Question 1: What prior experiences, skills and expertise would you bring as a US Senator?
My life changed in April of 1993, when my best friend, on his way to pick me up, was killed in a car accident. I’d never been close to somebody who died like that – if it had been just a few minutes later, I would have been in that car with him. I started to look at the world differently, and I wanted to give back after such an unspeakable tragedy. So I joined Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and I was paired with a little boy who was eight years old. That little boy had just lost his father to AIDS, and his mother was in the final stages of dying from AIDS when I met them.
I was just devastated by this idea that this boy, before his ninth birthday, would be an orphan. It made me realize how brutal the random lottery of birth can be. So I quit my job, and I moved to Pittsburgh, getting my start in public service working for AmeriCorps. Soon after, I was teaching GED classes in nearby Braddock, PA. I decided to run for Mayor after two of my students were shot and killed. I made it my mission to reduce gun violence.
After winning my first race by a single vote, I served as Mayor for 13 years. One of my proudest achievements is going five and a half years without a loss of life due to gun violence in Braddock. As mayor, I created opportunities for Braddock youth, brought in new business and jobs, helped restore access to health care after a hospital closed, confronted the epidemic of gun violence, and worked with the chief-of-police to institute a community-policing model. I served as Mayor of Braddock for 13 years, and one of my proudest achievements is going 5 and a half years without a loss of life due to gun violence in Braddock.
In 2016, I decided to run for U.S. Senate to confront inequality at the highest level of government, but lost a competitive primary. In 2018, I ran to be Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor, and this time, I won. As Lt. Governor, I have transformed the position – which frankly has limited power – into a bully pulpit, advocating for economic justice and criminal justice reform.
I chair Pennsylvania’s Board of Pardons through my position as Lt. Governor, which makes decisions on clemency and pardons in the commonwealth. Since taking over, I have transformed the post to fight to free the wrongfully convicted and give second chances to deserving longtime inmates, many of whom are disproportionately people of color that have been wronged by the criminal justice system. Within two years of taking over as chair, the number of pardon applications heard by the Board increased by 104%, and the number of pardon requests recommended by the Board increased by 69%.
Now, I am running for the US Senate to take the same mindset of confronting inequality and injustice to the federal level. I believe that the country is plagued by rampant inequality, a paltry minimum wage that has not changed in the last 12 years, poor housing and healthcare in marginalized and abandoned communities, a broken criminal justice system, a failed war on drugs, and continued restrictions on the right to vote.
Question 2: What is your plan to win the election? Please speak to fundraising and field operations.
I’m the only Democrat running for Senate who has not only won a statewide Democratic primary, but also a statewide general election. I can and will compete in every county in Pennsylvania.
In 2018, when I ran on the ticket with Gov. Tom Wolf, I traveled the state and talked to voters in every corner— regardless of how red or blue. With me as his running mate, Gov. Wolf won by almost a million more votes than he did in 2014.
My Senate campaign is running a true 67 county race across the commonwealth. We are going to counties across PA, deep red and deep blue. We are not ceding any county to the Republicans, and we’re showing up everywhere and speaking to everyone.
We have intense and deep grassroots support across the commonwealth, with donations from 88% of Pennsylvania zip codes and every Pennsylvania county, in addition to volunteers committed and ready to go in every county.
Winning a general election in Pennsylvania means both cutting Republicans’ margins in rural areas and exciting voters in the Democratic strongholds. We believe that our campaign is the one that can best do that.
As of December 31, 2021, my campaign has raised $12 million and has $5.3 million cash on hand. That is far more than any other candidate running.
All of this has contributed to a strong 30 point lead in polling for my campaign.
Question 3: What endorsements have you received, or are you seeking?
- United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 United Steelworkers District 10
- National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws United Rural Democrats
- Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association
- Douglas Hearn, Warren City Council
- Dave Glass, Clearfield County Commissioner
- Barbara Mortimer, East Brady Borough Council President
- Braxton White, Clarion Area School District Board Vice President
- Sara Robertson, Clarion Area School District Board Member
- Stephanie White, Clarion County, Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee Member
- Barbarann Keffer, Upper Darby Mayor
- Jon Panofsky, Centennial School Board Director (Bucks County)
- Marty Qually, Adams County Commissioner
- Dee Scales, Braddock Council Member
- Rob Parker, Braddock Council President
- Joelisa McDonald, Mayor of Rankin, PA
- Delia Lennon, Mayor of Braddock, PA
- Garry Herbert, Mayor of Lansdale, PA
- Mitchell Meyerson, Chalfont Councilman (Bucks County)
Question 4: What would be your three highest priorities in the Senate?
