By Tom Waring
Wire Staff Writer
The Women’s Campaign Fund has selected Shaughnessy Naughton, a Democratic candidate in the 8th Congressional District, as part of its “Game Changers” team.
The organization cited her background as a chemist and breast cancer researcher who worked to discover drug treatments at Wyeth. In addition, it noted that she cut her pay in half while successfully saving her family’s publishing business.
Naughton, according to the Women’s Campaign Fund, is a “tireless advocate for progressive values.”
On the group’s website, there are links for supporters to make donations and to check out Naughton’s website, Facebook page and Twitter account.
Naughton, of Point Pleasant, faces Kevin Strouse, of Middletown, in the May 20 primary.
Strouse is a former U.S. Army ranger, CIA counterterrorism analyst and veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He is program director of Teach2Serve, an education nonprofit that teaches young people to give back to their communities.
The winner of the primary will take on Republican Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, who is unopposed on the GOP side. The district includes all of Bucks County and a portion of Montgomery County.
••
The National Republican Campaign Committee said financial support from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s political action committee will not help Strouse win the election.
Specifically, the NRCC cited what it called the “flawed” Obamacare health care law.
“With her closest allies retiring, Nancy Pelosi has resorted to buying new friends like Kevin Strouse,” said NRCC communications director Andrea Bozek. “It is clear that Strouse’s campaign is being funded by the same Washington bureaucrats who voted for the failed health care law that has increased premiums and made our healthcare problems worse.”
••
U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick supports an effort by the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault to strengthen enforcement of sexual assault laws.
Fitzpatrick, who has three daughters, noted studies that show one out of every five women is sexually assaulted while attending college. Many of those incidents go unreported.
In the House of Representatives, Fitzpatrick is a member of the Congressional Victims’ Rights Caucus.
The task force actions include identifying the scope of the problem on college campuses; helping prevent campus sexual assault; helping schools respond effectively when a student is assaulted; and improving, and making more transparent, the federal government’s enforcement efforts.
“I look forward to working with the White House, my colleagues in the House and Senate and members of both parties to advance solutions that will empower schools and law enforcement, assist victims and create a culture of awareness,” said Fitzpatrick, who is in his third term.
••
U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, a Democratic candidate for governor, criticized Republican Gov. Tom Corbett for what she sees as his unwillingness to work with the School District of Philadelphia on solutions to its fiscal challenges.
“Every child deserves to have a good school to attend, and as governor, there is nothing that I would fight harder for than recommitting Pennsylvania to public education,” said Schwartz, whose two sons graduated from Central High School. “We cannot be a great city and a great state without strong public schools. The Philadelphia school district funding crisis hurts our children and it weakens our economic competitiveness.”
The budget outlined last week by School District of Philadelphia Superintendent William Hite showed that student-teacher ratios could climb to as much as 37–1 in elementary schools and 41–1 in high schools. More than 1,000 teachers and education professionals could be laid off.
When Schwartz served in the state Senate, she was the Democratic chairwoman of the Education Committee. She supported funding for full-day kindergarten and opposed vouchers and the establishment of the School Reform Commission.
“We’ve had too many years of Gov. Corbett leaving Philadelphia’s children behind. I will begin a brand new direction that starts with valuing public education,” she said.
Meanwhile, the United Transportation Union announced its endorsement of Schwartz.
Schwartz would use a portion of proceeds from a shale severance tax for infrastructure projects.
“No other Democratic candidate for governor comes close to matching Allyson’s leadership on transportation and infrastructure policy or her bold plan to strengthen Pennsylvania’s roads, bridges and mass transit systems, including rail, aviation and bus systems,” said Paul A. Pokrowka, state legislative director and chairman of the Pennsylvania State Legislative Board of the United Transportation Union.
Also last week, Schwartz picked up the endorsements of state Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and Braddock Mayor John Fetterman.
“As a former colleague, I know that Allyson is proven, tested and has the experience to break through the status quo in Harrisburg. She will deliver universal pre-K for four-year-olds and a reasonable shale drilling severance tax that will fund our public schools,” Costa said.
••
The campaign of Gov. Tom Corbett and Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley, a former Bucks County commissioner, released a radio commercial that criticizes Schwartz and the Democratic frontrunner, Tom Wolf.
The commercial labels Schwartz “extremely liberal” for helping to write Obamacare and getting a grade of F from the NRA.
The ad describes Wolf, a former secretary of the state Department of Revenue as a “job-killing bureaucrat.”
“Pennsylvania voters need to know the truth about extreme liberal Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz and millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf,” stated Corbett-Cawley campaign manager Mike Barley. “Our ad shines a light on the soft spot Congresswoman Schwartz has for the liberal President Barack Obama agenda and millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf’s desire to hike taxes on middle class Pennsylvania families.”
