Jonathan Smucker and Allison Troy are organizers who have been fighting to transform politics in Central Pennsylvania’s conservative Lancaster County for years. They have important lessons for socialists and progressives about why we need to reach “beyond the choir” of our core constituencies in urban and suburban areas to support organizing in small cities, towns, and rural areas. They also share key insights about how the Left can employ an inclusive populist message to win over independents and even some registered Republicans who many in the Democratic Party instinctively write off.

Smucker and Troy were active in the 2018 Congressional campaign of Jess King, who ran as a Democrat. King started her race in a district where Republicans typically enjoyed a six-point advantage over Democrats. Midway through the race, unexpected court-ordered redistricting left King with an R+14 district, making it practically impossible to win. While King didn’t prevail, her working-class political insurgency generated hundreds of new progressive activists, strengthened the new formidable political organization, Lancaster Stands Up, that had encouraged her to run, and pushed people like Allison from activist to candidate. In 2019, Allison ran and won a seat on the Board of Commissioners in heavily Republican Manheim Township, bringing in new voters while persuading many independents and Republicans to win more votes than any other candidate in the race.