PENNINGTON - Exploring a run for Congress in the 12th District, Squire Servance gave a somber and thoughtful expression this morning when asked to consider the most severe threat to America posed by President Donald J. Trump and his followers.

"I did a launch video point where I criticized the president but really mostly his policies and I showed it to my six-year-old daughter to get her opinion," Servance told InsiderNJ over coffee in his hometown of Pennington. "She's watching it - and she starts and tells me, 'Daddy, Trump's going to throw you in jail for talking about him."

He explained to his daughter that they can't put him in jail for speaking the truth.

But "It cuts deep," Servance added. "That's not where we should be as a country. My first grader should not be nervous about me speaking out about an elected official. We're heading in the wrong direction with respect to democracy."

The head of a startup digital healthcare company called Syridex, which drives data to uncover cutting-edge ways to address healthcare access inequities and healthcare solutions, Servance, 43, double majored in biomedical engineering and cell biology and neuroscience at Rutgers. He originally wanted to be a doctor. But he ended up going to Law School and Business School at Duke University.

With the pending retirement of U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12), he sees a chance in a congressional district that forms the state's life sciences core to take his expertise in healthcare and economics and his passion for greater healthcare access for all to Washington, D.C.

"I was initially hesitant because [he and his wife of Pennington] have two young kids - six and seven - and I want to be a present as a father," he said. "My initial reticence goes to the idea that it truly is a sacrifice, and I want to make sure - this is the reason for the exploratory committee - that I am doing this for the right reasons."

Everything gets back to healthcare equity for Servance, head of health equity ministry at the First Baptist Church of Somerset - and healthcare equity intersects with environment, education, economic opportunity and healthy food access. He sees the current administration's budget assaults on the National Institutes of Health, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the Department of Education as fundamentally injurious to the societal equity he seeks.

An entrepreneur immersed in the life sciences core of the 12th District (who still also practices law), Servance experiences daily the intersection of government, business, and innovation, and on the government end, he would like to supplement those areas that will add not only to people's healthcare affordability and equity, but to the very health of the district.

"I am passionate about programs that protect the environment and ensure clean water, clean pipes, green lands - we're the Garden State, and making sure fresh fruit and produce are available to everyone," he said. "These are the policies I will lean in on." In addition, he makes clear his opposition to ICE "snatching people off the streets" and employing scare tactics as a substitute for legal immigration enforcement.

If at his company, he examines, for example, novel ways in which to combat breast cancer among vulnerable populations, or to cure cancer itself - he envisions aggressively enhancing those innovative technologies and practices as a congressman.

Unsurprisingly, Servance champions universal healthcare, the core of his policy priority.

"People should not lose a quarter worth of earnings because of a threatening health episode," he said. "Access to quality care alone doesn't close disparities but pragmatically it saves us money."

Raised in Sicklerville, son of a mother from Newark and father from Paterson, Servance grew more focused in his healthcare access advocacy during COVID and after COVID. "You couldn't hide the fact that black and brown people were dying faster and in proportionately larger numbers," he said.

The pandemic deepened his conviction about finding ways to harness capitalism to address and dissipate disparity.

"You can do good and do well - they are not mutually exclusive," Servance said.

At this moment, he appears to be the only candidate in the developing Democratic Primary who does not hold elected office. "I think it potentially helps me make the argument for fresh eyes, fresh ideas, and a new perspective on how to address difficult issues in the country," he said. "I think one of the things that anchors me is life sciences and biotech. This is a big hub for that, obviously. A good portion of the jobs and economy are related to life sciences, and healthcare policies and laws relate to that. They impact the companies and therefore the jobs. I have a unique perspective on life sciences and tech. At Syridex we do both."

The 12th District Democrat praised Watson Coleman for her service to the 12th District, calling her a "stalwart, and a strong leader."

"We are blessed to have her," Servance added.

He celebrates, too, the end of the ballot bracketing system, which for years served as a barrier to fair and just elections.

"Frankly, I wouldn't have run without the line reform," he told InsiderNJ. "The biggest switch is getting rid of the line. When I ran [for local office, unsuccessfully] 15-16 years ago, the line was still in place. If the line was still in place, it would be too hard to break in and get my voice heard. That hurdle would have been too high. That's the biggest change and it's good for a democracy, after all, to let the people decide."

He sees the Democratic Party commanding a new space, and a strong space, proved by Mikie Sherrill's stomping of Republican Jack Ciattarelli in the Nov. 4th general election for governor.

But he wants Democrats emboldened by those results to hang tough in the crucial policy fracases.

"I want people to fight," Servance said. "It's so frustrating to see only a handful of people at times - [California Governor Gavin] Newsom is one - matching fire with fire. I want more of that. Right is right and wrong is wrong."

Asked to name a person in politics or government who inspires him, a thinker or philosopher, opinionmaker or writer, Servance thought about it hard, then came up, it seemed almost inevitably given the conversation's trajectory, not with the name of a person, but with the idea that remains his overriding inspiration:

"Universal healthcare," he said, with a smile.