Margaret Burke
Margaret Burke (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to represent District 147. Burke declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on May 19, 2026.[sources: 1, 2]
Burke completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Margaret Burke graduated from North Babylon High School. Burke earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1990, a graduate degree from Cornell University, Johnson School of Management in 2000, and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York, Stony Brook in 1998. Burke's career experience includes working as a stay-at-home parent.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on May 19, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 147
Margaret Burke (D) is running in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 147 on May 19, 2026.
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Republican primary
Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 147
Incumbent Donna Scheuren (R) is running in the Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 147 on May 19, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Donna Scheuren | |
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| = 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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Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Margaret Burke completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Burke's responses.
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Margaret is familiar with the needs of our most vulnerable and she's ready to fight for the needs of the voters of the 147th District: making life more affordable, protecting healthcare access, and strengthening public education, especially for students with disabilities. She wants to take that fight to Harrisburg because Pennsylvanians deserve better than politicians only serving corporate interests– she’s running to build a fair system for all of Pennsylvania’s children – and for all Pennsylvanians.
Margaret values compassion, common sense and evidence-based policy. She has a BS in Biology from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Pathology from SUNY Stony Brook and an MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell. She lives in Harleysville with her husband, their adult twins, and two rescue dogs. She wants to bring community-centered leadership to the 147th District and serve all constituents – regardless of their political affiliation.- Affordability: Hard working Pennsylvanians can’t seem to get ahead. About a quarter of families living in Pennsylvania’s house district 147 don’t make enough money to cover their monthly bills- those statistics are worse for young families with children and for the elderly. This problem is only getting worse with tariff-driven inflation, job losses due to the recent economic slowdown and the rising costs of health care as the federal government let the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies expire and has slashed funding for Medicare and Medicaid. Margaret will fight for good jobs with fair wages and good benefits and she will fight to stem the tide of increasing costs in energy bills, housing, insurance, child care and groceries.
- Healthcare Access: Margaret will fight to protect Pennsylvanian’s access to health services and facilities, life-saving vaccines and medicines and affordable health insurance including ACA plans, Medicare and Medicaid. Hospital closures are increasing in Pennsylvania making it harder for any patient to find care when they need it. This is due in part to reduced Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements. This will become worse as $1.5 Trillion in cuts to these programs kick in over the next 10 years due to the federal government’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill”. Margaret supports legislation which aims to prevent corporations from acquiring hospitals or health systems and then closing or limiting health care services against public interest.
- A Fairly Funded Public Education System: Margaret will work to increase funding for public schools especially for students with special needs. She will fight to deliver on the Pennsylvania constitution’s guarantee of a free and appropriate education for all students regardless of their zip code. While the federal government is trying to eliminate the Department of Education, Margaret has worked on community projects to improve our schools for years. She wants to take that same dedication to Harrisburg.
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
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 27, 2026
