Emerge Brings Its Winning Formula for Training Women to Run for Office to the Keystone State; Applications Open for First Class of 2016 Trainees
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – Today Emerge Pennsylvania announced it will become the latest chapter in the Emerge America program. Emerge America will bring its successful, intensive training program for female Democratic candidates to the Keystone State because the state is sorely lagging behind in the rate of electing women to office. Pennsylvania is ranked 39 out of 50 for the percentage of women elected to its state legislature. While Pennsylvania has voted for the Democratic candidate in the last six presidential campaign, it has never elected a female governor or U.S. senator.
The Emerge program will bring an intensive 70-hour training curriculum to a cohort of Democratic women who want to run for office. Applications are open now and can be found here. The only requirements for applying are that candidates are strongly considering running for public office in the next three to five years, they are registered Democrats, women, and residents of Pennsylvania. Women of all ages, backgrounds, and communities across Pennsylvania are encouraged to apply.
“Harrisburg is a bleak place for female elected officials, and I’m getting pretty tired of the status quo,” said State Representative and Emerge Pennsylvania Co-Founder Tina Davis. “Of the 253 elected state senators and representatives, only 45 are women. Our democracy suffers when elected officials are not reflective of the constituents they represent. That is why I’ve been asking Emerge America to open a chapter in Pennsylvania for years. I’m so thrilled they’re finally here.”
“Building a pipeline of well-trained candidates and creating a network that cares passionately about supporting women will drastically change the political culture in Pennsylvania,” said State Representative and Emerge Pennsylvania Co-Founder Mary Jo Daley. “Emerge has a great track record of success in 14 other states and we need some of that momentum here in Pennsylvania. It is abysmal that less than 18 percent of our state legislators in Harrisburg are women. We desperately need progress.”
Since the first Emerge state was launched in 2002 Emerge has trained more than 1,500 Democratic women to run for office to date. Fifty-two percent of Emerge alumnae have run for office or been appointed to local boards or commissions. Of those who have run for office, 70 percent won. Additionally, Emerge has a strong record of diversity – forty percent of alumnae are women of color. Follow Emerge Pennsylvania on Facebook for more updates on the program.
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Emerge America is changing the face of American politics by identifying, training and encouraging women to run for office, get elected and to seek higher office. Our intensive, cohort-based seven-month training program is unique. As the number of elected Democratic women remains flat or even declines, the need for our work is growing across the country. We currently work in 14 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Emerge Pennsylvania and Michigan are launching this year. Emerge America’s role is to serve the states where we work, open new state programs and build capacity to train more women in each of our current states.