Katie McGinty’s campaign for U.S. Senate took off quickly after the former Chief of Staff resigned her post and announced that she would be running. Just days after her official announcement, she picked up three major endorsements one after the other- the United Steelworkers, EMILY’s List, and most notably, former Governor Ed Rendell.
According to James P. O’Toole of the Post-Gazette, McGinty can now tout two new endorsements from Rep. Mike Doyle and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. Both were asked if they would back McGinty in her battle against Sestak, to which they responded, “Absolutely,” and “Oh yeah.”
While many have wondered if McGinty will gain the support of her former boss, Governor Tom Wolf, McGinty has only advised us to, “Stay tuned.”
Although McGinty has plenty of “heavyweight alliances,” she has stated that she does not want to let her success rely on those endorsements.
“It’s about touching people, hearts and minds and enlisting and engaging people to be involved,” she said. “In a big state like Pennsylvania, you’ve got to be on TV, so you’ve got to raise the funds to support that.”
“It still comes down to whether or not you have got people locally who are willing to organize their neighbors and get people out to vote and convince people that their vote matters,” she continued.
McGinty’s strong, quick support coming from the Democratic party is quite different compared to that of Joe Sestak’s. It has been quite obvious that the Democrats have been looking for an alternate for months, and it appears the McGinty is just what they needed to combat Sestak.
McGinty plans to campaign with enthusiasm, energy, and discipline.
“I guess [I’m] gratified to hear from a whole lot of people across Pennsylvania and nationally as well, and thinking I had something to contribute to a race that’s critically important,” noted McGinty.
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26 Responses
Katie threw away the best job of her life on a fool’s errand against Joe Sestak. How Ed Rendell got her to do his dirty work I’ll never know. (I still think Joe will beat Toomey, but it’ll be much closer than it had to be because of all this idiocy.)
I agree with Arty. Sestak enjoys a strong loyalty among party rank and file (the little people–not the few big wigs like Rendell) and the with the general population in the “T” while having excellent support in urban areas. This guy has met everyone and shook their hands—he actually “worked” this state and busted his butt campaigning. McGinty apparently expects a coronation. She will be surprised once again. Her lofty perch approach to all things political and her elitist puppeteers are an unbecoming quality that most people can see right through. She lost her blue collar roots long ago. What matters is her affiliations and activities currently.
Katie should run a TV ad about her growing up in a blue collar house in Northeast Philly with 10 children and one bathroom.
Arty… The primary is not in May, it’s in April. It’s a presidential year. However, if you’re voting for Sestak, I’d prefer you show up in May, not April. lol
For what it’s worth, a helluva lot of us mid-staters like Sestak. We are not beholden to Ed Rendell or “the Party” (WTF, I thought we WERE “the Party”!!!), and are far from convinced that Katie will be the choice next May. Almost seems like there are power brokers who are trying to put we “independent” Dems in our place. Good luck with that!
I want representation that represents me! Screw the party people who already made their millions from govt service. I really don’t care about gender, race, ethnic origin, or fringe desires. The Democratic party is supposed to be color blind and everyone is supposed to be totally equal! Find the good women and run them not just a woman. Do you think for one second that Mc Ginty would even be in politics if she was a he? NOT
Apparently the chronically-triple-posting “DraftShapiro” and “DraftMcGinty” guy has changed his handle again to “FYI.”
The facts remain: McGinty had very poor support within Dem State Committee for an endorsement for Gov, she ran last in the actual Gov’s race, she lasted only 7 months in the Wolf admin., she did not become chair of Dem State Committee, she is a poor speaker—hands and arms flailing about as if suspended by a puppeteer (the fracking industry?) and much more. Inflated resumes sometimes divulge unintended consequences about a prospect. Her resume does not make her qualified or popular, within State Committee or among the general public. Sestak will likely win.
AnotherDemocraticStateCommitteeMember-
Would it be a fair guess that you are from Delco? (It’s about the only county/caucus that I expect to endorse Sestak.)
Oh, and let’s not forget, that the state committee did endorse Specter over Sestak last go around. So, just as Jim Burn was the committee’s choice, Sestak wasn’t.
Katie McGinty is by far the most qualified candidate for US Senate we’ve seen in a long time.
Take the time to learn about Katie:
Kathleen (“Katie”) McGinty is the ninth of ten children, all born and raised in northeast Philadelphia. Her father, John Patrick McGinty, was a Philadelphia police officer and her mother, Alma Berry McGinty, worked as a restaurant hostess.
