About Fern
Fern Leard is a NEPA native, mother of twins, and long-time healthcare advocate. Fern was raised by a single mom, her grandmother, as well as foster parents. Having had to move around in her youth, she experienced life in the projects, the suburbs, and rural areas. She fell in love with the back mountain and chose to put down roots and raise her family in Luzerne County and never looked back.
Fern entered the workforce after graduating high school with honors. She washed dishes, waited tables, tended bar, and eventually ended up working in finance. After her twins were born with a rare disease, she decided that she wanted to help people and transitioned into working in healthcare. She earned her Nurse Aide Certification at Marywood University and spent nearly a decade working in pediatrics as well as in the elderly community.
Fern’s political journey began when a health insurance company denied an essential part of her son’s treatment and she began to advocate for a bill in Congress that would mandate coverage. After a decade of navigating the political process, thanks to Fern’s ability to work across the aisle, millions of Americans have access to the necessary preventative care they need. She worked with so many legislators over the years that there are too many to name, but some honorable mentions are:
U.S. House of Representatives
GOP: Dan Meuser, Scott Perry, Dan Crenshaw, Marjorie Taylor Green, Thomas Massie, Kevin McCarthy, and Elise Stefanik. Fern is proud to have had 100% of PA Republicans in the House vote YES!
DEMS: James Clyburn, Reuben Gallego, Pramila Jayapal, Eric Swalwell, and AOC.
U.S. Senators who supported (cosponsored)
GOP: Chuck Grassley, Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, Rick Scott and Josh Hawley.
DEMS: Kirsten Sinema, Tammy Duckworth, Elizabeth Warren, and Chuck Shumer.
Independent: Angus Young and Bernie Sanders
Fern is a strong advocate in the fight against food insecurity and has been working with low-income families as well as the often-ignored homeless population in our area. Fern knows what it’s like to fall on hard times and come out on top. With her great financial skills and steadfast determination, she went from homeless to homeowner in 5 years.
She also advocates for universal school meals and fair funding to all our schools to allow equal opportunity to all our students. Fern knows the foundation of a stable community starts with a good education for our children.
Fern knows that local businesses are the backbone of our communities and wants to strengthen them instead of giving large corporations big tax breaks. We need to stop allowing major corporations, established outside of Pennsylvania, to leave the state tax burden on the shoulders of small local business owners. It’s about time we bring support back to small businesses that provide sustainable employment and foster a prosperous local economy.
Fern Leard is committed to using her experience to serve we the people as our next State Representative. Together we can strengthen our communities and build a better life for all Pennsylvanians.
