EMILY's List Announces Endorsement of Betty Sutton for Ohio's 13th Congressional District

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- EMILY's List, the nation's grassroots political network and financial resource for women running for elective office, today announced its endorsement of Betty Sutton in her bid for Ohio's 13th Congressional District.

"Betty Sutton is an experienced policymaker and fearless advocate who has worked tirelessly throughout her career to serve the best interests of the citizens of Ohio's 13th Congressional District. Her years of experience as a former public official, together with her ongoing work as an advocate for workers and labor organizations make her the strongest candidate to maintain this seat and deliver the strong representation that Ohio families have enjoyed through Congressman Sherrod Brown," said Ellen R. Malcolm, president of EMILY's List. "EMILY's List considers this to be one of our top priority races and our membership will dedicate its considerable strength to seeing that Betty Sutton is victorious."

The citizens of the 13th Congressional District have repeatedly shown their confidence in Sutton's leadership helping her win all six campaigns for elective office which she ran. Sutton has served the people of the 13th Congressional District in three separate offices: the Barberton City Council, the Summit County Council, and in the Ohio State Legislature where she was the youngest woman ever elected to the State House.

When term limits prevented Sutton from continuing her service as a state representative, she continued her advocacy on behalf of Ohio communities as a union-side labor lawyer. As a stanch advocate for workers throughout the 13th district, she earned the trust and respect of first responders such as firefighters, police and healthcare workers as well as teachers, construction trade workers and other hard-working Ohioans. She established a long track record of effective leadership on key issues important to those citizens, including jobs, health care, education and the protection of pensions. Not only was she a steadfast advocate for Ohio's workers, she was also a tenacious adversary of anti-worker and anti-consumer interests.

"The arrogance and corruptive influence of money that is pervasive in Congress has resulted in governmental policies that benefit the wealthy and privileged at the expense of the rest of us. From my earliest days growing up in Barberton to my current efforts fighting for fair wages and family-sustaining benefits for working families, I have worked to inspire hope and create a climate for smart and just economic growth that will permit all to share in the prosperity," said Sutton. "I am proud to have earned the support of the thousands of individual women and men in Ohio and across the country who are members of EMILY's List."

EMILY's List has worked with women candidates in Ohio for more than a decade, helping them gain the resources and tools they need to run strong competitive campaigns. In just three different election cycles, EMILY's List members from across the country invested more than $800,000 in the campaigns of Ohio women.

With more than 100,000 members nationwide, including nearly 2,500 contributing members in Ohio, EMILY's List is the largest political action committee in the nation. Since its founding in 1985, EMILY's List has helped elect 61 pro-choice Democratic women to the U.S. House, 11 to the U.S. Senate, and eight governors. In only ten election cycles, EMILY's List has helped elect hundreds of pro-choice Democratic women to federal office, state legislatures, state constitutional offices and other key local offices.