EMILY'S List Endorses Kalyn Free for Oklahoma's 2nd U.S. Congressional District

WASHINGTON, D.C.- EMILY's List, the largest financial resource for women running for elective office, today announced its support for Kalyn Free in her bid to represent the 2nd District of Oklahoma in the U.S. House.

EMILY's List will recommend Free to its nationwide network of members, opening the door to tens of thousands of donors eager to elect a pro-choice Democratic woman to Congress who will fight for the issues they care about.

"Kalyn Free has spent 15 years fighting on behalf of women, children and the environment and it's time to take her fight to the floor of the U.S. Congress," said EMILY's List President Ellen Malcolm.

Free spent 10 and a half years as an attorney for the Department of Justice, where she was the youngest prosecutor ever hired and the first Native American to serve as supervising attorney in the Department. After leaving the Department of Justice, she was elected as the first woman district attorney in the Oklahoma counties of Pittsburgh and Haskell.

Added Malcolm, "In addition to her experience with issues of the area as she fought for them in the courtroom, Free's background as a member of the Choctaw Nation makes her uniquely qualified to represent her district as well as the state of Oklamhoma." Native Americans make up 11 percent of the electorate in the general election.

With almost 73,000 members nationwide, EMILY's List expects to be a considerable fundraising force for Free in her campaign for this Democratic seat. EMILY's List has a long history of electing pro-choice Democratic women to office across the country, and hopes to make Kalyn Free part of that history. Free joins the list of thirteen women already endorsed by EMILY's List this cycle that are sure to change the face of power come November.

"I'm thrilled to have the support of EMILY's List," said Free. "The support and prestige that EMILY's List brings to my campaign makes me certain we are going to win this race." If elected, Kalyn Free will be the first Native American woman ever to serve in the U.S. Congress.

In its 19-year history, EMILY's List has helped elect seven women governors, 11 women to the United States Senate and 55 women to the U.S. House of Representatives. In the 2002 elections, EMILY's List and its almost 73,000 members contributed nearly $9.7 million to pro-choice Democratic women candidates; members contributed $23 million to fund EMILY's List operations and political program, including the nationwide WOMEN VOTE! project to mobilize women voters on behalf of Democrats.

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