Amanda Waldman

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Amanda Waldman

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Personal

Religion

United Methodist

Contact

Campaign website

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Amanda Waldman (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Pennsylvania's 9th Congressional District. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Waldman's professional experience includes working as a Medicare appeals representative. She attended Pennsylvania College of Technology and Bloomsburg University.

Elections

2024

See also: Pennsylvania's 9th Congressional District election, 2024

Pennsylvania's 9th Congressional District election, 2024 (April 23 Democratic primary)

Pennsylvania's 9th Congressional District election, 2024 (April 23 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9

Incumbent Dan Meuser defeated Amanda Waldman in the general election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dan Meuser (R)	70.4	276,212
		Amanda Waldman (D)	29.4	115,523
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	546

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 392,281
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9

Amanda Waldman advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9 on April 23, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Amanda Waldman	98.9	34,851
		Other/Write-in votes	1.1	395

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 35,246
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9

Incumbent Dan Meuser advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9 on April 23, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dan Meuser	99.0	77,943
		Other/Write-in votes	1.0	757

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 78,700
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Waldman in this election.

2022

See also: Pennsylvania's 9th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9

Incumbent Dan Meuser defeated Amanda Waldman in the general election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dan Meuser (R)	69.3	209,185
		Amanda Waldman (D)	30.7	92,622

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 301,807
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9

Amanda Waldman advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Amanda Waldman	100.0	41,622

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 41,622
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9

Incumbent Dan Meuser advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dan Meuser	100.0	102,180

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 102,180
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Andrew Shecktor (R)
• Max Merrill (R)
• Fred Keller (R)

2020

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 84

Joe Hamm defeated Amanda Waldman in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 84 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joe Hamm (R)	78.8	25,961
		Amanda Waldman (D)	21.2	6,975

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 32,936
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 84

Amanda Waldman advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 84 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Amanda Waldman	100.0	3,069

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,069
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 84

Joe Hamm defeated David Hines and Mike Dincher in the Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 84 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joe Hamm	68.5	7,017
		David Hines	19.6	2,012
	Submit photo	Mike Dincher	11.9	1,216

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,245
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Amanda Waldman did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Waldman’s campaign website stated the following:

“	Amanda’s Key Priorities Women’s Rights and Equal Rights: Ensure equal pay for equal work; equal access to healthcare, including abortion and miscarriage care for all women. Ensure the rights enshrined in the constitution are protected for ALL people, including the right to privacy and bodily autonomy. I will work to protect the people’s rights to make their own decisions. Veterans: Support military families, deliver easy access to high-quality healthcare, and ensure coverage for ALL service related mental & physical conditions. Unions: Support their fight for equitable pay, benefits, healthcare, and worker safety. Support legislation like the PRO Act; ensure Pennsylvania does not become a right to work (aka: right to be exploited by your employer) state. Farming: Support policies such as the PRIME Act and the dairy bill that provide family farms with the ability to compete in the market. Jobs and Economic Prosperity: Make America a world leader in technology and innovation and create more jobs for hard working Pennsylvanians, especially those in the 9th District. Ensure a living wage, support policies that help small businesses thrive, stop price-gouging, and continue to bridge the gap of high-speed internet access in rural communities. Education: Work to fully fund public education mandates as promised, guarantee access to high-quality Pre-K, and affordable childcare for working families. Fight for adequate wages for teachers, early learning, and childcare workers, decrease student loan debt, and promote community colleges and apprenticeship programs for people who choose not to go to a four year college. Environment: Invest in renewable and sustainable energy sources, decrease reliance on foreign oil, and ensure regulatory agencies have the authority and funding to hold environmental polluters accountable. Healthcare: Lower drug prices, increase equitable access to care, and work on making Medicare an option for ALL who want it, especially as emergency coverage for anyone who loses a job and cannot afford COBRA coverage. Tax dollars pay for elected officials’ ridiculously high paychecks, job perks & benefit packages, therefore the taxpayers should be able to benefit from the same healthcare options and plans that elected officials have access to at the same or lower rates.	”
—Amanda Waldman’s campaign website (2024)

2022

Amanda Waldman did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Waldman's campaign website stated the following:

