BELLEFONTE- Ray Bilger of Bellefonte, Pa., officially announces his candidacy for the 15th Congressional District, seeking to bring his wealth of national security experience and unwavering commitment to serve the voters of Central Pennsylvania. As a military veteran, Ray is a respected national security leader with over 40 years of experience in public service.
“I am running to represent the people of the 15th District because they are struggling to put food on their tables and face no health care in their communities,” said Bilger. “I grew up in Bellefonte but had to leave the area to find real opportunities. I returned three years ago and found nothing has changed for many residents, especially over the past 16 years.”
Ray was raised with strong working-class values of self-reliance and Community. At Bellefonte High School, he excelled in sports, playing catcher on the famous 1977 team that made it to the PIAA tournament. After studying at Penn State, Ray decided to follow his father’s footsteps into military service in 1986.
The U.S. Air Force taught Ray discipline and teamwork, while also recognizing his remarkable gift for foreign languages. As a military intelligence specialist, he served in both Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Over a career spanning 35 years and nearly as many countries, Ray distinguished himself as a security officer and intelligence analyst, leading teams for the Air Force, National Security Agency (NSA), and State Department. In the late 1990s, he was Balkans Special Operations Team Lead for the NSA and was awarded the USA Commander’s Civilian Service Award. From 2015-2017, he worked as NSA Technical Director for Cyber Analysis.
While abroad, he met his wife Danuta in Poland, and they raised their son Alex overseas and in the United States. Ray never lost touch with his roots, however, travelling home to central PA often to visit family and to help renovate their home on the slopes of Mount Nittany, the home that Ray and his wife occupy since his mother’s death in 2020.
Ray Bilger’s platform for the Congressional 15th District centers on:
- Affordability: For all US citizens especially in the PA 15
- Safety: For all of us.
- Opportunity & Hope: Young people need to be able to stay here in the PA 15 and have opportunities.
“I wake up every day seeing more and more bad news for our nation and local communities,” Bilger said. “I simply can’t walk away from this. I am just hard-wired to care.”
Ray Bilger is running for Congress to honor his family’s legacy and renew the promise of the American dream. His parents scrimped and saved so that their three children could enjoy a better life, but that American dream now seems to be in peril. Across central PA, life is becoming harder and younger generations are leaving. Ray is committed to restoring opportunity so that families can thrive here for generations.
“I’m a combat veteran. The United States government for the past forty years entrusted me to make the hard decisions and to solve hard problems,” Bilger said. “We need real leadership. I’m going to put my expertise to work here. That is the mission. We solve hard problems. We work for the people, not ourselves.”
For more information, please follow Ray Bilger on Instagram @raybilgerforcongress
