John,

We’re back with another installment of 21 to Watch in ‘21 – a biweekly series where we spotlight and introduce you to some of the people and issues to keep your eye on in the progressive movement.

So far, we’ve shown you candidates we have our eyes on this year. Our sixth spotlight belongs to a current elected official! Rep. Jessica Benham, another DFA-endorsed progressive powerhouse,  was elected to the Pennsylvania State House in November of 2021, making history as the Keystone State’s first openly bisexual female, as well as the first openly autistic lawmaker. 

DFA endorsed Benham early on as part of our purple-to-blue strategy in Pennsylvania, where we’re working to flip both chambers of the state legislature over the course of several cycles. Progressive all-stars like Benham are helping us get there!

Check out her entire interview HERE:

Help us maintain and expand the Democratic majority in Pennsylvania and other key purple-to-blue states by making a contribution today.

Check out a few highlights from her interview below:

On what led her to run for office:

“For me, it was seeing all of the ways in which my community was struggling – whether that was lack of access to economic opportunities or the ways in which climate change has been devastating. My district has landslides and floods (sic), and I was watching what was happening in my community and felt called to step up and begin to address these problems.”

On how being an elected official has changed her perspective on politics:

“I always say that I never saw running for office in my future. It wasn't something that was part of the plan for my life. I always thought I would be someone working outside those traditional systems of power to try to make change and hold people accountable. So now, being in a place where I have the opportunity to uplift voices, that for so long have been unheard, it's incredible. It really is wonderful.”

On putting an end to gerrymandering, and passing pro-democracy reforms:

“When politicians can choose the borders at their districts in a way that's really political, they're choosing their voters instead of voters choosing their elected officials... when folks are accountable to the people that they represent, then we're going to pass legislation that is good for everyday Pennsylvania.”

Thank you for checking out Rep. Jessica Benham in 21 to Watch in ‘21. 

As always, there was lots of good stuff we couldn’t fit into these clips, so be sure to watch our full interview with Benham and consider making a contribution to keep amazing legislators like her in office.

Until next time, keep fighting for change.

- Kelley

Kelley Jackson
Communications Director
Democracy for America