Mary Kusler:
Again, the welcoming spirit.
Aaron Chapin:
Yes, go ahead.
Mary Kusler:
The welcoming-
Aaron Chapin:
We got to hear what's the answer.
Mary Kusler:
So I think there's some easy answers. I think that we're going to see pro-public education, pro-labor candidates sweeping the House of Representatives, and we're going to see control of that body. But I feel like that's an easy ... I feel like that's an easy answer. A lot of people are talking about that, and that's not what you asked [inaudible 00:21:54].
Jeff Ney:
No, because Aaron could have given me that answer. Come on.
Mary Kusler:
Correct. Even Aaron could.
Aaron Chapin:
Even I could.
Mary Kusler:
I would say that the margins are going to continue to tighten in the House, and we're going to continue to see members of Congress, especially on the Republican side of the aisle, who are going to be willing to speak up for their constituents and stand up to the president, especially when we see that he is not doing things that are good for people in their district. And I think as those margins get tighter, I mean, right down to Marjorie Taylor Greene is resigning come the first of the year, that's going to be very hard for them to pass votes in a world where they were already struggling to get the vote counts. And with people like Representative Brian Fitzpatrick being more emboldened to challenge the speaker and to challenge the president, I think we're going to see this president have a much harder time getting his agenda done in the second year of his administration, and thereby we're going to see some more wins next year in terms of policy defeat.
Jeff Ney:
What's more likely, a pro-public education Senate or pro-public education House in the next election?
Mary Kusler:
Pro-public education House. Listen, the map in the Senate is really, really tough. I want to believe, and maybe in a wave election we're going to get there, but the reality is we need to pick up two additional Senate seats to get there, plus win everything we have. We have tough races in places like Georgia that are always tough to run elections. And so it's going to be a tough election. I think we can make some gains in the Senate, but I think we should be really investing in the House to make sure that we can provide some checks and balances on the administration.
Jeff Ney:
Nice.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, unfortunately, that's all the time we have for today. I know.
Jeff Ney:
We could talk to her all day.
Rachael West:
Absolutely.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, most of the day. She gets a little cranky later in the day, so. Uh-huh.
Jeff Ney:
Well.
Mary Kusler:
That's why we scheduled this at this time.
Aaron Chapin:
You just see her fight people in local establishments, so it's not pretty.
Jeff Ney:
I did hear about that.
Aaron Chapin:
No, I know, I know. Everybody, our guest, you know her, you love her, Mary Kusler, senior director at NEA's Center for Advocacy. Mary, as always, thank you for joining us again, sharing your insights. We really do love having you on the podcast.
Mary Kusler:
And I always love being with you all. Thank you so much for all that you're doing. And let's hope that everybody has a great second half of the year.
Aaron Chapin:
And I told you, I can't wait to be in DC for Super Week. I get to see you. I am so excited. It's going to be awesome Super Week.
Jeff Ney:
He's already got his suit pressed, ready to come down.
Aaron Chapin:
No, I already bought a tuxedo and everything.
Jeff Ney:
Ooh, tuxedo.
Aaron Chapin:
I got a tuxedo. I'm ready.
Mary Kusler:
I think you all know now what you can get Aaron for the holidays, which is like a rip-off calendar, just counting down the days so he can be in DC.
Aaron Chapin:
Can't wait. It's less than two months. Woo-woo.
Mary Kusler:
Can't wait for you to be there.
Aaron Chapin:
I know. Hey, well, they're giving me a wrap sign. I'll do whatever I want. What are they going to do? Pull me off the air? Geez. Hey, thanks to all our listeners for tuning into this. If you have some feedback, you know what you got to do. Send us an email at podcast@psea.org. I'm Aaron Chapin.
Jeff Ney:
And I'm Jeff Ney.
Rachael West:
And I'm Rachael West.
Aaron Chapin:
And you've been listening to Duty Free Lunch. Bye for now.
Voiceover:
You've been listening to Duty Free Lunch with the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Visit psea.org/podcast to learn more, and don't forget to subscribe and share. Paid for by the Pennsylvania State Education Association.