Katie and her siblings went to Resurrection of Our Lord grade school. Katie went on to be the valedictorian of her graduating class at St. Hubert’s High School. She earned a full scholarship and studied chemistry at St. Joseph’s University. After earning top grades and honors, she was awarded a scholarship to study law at Columbia University. From there, Katie secured a judicial clerkship that took her to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. and won the Congressional Fellowship of the American Chemical Society, an honor that enabled her to work on Capitol Hill in the office of then-Senator Al Gore. Katie went on to work on the reauthorization of the landmark Clean Air Act, and was asked to join the staff of Senator Gore, advising him on the various technological and environmental issues brought before the U.S. Senate.
In 1993, Katie was asked by the newly elected President of the United States, Bill Clinton, to serve first as his Deputy Assistant and then as the first woman Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality – an office that was established in 1969 as part of the first significant piece of national environmental legislation in the country. In this capacity, she worked to reconcile environmental and economic challenges, push forward entrepreneurial policies to combat climate change, rebuild dirty and abandoned properties, release more information concerning toxic pollution to affected communities and restore key ecosystems like the California Bay Delta and the Florida Everglades.
Understanding that developing countries were emerging as economic and geopolitical powerhouses, Katie and her husband, Karl Hausker, decided to live and work in India. Serving as a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Tata Energy Research Institute in New Delhi, Katie forged new ties between U.S. and Indian clean energy companies, as well as helped craft an environmental cooperation compact between the governments of the United States and India.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, Katie served as an adviser to Vice President Gore and as senior policy advisor to the Democratic National Committee.
Following the campaign, Katie developed investment vehicles that encouraged investment in clean technology, and joined Natsource LLC, a company involved in energy and environmental transactions. She served as Vice President for Asset Management at Natsource until 2003 when she was nominated by Governor Edward G. Rendell to become the first woman to lead the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
During her tenure, Katie spearheaded substantial cuts in toxic pollution like mercury and tailpipe emissions, while supporting creative new approaches to clean water that preserved open space and encouraged partnerships between farmers and municipal leaders. Katie championed the work of local citizens and community groups by fighting for a renewal of the successful Growing Greener program.
On every issue, Katie has worked not only to protect the environment, but also to create jobs. She charged her staff at DEP to see “environmental challenges as economic opportunities in disguise.” Her efforts attracted leading clean energy companies to Pennsylvania, bringing a billion dollars in new investment and creating 3,000 new jobs in the state. Katie’s innovative approach gained national and international attention, when the state’s accomplishments were showcased across the country and around the globe, including in China, Germany, France and Spain. With the initiatives Katie spearheaded, Pennsylvania became a leader in wind energy and solar jobs, and a pioneer in energy efficiency technology and systems.
After DEP, Katie returned to the private sector, helping drive sustainable business development. She served as an Operating Partner of Element Partners, a clean technology private equity firm. She served on the board of directors at NRG Energy, Inc., the largest wholesale power company in the US and owner of extensive renewable energy assets, and Iberdrola USA, a gas and electric utility. She was a director at Thar Energy, a Pittsburgh-based geothermal energy startup.. At Weston Solutions, an environmental engineering company, she served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of the Green Development Group, a role in which she focused on transit-oriented property redevelopment, energy efficiency, and clean water businesses.
Katie served as an expert on the shale gas advisory task force called for by President Obama and chartered by Department of Energy Secretary Chu, and she led the renewable energy and energy efficiency advisory board to the DOE.
Katie served as a Director on the Board of the World Resources Institute, a global nonprofit organization focused on sustainability, she was on the advisory board of the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University, and formerly served as Secretary of the Board of Trustees at Saint Joseph’s University.
During the 2014 election cycle, Katie ran for Governor of Pennsylvania where she received praise for demonstrating command of the issues and running a positive campaign. Following the primary election, Katie was asked by former rival and Democratic nominee Tom Wolf to chair Campaign for a Fresh Start, an organization that supported Democratic candidates for state office.
Following the General Election, Governor-elect Tom Wolf named Katie as his Chief of Staff. She is proud to have helped Governor Wolf expand Medicaid—offering good health coverage to 600,000 Pennsylvanians, while saving Pennsylvania taxpayers $500 million annually. She helped Governor Wolf deliver a budget that increases aid to education while offering the biggest ever property tax cut to Pennsylvania’s families and seniors.
Katie holds honorary Doctorate degrees from Clarion State University, Dickinson, and Muhlenberg colleges. She was named a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the “Business Leader of the Year” award of the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future; the “Woman of the Year Award” of the Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment; the “All the Right Stuff” award of the Apollo Alliance, and the “Ansel Adams” award of the Wilderness Society.
Katie, Karl, and their three daughters reside in Wayne, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Source: http://www.katiemcginty.com
Have the Kardashians endorsed Katie?
