Justin Douglas

At this time last year, Justin Douglas was filling trash bags and sweeping at one of Harrisburg’s largest homeless encampments.

The pastor organized a group from his city church, The Belong Collective, to clean under the Mulberry Street Bridge, as he advocated for the city to reverse its decision to evict encampment occupants.

A year later, Douglas still cares about issues like homelessness, prison reform and mental health services. What has changed—in that one year, he’s gone from activist to public official.

In fact, life looks quite different than it did last year. Last January, Douglas was preaching to a small gathering of church attendees at Midtown Cinema, which hosted his church for a period of time.

This January, Douglas stood on a stage introducing the President of the United States at a campaign rally.

“I’m not confident I’ve really processed this reality yet,” Douglas said. “It’s going to take some time for this to sink in.”

Douglas is Dauphin County’s newest commissioner, one whose election was a surprise to many, including to Douglas himself, and a big shake up to the long-time Republican-controlled board.

Douglas’ victory has marked the first time in over a century that the county has had two out of three Democratic commissioners.

He’s also come in strong, publicizing his interest in making changes to the county’s troubled prison as his chief concern. And he doesn’t shy away from acknowledging that the change and his activism may make people uncomfortable.

“I understand that my entry into this role may have seemed abrupt and nontraditional, potentially causing some anxieties,” Douglas said during his address to a crowd at the county’s swearing-in ceremony. “You may have heard my call for change, and let’s acknowledge that change, in any instance, can be intimidating.”

Although he says he’s ready to work collaboratively.

“I’m not here to call people out,” he said. “I’m here to call people to a table.”

The progressive pastor from Elizabethtown never saw himself running for public office, until he got a call from Run for Something, a national political organization that encourages young progressives to consider running for local elections. When he learned more about the role of commissioner, he saw an opportunity to take his passions and experience at the pulpit to the dais.

He touts his prior experience working in government—none—as a positive that means he brings a fresh, younger perspective to the county.

“It’s a historic occasion,” he said. “It’s the first time Dauphin County has elected a commissioner with gauged ears.”

New Set of Changes

Douglas, a California native, entered pastoral work straight out of college, starting as a youth pastor, with a “desire to serve people.”

In 2015, he started as the lead pastor of The Bridge Church in Hummelstown. However, four years later, the Brethren in Christ denomination revoked Douglas’ pastoral license after he openly shared his stance on LBGTQ inclusivity. He and his family also lived in housing paid for by the denomination, which was taken away.

Douglas, and many former members of The Bridge congregation, joined to start a new faith community called The Belong Collective, which focuses on inclusivity. The group now regularly meets in the STEAM Academy building on N. 3rd Street in Harrisburg.

“We are definitely a community that has persevered through a lot,” he shared. “Change is hard. Even now with me being an elected official, we are going through a whole new set of changes.”

The county commissioner board is going through changes, too, as Douglas joins re-elected Democrat George Hartwick, who, for the past 20 years, has been the minority on the board, and incumbent Republican Mike Pries, who took office in 2010.

Douglas unseated Republican Chad Saylor, who was appointed to the board in 2021.

“We’ve been saying for years, what would happen if we had the majority? Now, we have it,” said Rogette Harris, chair of the Dauphin County Democratic Committee. “It’s very exciting. I know a lot of people were surprised.”

When Douglas realized he won, he wasn’t prepared. It was late at night, following a day of visiting polling places, texting constituents and waiting as results rolled in. Suddenly, he realized he needed to write a press release.

“I didn’t have anything ready,” he said. “You have to understand, we ran a campaign with no staff. The other three commissioners combined raised over $850,000. We raised $12,000, and we ran entirely volunteer.”

When he finished the press release announcing his victory, he read it to his volunteers.

“One of the people said, ‘Do you want to use the word surprised?’ And I go, ‘Do I want to be real?’” Douglas said. “We knew we worked so hard. We were surprised in the way that the underdog team in the NCAA tournament beats the juggernaut team. You knew they had it in them, but they’d have to play a perfect game.”

Douglas believes unconventional campaign strategies worked in his favor, things like his aggressive door knocking, social media content, a bold billboard (stating the number of deaths in the county prison at the time, 18, since 2019) and even the fact that he was running on prison reform, often a contentious topic.

Harris sees a mixture of circumstances contributing to his victory.

“It’s always a possibility for us [Democrats] to win if we get people to come out,” she said. “The problem is always getting that vote out in off years.”

For this past election, Harris said that voter turnout was up by 3 to 4%, and she suspects that other Democratic candidates and issues, like abortion rights, had down-ballot effects for candidates like Douglas, as well.

“This gives people hope that a Democrat can win in an off year,” Harris said.

 Tough Job

Douglas’ first week in office was a whirlwind of administrative tasks—getting e-mail set up, organizing his calendar, attending meetings.

However, in the midst of the onboarding, he got a call.

“I’m coming into work, and I get a call from the Biden campaign,” he said. “I thought it was a former high school student pranking me.”

But it wasn’t a prank.

Just a few days later, Douglas was giving a speech at President Joe Biden’s rally in Montgomery County, speaking on election integrity and supporting Biden for “defending American democracy.”

Douglas spoke to Biden before stepping out on stage.

“He kind of fist-pounded my chest and said, ‘You’re a commissioner. I used to be a commissioner. Man, that’s a tough job. Everybody wants something from you,’” Douglas shared.

But Douglas won’t be making decisions alone. He has two other commissioners to work with.

“What I believe is that the idea of fresh ideas—the ability to have a collegial discussion about perspectives and the ability to learn about county government—are some things that we should really focus on in the early days,” Hartwick told TheBurg at the county’s swearing-in ceremony. “And I suspect that there will be areas of similarity that we can prioritize.”

Hartwick shared that he too wants to see changes and address issues surrounding the prison, economic development and mental health, but explained that, for a newcomer, there’s a lot to learn about how county government works.

“There’s a difference between activism and leadership,” he said. “He’s got a lot to learn.”

According to Douglas, he and Hartwick have already met for breakfast and had discussions, and he feels like they’ve started to get on the same page.

“I’m encouraged about our ability to work together,” Douglas said.

Despite all of the meetings and other first-week work on Douglas’ plate, he’s already started planning for how to make changes at the prison—one of his top priorities.

“It’s always been one element of social justice and inequity in our world that I’ve seen the effects of, and I’ve pastored people who have been deeply affected by it,” he said. “I felt like I could be a voice for enhancing that issue within the consciousness of Dauphin County.”

Within his first week, he took a trip to the county prison to create a checklist of priorities for his first 100 days in office. Hiring additional corrections officers is one of the top items, as the prison is around 25% understaffed currently, he said. He also hopes to address issues that he’s seen, like poor food quality, lack of cleanliness and a lack of showers in the juvenile detention area.

Ultimately, the advocacy work he hopes to do at the county level is work that he says he’s been doing all along as a pastor, just now with a bigger platform.

“I’ve always had a heart for people at the margins,” he said. “That will be my agenda throughout my time in office.”

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