EMILY's List Members Celebrate Allyson Schwartz Triumph in Pennsylvania

Initiative Preserves Women's Voice in State Legislature

WASHINGTON – Following is a statement by Ellen R. Malcolm, president of EMILY's List, on EMILY's List candidates' victories in Pennsylvania.

"A battleground for the country, Pennsylvania was also a battleground for women in political leadership – a field that saw decisive victories for women last night."

"Today EMILY's List members celebrate the overwhelming victory of Allyson Schwartz in Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District. Allyson's victory over Melissa Brown proves that leadership and experience trumps negativity. Tempered by a hard fought primary battle and grounded in 14 years of service in the State Senate, Allyson proved her mastery of the issues and her ability to create effective policies on the economy, education, and healthcare. Allyson Schwartz's keen understanding of the concerns and priorities of voters in their communities will make her an engaged and passionate leader in Congress."

"Only the second Democratic woman in history to be elected to represent Pennsylvania in the US Congress, Allyson Schwartz emerged the ultimate victor in this important battleground. EMILY's List members are very proud to help played a role in this historic win."

"We are also extremely proud of the work on the state legislative level which helped re-elect three strong women incumbents - Linda Bebko-Jones, Babette Josephs and Connie Williams - to the Pennsylvania legislature. EMILY's List works to build for the future and expand the solid foundation of women leaders rising through the ranks at all levels of government."

Allyson Schwartz – PA 13

State Sen. Allyson Schwartz secured the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district, one of the few open swing seats up for grabs in 2004, after a hard-fought, expensive primary battle. A strong EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE! project helped Schwartz turn out her voters in the April 27 primary and defeat her well-funded opponent by just over 2,000 votes. After almost four terms representing her Philadelphia-area Senate district, Schwartz has assembled an extraordinary record of achievement, emerging as a strong, trusted leader, particularly on education, health care, and choice. As Democratic chair of the Senate education committee, she helped develop early childhood initiatives like all-day kindergarten and quality child care. She led the fight to extend health coverage to children of working families; introduced legislation to set standards for elder care; established quality standards for mammography providers; and amended managed care legislation so that women can visit OB/GYNs without having to get permission from their HMOs. For a full profile on Allyson Schwartz click here

Facts on EMILY's List in Pennsylvania

With more than 100,000 contributing members across the country, EMILY's List is the nation's largest political action committee. We are a network dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women to federal, state, and local office by recruiting and funding viable women candidates; helping them build and run effective campaign organizations; and mobilizing women voters to help elect progressive candidates across the nation. Nationally, EMILY's List members made more than 109,000 individual contributions to EMILY's List candidates through the country. With an average contribution of just $98, EMILY's List members contributed approximately 10.6 million dollars to EMILY's List candidates around the country.

• EMILY's List has more than 3,600 members in Pennsylvania.
• Members across the country invested more than million in EMILY's List candidates and political programs in Pennsylvania, including WOMEN VOTE!, Campaign Corps and the Political Opportunity Program.

EMILY's List Helps Keep Women in State Office in Pennsylvania

The EMILY's List also works to recruit, train, and support pro-choice Democratic women running for state legislative, constitutional, and key local offices through our Political Opportunity Program (POP).

EMILY's List provides training to pro-choice Democratic women, whether they are thinking of running for office for the first time or are incumbent legislators facing tough challenges; helps candidates build winning campaigns by providing technical support, from helping to write a campaign plan to helping developing a voter outreach strategy; and makes contributions to the campaigns of pro-choice Democratic women running in key, targeted races.

• EMILY's List held POP trainings in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh this cycle for over 80 women running or thinking of running for office in Pennsylvania.
• EMILY's List helped support the reelection of Linda Bebko-Jones, Babette Josephs and Connie Williams to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE! Helped Lay the Path to Victory

EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE!, (ELWV) the nation's largest voter engagement strategy designed specifically for women voters, educates women voters around the country and mobilizes them on behalf of Democrats up and down the ballot. ELWV reached out to women voters through television, radio, direct mail, the internet and, most importantly, personal door-to-door contact to motivate them to support Democratic candidates. In 2004, EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE! focused in several presidential battleground states, including Florida, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Washington, Missouri, and Wisconsin.

During the primary and general elections the EMILY's List Pennsylvania WOMEN VOTE! program implemented an intensive effort to reach out to women voters, including...

• Reaching out personally to more than 200,000 voters through phone calls and door-knocking to educate them on the important issues of this election.
• Distributed nearly 700,000 pieces of literature to educated women on key issues.
• Conducted extensive research on voters in the area to determine their top issues concerns.