Among my top issues are tackling income inequality and economic injustices, including protecting and expanding the union way of life; reforming the criminal justice system; and protecting and expanding the right to vote.
Question 5: Should the filibuster be abolished or modified?
The filibuster must be eliminated, and I would proudly vote to do so to pass important legislation that would change the lives of working families across the country. This includes legislation like the PRO Act, the Equality Act, the MORE Act, the America COMPETES and Make it in America Act, expanding Medicare and achieving a universal healthcare system, raising the minimum wage to at least $15, and expanding and protecting the right to vote.
Question 6: What policies do you support to make healthcare, including long term care, more affordable and accessible?
Let’s be clear- health care should be a fundamental human right. I will actively support any legislation that gets us closer to universal coverage. Pennsylvania has one of the largest senior populations in the United States, so it is important that we ensure they’re able to retire with dignity. I support policies such as cost of living adjustments, investments in home healthcare and long-term living facilities and their staff, increasing Social Security benefits, Medicare expansion that includes adding dental, vision, and hearing coverage and reform that decreases costs for prescription drugs.
Question 7: How will you address the climate crisis as a US Senator?
Climate change is an existential threat, and we need to transition to clean energy as quickly as possible. I have never taken a dime from the fossil fuel industry, and I never will. We need to make sure that as we transition, we honor and uphold the union way of life for workers across Pennsylvania, and create thousands of good-paying union jobs in clean energy in the process. It’s a total false choice that we have to choose between jobs and a clean environment. That’s just not true. We can have both, that’s why I am always going to fight for creating thousands upon thousands of green good-paying union jobs as we transition. Additionally, my plan for the transition to clean energy starts with immediate investments into research and development and innovation; expanding renewable energy sources; and ensuring clean transportation infrastructure. I also believe we have to invest money into environmental justice, such as research, development, and innovation. We also need to invest in natural disaster mitigation to minimize damage; clean transportation and rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure in a more environmentally- conscious way; increase regulation and technology requirements for heavy polluters; and protect our public lands and oceans.
Question 8: What policies do you support to protect voting rights and fair and transparent elections?
I have been vocally supportive of legislation in Congress, such as the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, the For the People Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act, which aim to expand voting rights. It is important that we make it easier for people to vote, eliminate dark money in politics, increase donor and lobbyist transparency, and knock down the restrictions that marginalize voters, mostly voters of color.
Across the country, Republicans are using the lies they themselves spun out of thin air to justify passing voter suppression laws that will make it harder for people to vote. In the aftermath of the 2020 elections, I was removed from the floor of the PA state Senate after resisting Republican efforts to refuse to seat Senator Jim Brewster after he fairly won his election. I saw Republicans challenge the results of the election, attempt to audit the results of the long-ago-decided election with taxpayer money, and push the “big lie.”
Last summer, I published an op-ed in CNN calling on Sen. Joe Manchin to support eliminating the filibuster in order to pass the For the People Act.
Question 9: What types of changes to tax policy do you believe are needed with regards to personal income tax, wealth tax, and estate tax, as well as corporate tax policy?
We need a tax policy that benefits working people. It is absurd that we have millionaires and billionaires paying less in taxes than working people. We need to undo Trump tax cuts on the rich and large corporations. We also must close the loopholes that let large corporations pay slim to no federal taxes and allow them to offshore corporate profits overseas. We should reform the capital gains tax by eliminating stepped-up basis loopholes and raising the capital gains tax. Finally, we should implement a wealth tax to ensure that ultra-millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share in taxes.
Question 10: How do you plan to address housing access and affordability?
Access to housing and affordable housing is an issue for far too many Americans. And this was only exacerbated by the pandemic, which put a lot of people out of work, behind on rent, and at risk of eviction. I would support legislation like the Housing Supply and Affordability Act, which would help increase access to housing and make it more affordable. To fix this issue, I believe that we must increase the funding we give for grants to help municipalities reduce barriers to better housing access, combat the rising housing prices, and increase affordability.