“	Support Our Veterans Provide support for our veterans & their families I come from a family of proud veterans and will always support funding the Department of Veterans Affairs to support military families and deliver easy access to high-quality healthcare. I will fight for veterans to receive the disability pay they deserve, without spending years fighting a broken system alone. The men and women who proudly wear the uniform and defend our country deserve to have representatives who will fight just as hard to care for them from the moment they enlist until their last breath on this earth. Protect Family Farms Advocate for policies to benefit NEPA family farms As someone who grew up on a family farm in rural PA, I understand that we are losing family farms due to failed economic policies. Farmers can make more money selling their ancestral lands to developers than by farming. Current policies, caps, tariffs, and trade wars have all combined to decrease market prices for agricultural products. Drought, insects, and other environmental impacts are causing real harm today which will last for generations. I will fight to protect our family farms, ensuring they can survive and thrive with policies providing them with the economic ability to compete in the market. Jobs & Economic Prosperity Put money into the hands of working people A living wage not only lifts people out of poverty but also reduces the need for public assistance and saves us taxpayer dollars, it allows single parents the ability to be present and active in their children’s lives. A thriving wage also makes the rural work environment more competitive. We need public policy that puts money into the hands of working people. I will advocate for a living wage and return to a strong middle class, including working to create career opportunities and strengthening our public vo-tech programs, apprenticeships, and professions that will keep our rural communities strong. I will advocate for policies that support and help our small businesses. Our rural community relies on family businesses, many with fewer than 20 employees. During the COVID shutdowns, many of our new and upcoming small businesses were left out of grant programs and were forced to shutter their doors and their pursuit of the American Dream. I will also fight to bridge the gap of high-speed internet access in rural communities. Broadband access should be reliable and affordable for all, and not a deterrent to equitable education, community resources, telehealth, or 21st-century jobs. Stand with Unions Fight for equitable pay, benefits, and healthcare As the granddaughter of a proud union worker in Lycoming county, I know just how important unions are in the fight for equitable pay, benefits, and healthcare. Education Invest in our families and children, our future Good, fully-funded education is the pathway to better jobs and a critical investment for our families and our future. We should guarantee access to high-quality Pre-K, an investment that helps all children to do better in school and saves taxpayers money in the long run. We need access to affordable childcare for working families. We also need to provide adequate wages for teachers, early learning, and childcare workers. By supporting a living wage we help both our working families and our educators. We need to decrease student loan debt, support the College Affordability Act, and offer affordable pathways to trade and vocational programs. Environment Bring an end to corporate destruction & move to renewable, sustainable energy I support a transition to renewable and sustainable energy sources and moving our nation toward an environmentally and economically sustainable future. We can protect our natural resources and support a thriving economy at the same time. Every human deserves clean air and drinking water. We must stop the corporate environmental destruction of our vast natural resources, which damages our economy (particularly recreation revenue and tourism in rural areas) and our health. Equality & Human Rights Continue the fight for equity, justice, and opportunities for all I will always stand up for equal rights, justice, and opportunity for all people regardless of their race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation and identification, and physical ability. We all contribute to the health and success of our communities, and we all have the right to pursue our dreams. Healthcare Lower drug prices & increase equitable access to care No one should have to struggle to pay for the cost of their prescription medication: period. As Congresswoman, I will fight to lower drug prices and increase equitable access to care. Throughout the COVID pandemic, we have truly seen the disparity of healthcare in our rural communities. Everyone deserves access to quality healthcare and hospitals, and no one should lose crucial care due to lack of hospital beds. We need to do better for our healthcare workers and provide good-paying jobs while fully-funding hospitals and rural communities. I have seen firsthand the devastation of the opioid crisis on rural communities and will advocate for compassionate care and corporate accountability. Criminal Justice Reform our current system & address mass incarceration My oldest son is a corrections officer, and I support the role of law enforcement to protect our communities. I also believe criminal justice reform is necessary to address racial bias and mass incarceration. Mass incarceration has tremendous mental health and economic costs on this country. In fact, the U.S. houses 25% of the world’s prison population. Most Americans are in favor of reforming our criminal justice system. The old way isn’t working, and we can use common sense bipartisan solutions for safer communities. Rural communities have a particularly high prevalence of opioid-related crime. Investment should be focused on treatment options, rather than burdening taxpayers with the cost of unnecessary incarceration. I am also in favor of the universal legalization and taxation of marijuana, including criminal expungement, to increase federal and state economic revenue and reduce incarceration for minor drug-related offenses.	”
—Amanda Waldman's campaign website (2022)

