EMILYs List Congratulates Summer Lee on Historic Election to the U.S. House of Representatives
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2022
EMILYs List Congratulates Summer Lee on Historic Election to the U.S. House of Representatives
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, congratulates Summer Lee on her victory in the race to represent Pennsylvania’s 12th District in Congress. EMILYs List President Laphonza Butler released the following statement:
“EMILYs List is thrilled that Summer Lee has secured victory in the race to represent Pennsylvania’s 12th District in Congress, making history as the first Black woman ever elected to Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation. Lee is a tireless organizer and activist, advocating for reproductive and economic justice and civil and voting rights. We’re eager to see her bring this crusade to Congress, and know this trailblazer has what it takes to ignite real change for her community and for every American.”
A lifelong resident of the region she is running to represent, Summer Lee grew up in the North Braddock and Rankin neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, and currently lives in Swissvale, Pennsylvania. Lee is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and Howard University School of Law, where she specialized in civil rights and constitutional law. She interned with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and worked as student attorney in the Howard University School of Law Civil Rights Clinic. She went on to serve as a labor organizer with the Fight for $15, to lead voter turnout efforts with the Pennsylvania Democratic Party during the 2016 presidential elections, and to spearhead a successful effort to transform the Woodland Hills School Board. In 2018, Lee won more than 67% of the vote in a race against a 20-year incumbent, doubling voter turnout, and becoming the first Black woman from Western Pennsylvania ever elected to the legislature.
Women Vote, EMILY's List's independent expenditure arm, invested $100,000 in television during the final days of the election, educating Pennsylvania voters on Republican Mike Doyle’s dangerous views on abortion.
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, works to elect Democratic pro-choice women up and down the ballot and across the country with a goal of fighting for our rights and our communities. Our work is centered around a fundamental vision: Run. Win. Change the World. EMILYs List has raised over $700 million in service to that vision and has helped Democratic women win competitive elections by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running one of the largest independent expenditure campaigns for Democrats, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 159 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,400 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Visit www.emilyslist.org for more information.
