Molly Sheehan
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Molly Sheehan (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District. She lost in the Democratic primary on May 15, 2018.
Career
Below is an abbreviated outline of Sheehan's academic, professional, and political career:[1]
- 2008-Present: Biophysicist and bioengineer at the University of Pennsylvania
- Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania
- 2014: Graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biophysics
- 2007: Graduated from Haverford College with a B.S. in biology
Elections
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 5
Mary Gay Scanlon defeated Pearl Kim in the general election for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 5 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mary Gay Scanlon (D)  | 65.2 | 198,639 |
 | Pearl Kim (R) | 34.8 | 106,075 | |
| Total votes: 304,714 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 5
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 5 on May 15, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mary Gay Scanlon | 28.4 | 17,220 |
 | Ashley Lunkenheimer | 15.3 | 9,291 | |
 | Richard Lazer | 15.0 | 9,095 | |
 | Molly Sheehan | 10.2 | 6,216 | |
 | Gregory Vitali | 9.4 | 5,726 | |
 | Lindy Li | 7.0 | 4,236 | |
 | Theresa Wright | 5.2 | 3,149 | |
 | Thaddeus Kirkland | 4.0 | 2,420 | |
 | Margo Davidson | 4.0 | 2,413 | |
| Larry Arata | 1.5 | 925 | ||
| Total votes: 60,691 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- George Badey (D)
- David Wertime (D)
- Dan Muroff (D)
- Shelly Chauncey (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 5
Pearl Kim advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Pennsylvania District 5 on May 15, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Pearl Kim | 100.0 | 34,352 |
| Total votes: 34,352 | |||
| = 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
- Paul Addis (R)
Campaign themes
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Molly Sheehan participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on April 17, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Molly Sheehan's responses follow below.[2]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | 1) Single Payer Healthcare: expanded healthcare coverage, fully covering and removing structural barriers for women and vulnerable communities, and moving to a premium-free Single Payer plan. Full plan at mollysheehan.org/healthcare 2) Federally-funded Early Childhood Education: Universal Pre-K, Childcare subsidies that track with the cost of childcare, Paid parental & family leave |
” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | Nearly all major issues come down to the obstruction by monied interests due to our perverse system of campaign funding and expansion of the Campaign Industrial Complex. We must overturn Citizens United and publicly fund campaigns so every American has equal access and influence over their elected representatives. We will accomplish this when we elect representatives that are only beholden to the people and it is why I am committed to running small-donor funded grassroots campaign that is of and for the people!Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[4]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Molly Sheehan answered the following:
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?
| “ | Shirley Chisholm is my greatest political ideal. She spoke truth to power and representing the people first. When she wasn't given a seat at the table, she brought a chair. I hope to keep her legacy alive and bring a lot of chairs with me as well for other women and less privileged people to run for office and win![4] | ” |
| “ | Elected officials must be empathetic, active listeners to their constituents. We must also work hard to have an open door and to innovate new solutions to everyday problems. We must also check our egos at the door, to build alliances and put getting legislation passed for our constituents over gaining credit for such successes.[4] | ” |
| “ | Currently, Washington is defined by ideological gridlock because people, mostly lawyers, come tot eh table with a list of asks and then try to horse trade. As a scientist and engineer, I work by first agreeing on the problem at hand, then working together towards a solution. As an engineer, I also work for my end user, my patient, my constituent first and foremost, to come up with creative solutions for their problems as they define them. Engineering is an act of empathy with pragmatic solutions. We must put people, not personal political power, first.[4] | ” |
| “ | The core responsibility is to represent and fight for the needs of the people who elected me. That involves only being beholden to constituents and working hard to build alliances and enact legislation that is not constrained by the standard sound bites. I will come to every conversation with an open mind, but firm to my values of ensuring everybody has their vital needs met.[4] | ” |
