EMILYs List Endorses Mai Khanh Tran for Congress in California’s 39th District

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Dr. Mai Khanh Tran for Congress in California's 39th District. Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:

“Mai Khanh Tran is a transformational candidate, and EMILY's List is excited to announce that we will be supporting her. As a pediatrician, Mai Khanh knows how devastating the Republican attack on health care will be for our country's most vulnerable communities. When she saw Congressman Ed Royce cast his vote in favor of a bill that would leave 23 million Americans without health care, she knew she could no longer look to others to lead. So Mai Khanh did what she has done her entire life. She stepped up.

“Mai Khanh's story is an inspiration and a testament to her determination. She came to this country as a 9 year-old refugee, fleeing war-torn Vietnam. She worked as a strawberry picker through high school, and later as a janitor to put herself through Harvard. She has survived two bouts of breast cancer. Now, she's running for Congress because she believes the families of the 39th district deserve better. Her opponent, Ed Royce, has spent more than two decades in Congress, selling his soul to Donald Trump and Republican leaders who want to eliminate environmental protections, roll back reproductive rights, and end coverage for pre-existing conditions. In 2018, Democrats are going to flip the House because of candidates like Mai Khanh getting into the fight.”

Mai Khanh became inspired to run for the first time to be the champion her young patients and their families need in Washington. The first patient she saw the morning after the 2016 election was a child with a brain tumor whose family had health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Mai Khanh joined protests, went on local Vietnamese-language TV to explain the stakes for immigrant communities, and when the GOP Congress voted to repeal Obamacare she knew she had to run to fight back. She is taking on incumbent Republican Congressman Ed Royce, who has lost touch with Californians after 25 years serving special interests in Washington. Hillary Clinton won California’s 39th District by more than 8 points in 2016, and this is a must-win race on Democrats’ path to taking back the House. 
 
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILYs List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.