John,

My path has been made possible by the women who came before me. In fact, it was Vice President Kamala Harris who inspired me on the night the 2020 election was decided to run for leadership within the House Democratic Caucus. Listening to her talk about the journey for women in this country and for people of color and how many challenges we’ve had, but not shying away from the moment, it really compelled me.

But my admiration for Vice President Harris goes all the way back to 2005. I was a law student working at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, and had the opportunity to listen to then-San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris speak at a convention for black prosecutors. I was in awe of her. She talked about criminal justice reform, trying to dismantle an institution that has always been racist at its core, and I was sitting there completely blown away.

Fast forward to the present, I’m so proud to be the first woman to serve as our Commonwealth’s Speaker of the State House. I didn’t set out to make history in Pennsylvania’s Capitol. If you had told me on my swearing-in day that I was going to be Speaker, I would have laughed because it just wasn’t something that even seemed possible.

My journey from being a little girl in Philadelphia to now proudly serving as Speaker of the House was forged by the women who came before me. Now, I’m working to continue uplifting the women around me and to inspire the next generation of women changemakers.

It’s time for the highest glass ceiling in our nation to be broken, and to do that, we have to keep Pennsylvania blue and elect the Harris-Walz ticket this November! Will you donate to my campaign today to help us do that?

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Thank you,
Speaker Joanna McClinton