5 Challengers And Leach Address LM Dem. Committee
Last night, members of the Democratic Committee of Lower Merion/Narberth spent almost as much time debating whether or not to allow the video recording of the six candidates seeking the senate seat in the 17th District, as they did actually hearing what the candidates had to say.
However, after defeating a motion to table the motion that would have allowed for the filming (got that?); by a small margin; the committee voted in favor of allowing the camera to “roll.”
Here’s what the candidates had to say, in order of appearance
Sara Atkins
“I have knocked on over 10,000 doors in our area and in Delaware County.”
“People are excited about my Medicaid 4 All of Pennsylvania Plan. I plan to bring to it to Harrisburg to make a public option in our Medicaid Program.”
“I would also like to propose an option for employers to buy in for their employees in our program.”
“I have been talking a lot about a Green New Deal for Pennsylvania, which will bring Green jobs, which will expand our infrastructure, and do some really amazing things for our local community.”
“People are excited to hear about a Fair funding formula for Education … making sure that our gifted and special ed. programs are fully funded, because right now they aren’t.
“Fund raising is going great. We have small donors, which is amazing. I am not bought by big dark money.”
“I would like to bring to Harrisburg integrity. I won’t be bought.”
“We need to change the culture in Harrisburg. Right now there are no rules for finance laws. There are no rules for how our elected are held accountable”
Jamie Mogil
“I’m a girl from Lower Merion. I grew up here. I went to the schools – Penn Wynne through Lower Merion. And I want to make sure that every child in Pennsylvania has the same opportunities for success that I did … we’ve got to have Harrisburg do their share and give us the funding that we deserve.”
“We’ve got to make sure that we have affordable, accessible healthcare for all, including our seniors. And that includes supporting our caretakers.”
“We need environmental protections that have been scaled back by our current administration.”
“We’ve got to take Women’s rights and protect them.”
“But we can’t do it if our system is broken. And that’s down to the fact that I’ve been working for the last decade to fix this – expanding voter access, taking on voter suppression, and ending gerrymandering.”
“I have worked at a grass roots level – helping spearhead and create the process with FairDistricts PA.”
“It shouldn’t be us politicians drawing the map. It should be voters choosing to put us in office.”
“And it’s really important that we elect somebody, not just from this district to keep it Blue, but somebody who is going to do the work outside of this district. To make sure that we continue to flip seats, and push a Blue Wave across Pennsylvania. “
Linda Fields
“I have been a national organizer for the last 30 years. I’ve organized political campaigns, I’ve organized labor campaigns, I was a lead negotiator for contracts for thousands of contracts – for District 1199C and AFSCME. I have had the opportunity to be in adverse environments, like it is in Harrisburg.”
“I have been an advocate, and activist and an abolitionist – because we have to abolish some of the mindsets in the laws and policies that were in place – that were a disadvantage to working class people.”
“As your senator, I will expand my position as an organizer, as a negotiator, as a mediator – to help bring good legislation and policy to Pennsylvania – for all Pennsylvanians.”
“We deserve to have good wages. I have never, ever, negotiated in the last six years; a contract that didn’t give working class people at least $15 and hour.
Daylin Leach
“While issues change, I wanted to be able to talk about things that transcended that – things that I would do, no matter what the issues were. So I promised to be very bold, I promised not to worry about my own self-perpetuation, but to do what’s right for the people of Pennsylvania. And I promised to be creative. And I said that you would always know I was there. And I think that I’ve kept that promise.”
“We passed the Medical Marijuana Bill, which I think is the most socially important piece of legislation in the last 30 years … We’ve created a whole new industry – hundreds of thousands of jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars that are going to be in the taxpayers’ coffers as a result of that.”
“We turned Pennsylvania from one of the least aggressive states dealing with human trafficking, to one of the most aggressive.”
“I sit on the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. It’s very difficult to pass Democratic bills. Almost none of them move. But just two weeks ago, we moved my Hazardous Waste Recycling Bill.”
“We sued to stop a very bad Voter ID Law, which was a Voter Suppression Law.”
“We sued successfully to stop the NRA from being able to sue municipalities that pass common sense gun laws.”
“We forced Governor Corbett to pick a moderate Supreme Court justice when he didn’t want to.”
“We’ve done more than any other person in the minority, certainly in the last 30 or 40 years.”
Elvira Berry
“I am a single mom … I am an attorney. I am also a small business owner. In 2015, I started a company that helps people with disabilities. I started it by myself, with no money. As of today, we have 30 employees. And from day one, I provided 100% of my employees’ health insurance. This was before I could pay myself. This was before I could pay my family members that were helping me out … in our industry, people get paid $9.00 an hour. From day one, I paid my employees $13 an hour.”
“I have a friend. She’s 25 years old … she has to pay $800 to buy insulin, every two months … no matter how much money she makes, she has to bring out $800, every two months to pay for insulin. That’s unacceptable … I will stand and fight drug companies, and make sure that we put a cap on how much money we pay as a co-pay for life-saving drugs.”
“We are pushing to make sure that people get $15 an hour. I’m a single mom. I have been homeless. When I left my ex-husband, my son and I lived in a homeless shelter for three months. At the time I was making $7 an hour. It took us three months to save up, to move out of the homeless shelter. So I know how much people need money. Therefore, when I go to Harrisburg, I will fight to make sure that people in our community can afford to live their lives.”
Amanda Cappelletti
“I’m the Vice Chair of the East Norriton Board of Supervisors, and I’m an attorney with my Masters of Public Health. But above that, I’m an advocate. I worked for Representative Donna Bullock out of the 195th in Philadelphia. I worked for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and I was a William Penn Fellow for the governor’s office. More recently, I was the Director of Policy for Planned Parenthood.”
“That experience has taught me that for far too long, Pennsylvania citizens have been hurt by partisan politics and legislators who have forgotten that it is a privilege to hold office and not a right.”
“We need to change that so we can fight for healthcare, and the environment, and education.”
“I think of my mom who had an emergency appendectomy about a year ago, and ended up with tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, despite having quality health insurance. And that’s not right.”
“As a Vice Chair of East Norriton Board of Supervisors, I look at how I can make our township greener … we have charging stations for electric cars and even purchased electric cars for the township and the police department”
“No matter what your zip code is, or how much your parents make, you should have a quality education.”
“Our current state senator has been known as a progressive in the past. However, right now he’s ineffective because of the behaviors and controversies that surround him. And we effectively have no voice as a state senate district in Harrisburg … we deserve somebody who can go to Harrisburg and work with others, and others will work with them. And I’ve been that person.”