EMILY's List Announces Endorsement of Darcy Burner for Washington's 8th Congressional District

WASHINGTON, D.C. — EMILY's List, the nation's largest political action committee and financial resource for women running for elective office, today announced its endorsement of Darcy Burner in her bid for Washington's eighth congressional district.

"Darcy Burner is a strong advocate for positive change and has become a national figure for progressive politics," said Ellen R. Malcolm, president of EMILY's List. "An accomplished businesswoman and an active leader in her community, Darcy has the drive, the intelligence, and the principled good judgment to be a tremendous Congresswoman. Washington's eighth district is a Democratic district and it deserves be held by a woman who is a truly independent, strong voice for the people she represents. EMILY's List is confident that voice will be Darcy Burner in 2008."

Darcy Burner is running in one of the highest profile races in the country, and is widely considered a top five challenger nationally. In 2006, despite starting as a political unknown, Burner nearly defeated status quo Republican Rep. Dave Reichert. She won 49 percent of the vote despite massive financial assistance provided to Reichert by his GOP allies. This year, the tables have turned. Burner continues to outraise the congressman, even after President Bush came to the district in August to host a high dollar fundraiser for Reichert, who has demonstrated lockstep support for the president's misguided Iraq war policies.

Burner is a tireless champion for real change in Washington's eighth congressional district and across the country, and promises to bring a pragmatic, problem-solving attitude to the nation's capital. She is an expert on high tech issues, and she knows that too often the concerns of ordinary people in the district are being ignored by their elected representative.

Congressman Reichert has proven himself to be a creature of the dysfunctional politics of the Bush Administration and too often seems more interested in supporting his political cronies than in effectively representing the mounting concerns of the residents of the eighth congressional district.

As the daughter, wife, and sister of military servicemen, Burner emphatically believes that it is long past time the United States had a realistic plan for bringing the war in Iraq to a responsible close. Further, having worked her way up the economic ladder from humble origins, she knows personally that much more needs to be done to restore the vanishing economic security of hard-pressed middle class families.

"I am grateful to have the support of thousands of EMILY's List members in what is already a close race," said Burner. "Dave Reichert has time and time again failed to deliver for the voters in the 8th district and I plan to work hard to ensure that the right kinds of Washington priorities — those of Washington State, not Washington D.C. — are finally addressed in Congress."

With more than 100,000 members across the country, EMILY's List is the largest political action committee in the nation. Since its founding in 1985, EMILY's List has raised over $240 million to elect 69 pro-choice Democratic women to the U.S. House, 13 to the U.S. Senate, and eight governors. Over the course of 22 years, 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.