Trust In Our Elections: A Community Conversation

Stephen K. Medvic is The Honorable and Mrs. John C. Kunkel Professor of Government and Director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College.  His research and teaching interests include campaigns and elections, political parties, democratic innovation, and public opinion.  He is the author or editor of eight books including Gerrymandering:  The Politics of Redistricting in the United States (published by Polity Press in 2021), Campaigns and Elections:  Players and Processes (4th edition published by Routledge in 2022), and Are All Politics Nationalized? Evidence from the 2020 Pennsylvania Campaigns, co-edited with Matthew M. Schousen and Berwood A. Yost (published by Temple University Press in 2023).

Tom Corbett is executive in residence at Duquesne University School of Law. The former governor most recently served as an adjunct professor at the law school.

As the commonwealth’s 46th governor, Corbett held Pennsylvania’s highest office from 2011 until 2015. Corbett has a long and distinguished career serving citizens as assistant U.S. attorney, U.S. attorney, chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, Pennsylvania attorney general, and governor. Corbett has also served as a key advisor to U.S. presidents and governors.

Corbett served as a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard 28th Infantry Division from 1971 until 1984, rising from private to captain.

John E. Jones III was named the president of Dickinson College in 2022. Jones previously served as interim president and chair of Dickinson’s board of trustees, and retired as chief judge of the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania. He was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in 2002.

Jones presided over a number of high-profile cases, including the landmark case of Kitzmiller v. Dover School District and Whitewood v. Wolf. Jones co-chaired Pennsylvania Governor-elect Tom Ridge’s transition team and served as chair of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

Jones has received numerous accolades during his career. In 2006, Time Magazine named him as one of its Time 100 most influential people in the world. He was the recipient of the first John Marshall Judicial Independence Award given by the Pennsylvania Bar Association. He also received the Geological Society of America’s President’s Medal and was inducted into the George Washington Spirit Society.

Born and raised in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, he is a graduate of Mercersburg Academy, Dickinson College and Penn State Dickinson Law.

Ray D’Agostino was elected as a Lancaster County Commissioner in 2019. Previous to this post he served for ten years as CEO of the Lancaster Housing Opportunity Partnership (LHOP), a regional U.S. Treasury certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that is focused on housing affordability.  Ray also served as the first Chief of Staff for former State Senator Smucker (now Congressman) and spent 17 years in local government as a municipal and authority manager.  He is a retired veteran of the U.S. military having served 22 years in the Naval Reserve and PA Army National Guard.

Ray holds Master of Public Administration and Bachelor of Science in Education degrees from Shippensburg University.  He lives in Lampeter with his wife and two children.

Kate Huangpu is a state government reporter at Spotlight PA, a non-profit newsroom in Pennsylvania focusing on long-form and investigative public service journalism. A graduate of the Columbia Journalism School’s data journalism program, Huangpu got her start reporting on police accountability and social services for survivors of domestic violence in New York City. She previously worked at ABC’s World News Tonight and MSNBC.

Huangpu follows how and why the state government works the way it does, paying special attention to how the structure of our government expands or excludes who can participate in democracy. Huangpu also tracks major legislation and the impact that it has on communities across the state.

Michael McDonald was appointed Director of Policy for the Department of State in April 2023. He provides research, analysis, and recommendations on key departmental issues that impact the program areas of charities and corporations, elections, and professional licensure.

Prior to joining the department, McDonald was a litigator at Ballard Spahr LLP in Philadelphia. He practiced in federal and state courts representing clients in complex commercial disputes and specializing in matters relating to constitutional law, election administration, voting rights, and legislative redistricting. McDonald also worked at the law firm of Patterson Belknap LLP in New York City. McDonald graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from Saint Joseph’s University and magna cum laude with a juris doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.