Bad news for the Dems….good news for Toomey. Toomey will now win. Sestak had a good chance to beat him. Katie….not much of a chance. So the Dems throw out a good chance for a payback to a supporter of Wolf.
Well, DemStateCommMember, MY county and caucus are supporting Joe Sestak. A lot of Democrats around the state are sick and tired Tom Wolf (and behind him Ed Rendell and others from Philadelphia) telling us how to think and what to do. I bet the Republicans are passing buckets of popcorn as they watch these wannabe Boss Tweeds once again do their magic and reassert their will on our Party.
We all worked hard for Wolf to win but our duly elected choice for Chair of State Committee was NOT his darlin’ McGinty. Now I guess we are all about to be punished for this by the ungrateful Wolf and his buddy Ed Rendell with the upcoming coup/ouster of our duly elected Chair (and anointment of their curmudgeonly pal Marcel “Groan”) at our next meeting in September. On top of this, before that coup is even complete, Rendell, Wolf and their cronies are thrusting McGinty down our throats as their anointed candidate for Senate? This is getting disgusting.
McGinty has never held an elected office. She was a poor campaigner for Governor, and was even worse as Wolf’s Chief of Staff. Apparently Fast Eddie, Wolf, Brady etc would rather lose a winnable US Senate seat with her, than forgive Joe Sestak for almost winning that US Senate seat last time when the aging Arlen Specter was doomed in both parties. Foisting McGinty on us assures there will be another hard-fought Primary, meaning the two Dems will burn up each other’s money, and then Toomey gets another term. Despite the fact that the Republicans have a clown car of presidential candidates, and an extreme platform that insults the fastest growing segments of the population including latinos and women, once again they will win.
The only thing missing from this race? One peep about what is different about the candidates. All the talk is on which insider backs whom and who can raise the most cash. That would be bizarre if not most typical.
Katie’s got this in the bag. My caucus is definitely going to support her. Proud to cast my vote for Katie, our next U.S. Senator.
The rank and file inside the State Dem Party like Joe Sestak and feel he has earned their loyalty. And, Sestak has broad support in the general population in the “T” as well as in the more urbanized areas. Sestak is Toomey’s biggest challenge, McGinty not much of a problem for Toomey.
davis daino you is wrong about jim sestake cuz he aint gonna run nex yr and Karen miginty is gonna beet paul tooney,
Endorsements mean nothing except that these elected officials may share their donor base information, which in this case will overlap.
Otherwise, none of these have anything real to offer besides standing on a podium next to the candidate and appearing in ads and mailers to those who are already voting for her if they vote at all.
Is it just me or does it seem odd that a self described green “enviro” is having her campaign managed by a tool of the shale industry. Seems a bit inconsistent.
Observer clearly hasn’t watched the “scene” considering that anyone who actually has knows the importance of early support for raising $$$$$.
Endorsements are worth nothing in PA politics, as anyone who has watched the scene knows. And ones from political hacks like Doyle and Peduto can be a detriment.
Revolving-door drug lobbyist enters Pa. Senate race
By TIMOTHY P. CARNEY • 8/12/15 9:36 AM
McGinty, as you would expect of a former enviro policy appointee, is also a former industry lobbyist. In 2000, she lobbied the Clinton EPA on behalf of drugmaker Glaxo Wellcome. Glaxo made CFC-powered inhalers, and was lobbying on the EPA on its regulations controlling CFCs, according to a lobbying filing.
The vast majority of Pennsylvanians are not being well represented by the senator from Wall Street. Pat Toomey keeps trying to cut taxes for corporations and the ultra-wealthy while simultaneously trying to privatize Social Security, get rid of universal healthcare and women’s healthcare, and block increases in the minimum wage. Katie McGinty will be a great senator with an agenda far more favorable for the average person.
@TheLizard… This wasn’t from a campaign press release. This was a reporter who wrote an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, hence the link. Do yourself a favor and actually read the article before your comment so you don’t seem so foolish next time.
The only thing picking up steam here is the number of press releases being churned out. What would have been news is if EMILY’s List, whose success in PA is hardly stellar (ask Allyson Schwartz and some others), had endorsed a man. As for state party endorsement, be careful what you wish for.
“While many have wondered if McGinty will gain the support of her former boss, Governor Tom Wolf,” ??? Seriously?? “many”??
NOBODY is wondering. Of course McGinty will have Wolf’s full support. Duh.
The only “steam” Sestak is generating is related to the idiom “steaming pile of ….”
It doesn’t matter that she has no experience whatsoever or any qualifications to do the job, IT’S TIME FOR A WOMAN!!!