PA-12: Lilly Ledbetter Endorses Erin McClelland

erin-mcclelland2Erin McClelland secured her first influential national endorsement as Lily Ledbetter has pledged her support. Ledbetter champions womens’ rights and was the driving force behind the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

Ledbetter explained that she identifies with McClelland’s campaign goals.

“Erin McClelland is exactly the kind of woman we need in Congress,” Ledbetter said. “We need more leaders in Washington who are committed to fighting for paycheck equality and making sure that working families get a fair shot. Erin knows that when women are paid fairly, our families and our country are made stronger, and she’ll work hard every day for our middle class and working families. She won’t back down from a fight, and she won’t give up on us. I’m proud to support her.”

McClelland revealed that she herself suffered from pay inequality and that the topic is a “family issue,” not merely a women’s issue. Women are increasingly becoming the primary breadwinners in middle class households, according to McClelland, therefore “equal pay for equal work is a crucial part of helping middle class families get ahead.”

Other notable groups have promised to support McClelland as she challenges incumbent Keith Rothfus (R-Allegheny) in November.

“When the incumbent Congressman can’t even support the Violence Against Women Act, it’s clearly time for a change in leadership,” Clare Bresnahan, political director of the Women’s Campaign Fund commented. “Pennsylvania women and families need a voice in Congress who will stand up for them, which is why WCF is proud to endorse Erin in this critical race.”

A business executive with over 18 years of experience working in healthcare, Erin McClelland lives in Allegheny County. She will challenge Congressman Keith Rothfus.

McClelland handily defeated John Hugya, former chief of staff under Rep. Jack Murtha, earning 72.7% of the vote in the primary. Rep. Rothfus defeated Democrat Mark Critz in 2012, earning 51.7% of the vote.

7 Responses

  1. @ Rbook: What on earth is shameful about noting that something fishy is going on? None of these races Ledbetter has endorsed in are high profile enough to attract national attention from anyone on their own.

    Also, not Team Rothfus. Just Team Not Into Wasting Resources On Symbolic Candidates Who Have No Chance.

  2. Shameful comments from people who have NOTHING better to do with their time. Sounds to me like the Rothfus team needs to spend less time commenting on blogs and more time working the District.

  3. Sophie may have said aloud a forbidden truths: endorsements by a fashionable victim like Lily Lebdetter can be offered to delusional candidates who might otherwise wonder why their expensive consultants can’t help them raise any money at all.

  4. So, this is a little weird. It looks like a lot of the candidates Lilly Ledbetter endorses for Congress are clients of two fundraising firms: Bulldog Finance Group (PA-12 McClelland, ID-1 Ringo, and PA-18 Connolly in 2010) and Angerholtzer Broz Consulting (LA-2 Richmond and AL-7 Sewell). I don’t know if there’s a connection between the two firms.

    I wonder if she’s getting a kickback from these firms for the endorsements. Maybe she’s in a bad way financially.

  5. So what’s the ‘unrelated crap’ repubs apparently don’t like?

  6. The Democrats add a bunch of totally unrelated crap to the VAWA and equal pay bills and then point the finger at Republicans who don’t vote for it. If it’s really so important, wouldn’t you make it as simple as possible so everybody would be on board? It’s a sneaky move, making it appear that you’re advocating for something when all you’re really doing is using it to create anger by convincing a voting bloc that your opponents are “out to get them”.

  7. It’s probably not so good for equal pay legislation that PA will have no women in it’s Congressional delegation by the time Boyle is sworn into Schwartz’s seat.

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