| “ | When I was 7 years old, I watched the Antia Hill hearings. Even at that young age, I could not believe the mistreatment and disbelief of a clearly astute and educated woman's testimony. This was done at the hands of my future Senator, Arlen Specter. I remember the shock of Clarence Thomas surviving the hearings and gaining appointment. When I was a senior in high school, Senator Specter came to speak at an assembly. I, and two other students, were pulled into the principal's office ahead of time to be instructed as to a list of topics we were not allowed to ask. First on the list was Anita Hill. Yet again, I could not believe the weakness with which we were led, that our Senator could not withstand questioning from a 17 year old girl about his public treatment of Anita Hill, so much so that he had me intimidated prior to his appearance. I complied, regrettably, but it was etched in by my anger as I sat through the assembly that we must gain better leaders; that we must put women at the table; and that we must put people's testimony over political desires.[4] | ” |
| “ | Captain Janeway[4] | ” |
| “ | El Amante - Nicky Jam[4] | ” |
| “ | I believe we need a diversity of experience. It is beneficial to have some representatives that have been working in government or politics, but we also need new ideas and voices at the table who have been working in the economy of our district, who understand how the physical world works, and the realities of our communities. Legislation must be written that impacts so many issues, that we must have experts serving from a variety of sectors. When everybody is from government, we become insular and see the stalemates and lack of innovation currently in Washington. No single background should be representing the incredible diversity of the United States.[4] | ” |
| “ | I would like to serve on Science Space and Technology. Over the next few years, there is much that can be done to improve our healthcare system and make it more equitable through this committee. It starts with ensuring medical research is done properly in women, minority and real-world models. We must also enact best-practice efficiency improvements and ensure our medical records seamlessly transfer between providers. There are also many new technologies developing that will require serious legislative regulation and we need technologists leading these conversations. Gene editing (Crispr/CAS) technology has implications from agriculture to eugenics and needs to be taken seriously. There will also be a new generation of fake news upon us, as voice generation software and the ability to impose facial expressions and movement into video already in late-stage development. These technologies have the potential to incite political riots as well as damage the credibility of recorded first person testimony. Personal footage from phone cameras has been instrumental in documenting abuses of the poor, minority and immigrant communities, and bringing attention to important movements like Black Lives Matter. We must have compassionate technologists leading the regulation of this software so as not to lose the power of the people's testimony.[4] | ” |
| “ | I think 3 years would be ideal, so that representatives are not campaigning as soon as they are elected, but can see be replaced and held responsible quickly after election.[4] | ” |
| “ | I think we need fresh blood in Washington, but we must have lobbying reform before enacting any term limits. The worst scenario is for elected representatives to be temporary but the corporate lobbyists to be forever.[4] | ” |
| “ | Redistricting should be done by independent non-political committee.[4] | ” |
| “ | I hope to model myself after Elizabeth Warren. She speaks truth to power and fights for the poor against corporate interests, but manages to build alliances and grow her soapbox to amplify these issues.[4] | ” |
| “ | In Delaware and Chester Counties, there is a highly volatile natural gas liquids pipeline being installed, the Mariner East II, which is transporting for export to Scotland for plastics. Yet, it's been given public utility eminent domain status. I have met with countless residents along this route who are terrified of a leak, in which clear, odorless gas would flow like a river into basements and ignite. They are worried it goes through their elementary school yard, 50 ft from their house, 50 ft from a home for people with disabilities. They cannot move, as their homes no longer have value. Some have been denied property insurance. It is an unconstitutional violation of their personal property rights and right to personal safety at home and in their communities. Construction continues due to a failure of government at every single level exempting oil and gas from environmental and safety regulations, and big money buying our representatives so they would approve such a hazardous project. It is a clear call for new representation at every level, so ensure the public safety and welfare.[4] | ” |
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District election, 2018
- Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted on Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form on May 17, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Molly Sheehan's responses," April 17, 2018
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
Senators
John Fetterman (D)
David McCormick (R)
Representatives
District 1
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
District 15
Glenn Thompson (R)
District 16
Mike Kelly (R)
District 17
Chris Deluzio (D)
Republican Party (11)
Democratic Party (8)
