Leo Solga, a 2022 LM graduate, has launched a campaign for state representative of the 148th district as a Democratic candidate. The 148th district includes Lower Merion Township, Narberth Borough, and Whitemarsh Township. It also encompasses the Colonial School District and LMSD. There are 203 districts within Pennsylvania, and each state representative is elected by their specific district. The state representative position is distinct from the US House of Representatives position. Solga is campaigning as a Democratic candidate for the 148th district after Mary Jo Daley, the incumbent, declined to seek another term in the 2026 election. Other candidates who will seek the Democratic nomination include Jason Landau Goodman, Andrea Deutsch, and Megan Griffin-Shelley. As of publication, no Republican candidate has announced their campaign for this district. These candidates, along with others who may announce a campaign, will compete in a primary election on May 19. The candidate who wins the primary will move on to run in the general election on November 3, 2026.
During his tenure at LM, Solga engaged in multiple student activities and extracurriculars. Solga was involved in Ultimate Frisbee, Model UN, and Student Council. He served as a class officer during his freshman and sophomore year. Solga was then elected as Sergeant at Arms during his junior year and president of Student Council as a senior. During an interview with The Merionite, Solga stated that his time in LM’s Student Council “absolutely” had a bearing on his campaign for state representative. Solga further explained that “I love student council. I think the core of Student Council is advocacy. It’s being a representative.”
From his website (leosolga.com) and Instagram (@solgaforstaterep), it is evident that Solga’s campaign focuses on three topics: public transportation, reproductive freedoms, and support for public schools. Solga first elaborated his focus on public transportation. He intends to support “public transit, particularly funding and supporting the regional rail, because [he] understand[s] the regional rail, SEPTA at large, to be the economic heart of the community.” His goal for SEPTA and public transport is that it “needs to be not just supported with stopgap temporary funding, but supported into perpetuity,” elaborating that “I envision a future where SEPTA can plan years ahead, where SEPTA has the resources to develop and grow.”
Solga’s next campaign issue focuses on “reproductive freedoms,” which he describes as “abortion, access to in vitro fertilization, and contraception.” He emphasized the practice of codification: “creating statutory protections.” Solga would like to see “Democrats go on the offensive to seek codification for these things.” Providing the example of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, Solga explained that there was no “fallback law.” If “a fallback law had been codified, [the right to abortion] would have been defended…”
Solga’s last campaign issue is supporting public schools, as “people move to this area for the public schools…Obviously, it’s key.” Elaborating on the importance of public schools, Solga explained that “public schools are a system for mobility. They’re a system for hope and opportunity… Essentially, they create a future.” Although the state representative position is “drawn from a very specific community,” representatives also work “at the commonwealth level.” Therefore, Solga “would also be responsible for making sure that the school district is better in Strawberry Mansion, where the average SAT score is 850.” The average SAT score for LM in 2025 was 1272. “We can’t have that kind of disparity,” Solga declared. “I’m absolutely for local control and for doing everything we can to maintain systems of excellence, but something needs to change in our statewide model.” He also emphasized that “we need to have a big stake in that as a Lower Merion community.”
As the youngest candidate on the 148th district’s ballot, Solga clarified his experience in leadership and politics. Solga graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in December 2025, and is currently employed as a criminal justice researcher at the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey School of Law. He also “would point to [his] experience working for Mary Jo Daley in the constituent service office.” During Solga’s internship with Daley, he worked to draft a piece of legislation to study pre-trial detention record-keeping practices, which passed the Judiciary Committee in September. Moreover, he “think[s] it’s time for the Democratic Party to broaden the coalition, bring another seat to the table, bring in young voters… I refuse to leave that edge to the Republicans. Because right now, all of the youngest representatives are Republicans, and the Democrats are leaving opportunity on the table.”
LM teachers shared their perspective on Solga’s campaign. English teacher Laura Stiebitz taught Leo as an advisory student during his time at LM. She said that although “advisory does at times feel perfunctory,” Solga “would always be so respectful during advisory…he was always very intentional and genuine.” She described Solga as “truly car[ing] about Lower Merion culture.” Stiebitz also shared that Solga “[took] the time to write [her] a very thoughtful thank you note,” which “speaks to his character.” As for his campaign, Stebitz expressed that “her initial reaction is, I’m thrilled. I think that, in a way, I’m actually not surprised. Like, it just seems fitting to me.”
Math teacher Timothy Presser taught Solga his senior year in AP Statistics. He explained that “it never seemed like he was trying to get you to think a certain way about him and never seemed like he was trying to get you. He just lived out being what he wanted.” As for Presser’s perspective on Solga’s campaign, he said, “I think it’s incredible. Like, I always made jokes about him running for office.”
Sean Capkin, assistant principal, taught Solga for four years as a Spanish student and worked with him closely during his junior and senior years participating in student council. He said, “Leo is always a dynamic leader who is willing to take on any kind of responsibility, any task.” According to Capkin, he and Jason Stroup, former LM athletic director, “would always joke that Leo would walk through the halls and just be, like, waving to people and because, literally, I mean, people would shout his name like, ‘Leo! Leo!’ because he was so popular.” Capkin also described Solga’s leadership after principal Sean Hughes’s passing. “… with Mr. Hughes’s death, there was a little bit like a void of leadership there where, like, Mr. Stroup and I were making a lot of decisions, and we had Leo involved in so many of those conversations because he was so passionate about the work we were doing.” Capkin also explained that he and Solga worked together on a lip dub that year, an idea initially encouraged by Hughes. “It was really Leo and I working through the project together and figuring out as we went… After we recorded it, and it was done, we both mentioned, like, that day we cried…we both cried because of just how much energy and love was put into that project.”
LM students had varying opinions on an LM alum running for state representative. Jhanak Chatnani ’28 shared that “It’s really exciting to see someone closer to our age care about trying to make our world better. In terms of politics, I’m in agreement with the three he has on his website.” However, Chatnani also “saw that Jason Landau Goodman agrees with Solga on these ideas…there doesn’t seem to be a ‘wrong’ choice in my mind.” Soren Barash ’28 said that “Looking at his campaign and website I was really impressed…the only things I’m somewhat skeptical about are if he’d be willing to actually work across the aisle to achieve these aims or if he’d be tied down to party politics…though I hope and believe he can achieve progress across parties.”
Some LM students also had personal connections to Solga. Maya Zada ’26, Student Council President, recalled Solga’s welcome speech to her incoming 9th grade class. “He was so engaging, and I was just overall very enticed by his presence and passion for the school and all the organizations and people within it…I think it’s so amazing how much a recent LM alum can already be achieving so much, and I’m proud to be one of his successors.” Another student, Lincoln Doolittle ’26, works as a student volunteer for Solga’s campaign: “I wanted to work with someone I could connect to…I think Leo is someone who is affected by issues that many in LM are, like public transportation, and I think he’s someone who can fight for those issues.”
As Solga pursues the state representative position, many LM students and teachers alike will keep an eye on his progress.
