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PA-8: Naughton Jumps Into Congressional Contest

naughtonShaughnessy Naughton is running again.

As we reported last week, Naughton announced this morning that she will run for the 2016 Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District.

“It’s nothing but a food fight in Washington and working families are the ones dealing with the mess,” Naughton said. “We need better job opportunities, better access to a quality education and better protections for Social Security and Medicare. I’m committed to cleaning up the mess and fighting for working families.”

“This district is my home and, for me, this race is personal,” she concluded. “I know these families and the challenges they face because they’re a lot like those my own family faced. My mom cleaned houses to support us and I’m grateful for her sacrifice because it gave us opportunities. I want to fight in Congress for those same opportunities for other families.”

The chemist and businesswoman also got a boost from perhaps the biggest Democrat in the commonwealth, former Governor Ed Rendell.

“Shaughnessy is a hard-working woman. She runs a business and she’s invested in her community.  I like her because she’s tough, she’s smart and she’s going to fight for regular people,” Rendell said.

The ex-Governor supported her in 2014 but only made the endorsement a few days before the election. Now, Rendell’s backing can be used to help fuel the all-important early fundraising efforts.

Naughton ran against Kevin Strouse in the 2014 primary. Despite Strouse having the backing of the DCCC, Naughton nearly pulled off the victory coming just 817 votes short.

Naughton will be running against State Representative Steve Santarsiero in the May 2016 primary.

We took a look at some possible paths to victory for each candidate and also ran down the list of other potential participants.

The Eighth Congressional District consists of Bucks County and parts of upper Montgomery County. It is currently represented by retiring Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick.

Update: NRCC Spokesman Chris Pack issued the following statement in response to Naughton’s announcement:

“It’s great to see that Shaughnessy Naughton is ready to engage in another divisive Democratic primary in Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District.  It will be interesting to see who Democratic primary voters determine is liberal enough to defend the tax-and-spend agenda of Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama in the general election.”

23 Responses

  1. I am a lifelong Democrat, not a Republican trolling online. As a qualified scientist, I can tell you that if Shaunessy Naughton has only two years of experience as a lab assistant that does not qualify her a scientist. That makes her a person with some lab experience who is trying to pad her resume. As far as her business experience goes, I understand she works for one of those real estate rags you can pick up for free at the supermarket. Real estate is probably how Rendell figures into this endorsement. He was a great for real estate development in center city, but a so-so governor.

    I have met Miss Naughton and have witnessed some of her professional communications. In my opinion, she is very immature. We certainly don’t need any more of that kind of behavior in Congress.

  2. Susan-

    Don’t get me wrong. I liked Strouse. He seemed like a nice guy. My point was merely that a residency/outsider attack was made on him as well.

  3. Every voter wins by every challenged race, primary or general. I don’t live in 8, but I know both Naughton and Santarsiero to be true friends of the environment and working people. Dems win either way, and who knows? With this extremely rare thing known as “a challenged PA Primary” (yes, it does exist), perhaps issues might get addressed. Or, at least the voters have the chance. Imagine that.

  4. David, Strouse may have been new to the district, but he actually lived there and still does. Naughton lived in center city at the time she ran and registered to vote at her mom’s house. I’m not saying it’s a major reason people shouldn’t support her, it just shines a light on what a joker she really is. That and the “scientist” label. She should do stand up comedy instead.

  5. jmarshak-

    Wasn’t running from where he didn’t live the knock against Strouse as well?

    She’s registered and lives in district.

    In PA, you need only be a resident of the state to run for Congress. I could legally run in the district. The question is: would she be a good member of congress?

  6. @ DD:

    Running for office in a district you don’t really live in and then throwing a tantrum when you lose is very off-putting. Don’t tell me that you’d say it didn’t matter if she were a Republican.

  7. Sean Ryan, DiGirolamo can’t make it out of a GOP primary much less “beats both by 15.” His pro-labor, anti-privatization, protect the broken pension system votes will disqualify him immediately with Republican primary voters. Traditional GOP donors will come out of the woodwork to oppose him, and the Washington money interests will stay away (meaning the Dems will have millions and millions vs. next to nothing.) DiGirolamo is just the labor unions attempt to get someone who does their bidding on both sides of the ballot. Once he gets above Lower Bucks he will lose Republicans, Independents and Democrats to either of the Dem candidates.

  8. I’ve met Shaughnessy, and she seemed like a fine candidate. There was a lot of support for her, and she lost the primary in a close vote. Considering her opponent’s loss, she can make the reasonable argument that voters should have picked her, and she’s deserving of another shot.

    The question should be about her stance on the issues, and not at all that she’s “arrogant” for running. Since there are no women in the PA delegation, and Hillary is likely nominee, Shaughnessy should do well with high female turnout in 2016.

    That said, I’m not local enough to the district assess the new candidate that everyone seems to be backing over Shaughnessy. If the reality is that she is not viable in the primary against this other popular Dem, then she’s smart enough to pick a Senate or St. Leg opportunity.

    But, this animosity against her is uncalled for. Makes me wonder if there are a lot of republicans posting to cause trouble.

  9. Go make some popcorn, this disaster will be the most entertaining thing to watch in 2016.

  10. On second thought, I shouldn’t attack Shaughnessy. Between her ego and the egomaniacal Steve Santarsiero, this is going to be one fun primary. Finally, I’ll echo everyone else on this post, this is a non-story because Gene DiGirolamo smokes either of the two egomaniacs.

    And the Republicans get to win back the 21st. Thanks Shaughnessy for putting your own ego above all else.

  11. And below folks, in Michelle’s comment, is the reason our kids are so dumb. I had geology in school (not a geologist), I had sociology in school (not a sociologist), I had history, in fact I minored in history in school (not a historian) and finally, I majored in business, but I don’t work in business and I’m not a businessman.

    Please Michelle, go back to school and get a real job.

    And further, Shaughnessy should really move to Bucks County and establish herself as a local presence and get out of he City.

  12. I taught Ms. Naughton chemistry – she has a four year degree in chemistry, from a department fully accredited by the American Chemical Society. She is a scientist and a chemist.

  13. Haha this is the best thing ever! The Democrats are going to blow it a second time in a row the 8th for the exactly same reason and probably lose a state house seat in the process.

  14. isn’t she still in debt from losing last time?

    i don’t know what rendell is smoking these days, but she is an embarrassment to the party.

  15. How about we nominate a candidate with an actual track record of winning elections in the district? I’m just saying…

  16. The last time she ran, I literally had to ask for my campaign donation back, something I hadn’t felt compelled to do in 20 years of supporting campaigns. Not only does she lie, but she lies about issues that are not related to federal office. This is such a joke. Gene DiGirolamo owes part of his success in Bensalem due to the weak candidates (or no candidates) he has faced. If Democrats pick her over Santarsiero, we can expect the same result regardless of whom the Republicans run.

  17. This is a selfish action. A bitter primary will only weaken the democrats chances of winning and she knows that.

  18. Shaughnessy is not a chemist any more than a legal assistant at a law firm straight out of college is a lawyer. She held a menial lab assistant job for two years, and goes around calling herself a scientist. It’s offensive to people with actual careers in the sciences, and makes her a liar.

    And is she still living in center city but registered to vote at her mom’s house in Bucks?

  19. Naughton has also shown what an egomaniac she is. She was offered the opportunity to run for state senate and said no. Then tried to push cickay the joke out when it became clear Steve had the inside track to the nomination. Now she’s running for congress again anyway. God save us if she ever were to win.

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