Concerned people from across Pennsylvania have stood up in remarkable ways to resist the extreme right-wing agenda taking hold in Washington and in Harrisburg. This week, an enthusiastic, diverse group of those Pennsylvanians — veterans, moms, engineers, pastors, educators, small business owners, coaches, and other community leaders — took the first steps to fight for the issues that Pennsylvanians care about and hold Republicans accountable.
In the first of what will be many joint efforts to train Democrats to run for office, potential candidates from across the commonwealth gathered in Harrisburg this week to learn how to run a campaign and resist the Republican agenda in 2018.
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party and the PA House and Senate Democratic Campaign Committees are working together in unprecedented ways to harness this grassroots energy by recruiting candidates and offering trainings that provide the basic guidelines for getting campaigns off the ground.
“We need more Democrats in Harrisburg in order to pass legislation that is important to Pennsylvania families: promoting good-paying jobs, raising the minimum wage, protecting our seniors, providing access to quality health care, and ensuring children have the education they need to be successful,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Marcel L. Groen. “The State Party, alongside the state’s Democratic Campaign Committees, is going to be engaged in every single one of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. Democrats are talking to their neighbors and friends about their values and what they believe in, and that is the key to having Democrats go on to victory this year and in the years ahead.”
“Candidates are standing up earlier than ever and showing that Democrats are united and organized. The candidates we trained this week are ready to talk about not just what Democrats are against, but what we are for, like growing the middle class, and making sure that everyone that works hard can get ahead,” said Nathan Davidson, Executive Director of the House Democratic Campaign Committee. “We will resist Trump and his Republican Party by making sure that every Republican is held accountable for their reckless votes.”
“We are working to rebuild our party’s infrastructure and harness the grassroots energy from people all across the state who are angry at the direction Donald Trump is taking this country,” said David Marshall, Executive Director of the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee. “Democrats in Pennsylvania are unified and focused on our goal of winning elections in November 2017 while laying the groundwork for success in 2018.”