2020

Amanda Waldman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Waldman's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Like many Pennsylvanians, I have lived paycheck-to-paycheck. I am a hard working single mom, struggling to pay the bills, put food on the table and make sure my sons have a better life than I did, while also putting myself through college. I spent time in state government leading other interns in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, attending committee hearings, and house and senate sessions; and writing briefings for the Lt. Governor's office. I saw firsthand just how dysfunctional our state government really is. I have considerable real-world experience mediating between parties in conflict with each other. As a case manager in a family homeless shelter, a coach for Odyssey of the Mind, a restaurant manager, and the mother of two boys whose personalities are like night and day, I meet each challenge with passion, understanding and a bulldog determination to find common ground, and work united to make progress towards a better future for all involved.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• It's time to say goodbye to the Status Quo politicians and elect real people who will be representatives of the people and not the corporate elite. Real leadership requires honesty and transparency, and that is my top priority when elected - to be held accountable for my actions by the residents of my district.
• I will work to enact Real property tax relief legislation for Pennsylvanians by working to increase our revenue base, capping property taxes on our fixed income residents and reducing our debt load.
• If our legislators had focused on the need to for hard working families to make a living wage and simply passed minimum wage legislation that kept pace with inflation, our minimum wage would already be $12.00 per hour. For families to be able to pay their bills and save a little for their futures, they need to be making $15.00 an hour. The legislators have failed year after year to work for their constituents, but haven't missed a single vote when it came to increasing their own pay. I will fight for our families and I won't stop fighting until we pass legisltation that enables our residents to live and enjoy their lives instead of demanding they work 20 hour days between 3 jobs just to scrape by.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Education

Corporate Environmental Responsibility
Conservation of our Natural Resources, including our State Parks, Waterways and Recreation areas
Legalization of marijuana
Properly funding social services
Infrastructure

Protecting Our Labor Unions

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Books:

The Fundamentals of Citizenship
The Art of Democracy

Movie:

The Candidate

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty

Integrity
Diplomacy
Trustworthy
Respectful/Respectable

Compassionate

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My very first job was a volunteer job with my church. We had the Heilman United Methodist Church Stand under the grandstands at the Lycoming County Fair, and I started 'working' there as a server when I was 5 or 6, until I was 14, and then again in the kitchen while both of my sons served the customers. It was a fantastic experience for me and my kids. We learned responsibility, respect, and the importance of service in both the church and our community at a very young age. I treasure those memories and experiences to this day. Unfortunately, we had to close up our stand at the fair, but we still have a "Fair Food Celebration" every year at our church the weekend after the fair, and my kids and I still volunteer to serve our community, our families and our friends.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Fever Dream by mxmtoon

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I do not believe it is beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics. believe we place too much emphasis on direct government experience when we are choosing who to vote for. In my opinion, if a candidate has experience leading others, is honest, trustworthy and responsible, and acts in a respectful way toward everyone, regardless of personal politics or opinions, they have all the necessary requirements to be a representative. My impression of many legislators who had prior government or political experience before they were elected is that they become slick politicians who play the game well. Pennsylvania doesn't need anymore politicians. We need civil servants who will represent the people as intended in the constitution. We need real representatives who will listen to their constituents and act with integrity and always in the best interests of their districts.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?

I believe in the balance of powers between all 3 branches of government, not only at the federal level, but at the state level as well. Each branch should work independently from one another. All too often, our Legislative branch seems to get confused and believes that their job is to do the bidding of wealth, of power and of the Executive branch. That is not the way the system is supposed to work. Legislators are to work together, regardless of political party affiliation, to enact laws that are in the best interests of all citizens. If they were working together and focusing on their jobs instead of focusing on the next step, the next lobbyist, or gaining power, we wouldn't have this petty bickering, name calling and overall childish behavior on an hourly basis. Instead we would have infrastructure expansion plans, genuine tax reform - corporate and individual, new business growth, strong public schools, and a healthier environment.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

It is not only beneficial, it is vital to build relationships with other legislators from all parties. We cannot pass legislation or hope to work in our constituents best interests without working together. Without discussion, debate or bi-partisan relationships, we cannot hope to have a government of the people, by the people or for the people. The only way to move forward and prosper is to do so together.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Amanda Waldman campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9	Lost general	$0	$477
2022	U.S. House Pennsylvania District 9	Lost general	$30,547	$30,312
2020	Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 84	Lost general	$7,077	N/A**
Grand total			$37,624	$30,789
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

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Footnotes

[show]

Pennsylvania's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

John Fetterman (D)

David McCormick (R)

Representatives

District 1

Brian Fitzpatrick (R)

District 2

Brendan Boyle (D)

District 3

Dwight Evans (D)

District 4

Madeleine Dean (D)

District 5

Mary Scanlon (D)

District 6

Chrissy Houlahan (D)

District 7

Ryan Mackenzie (R)

District 8

Rob Bresnahan (R)

District 9

Dan Meuser (R)

District 10

Scott Perry (R)

District 11

Lloyd Smucker (R)

District 12

Summer Lee (D)

District 13

John Joyce (R)

District 14

Guy Reschenthaler (R)

District 15

Glenn Thompson (R)

District 16

Mike Kelly (R)

District 17

Chris Deluzio (D)

Republican Party (11)

Democratic Party (8)