Watch PA State Reps doing the Whip and Nae Nae

All Democrats--as if you had to ask. After all, they are advocating for funds for public school kids!

(And, if enough of you had voted right in my district, we could have had Erin Molchany up there with them.)

Molchany and Readshaw Take the "What is Your Spirit Animal?" BuzzFeed Quiz

Yeah, that looks about right.

Pro Choice/Anti Readshaw Rally Turns Ugly

On Wednesday, May 7, Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania Advocates held a "Rally Against Readshaw: 31 Minutes for 31 Votes Against Women's Health" in front of PA State Rep. Harry Readshaw's (D-Allegheny-Dist 36) Brownsville Road office. Here's how the event was described on Facebook by the hosts:

Representative Harry Readshaw has voted against women’s health an astonishing 31 times in the Pennsylvania legislature, and it’s time to show him that the women of South Pittsburgh deserve better. 

Join us for a 31-minute protest out side Rep. Readshaw's district office against the 31 times Harry Readshaw voted to restrict women's access to reproductive healthcare in PA. Let's make Readshaw tell us why he thinks women are not capable of making our own medical decisions.

Here are some photographs from the event:

And, here is a list of Readshaw's votes on women's health: www.31votesagainstwomen.com. It includes the infamous bill he introduced which would have forced women:

[T]o have a medically unnecessary ultrasound 24 hours prior to an abortion. It also forces doctors to turn the ultrasound screen towards the woman’s face. It then forces the woman take TWO prints with her (one for her scrapbook, and the other one SHE has to bring to the doctor performing the abortion.) And, furthermore, it forces civil and criminal penalties for doctors and patients who dare defy their legislating of medicine.

Here's the ad Planned Parenthood is running against him:

 

Readshaw has run unopposed in the Democratic primary for many years and has been a legislator since first winning in 1994. However, since House districts have been redrawn, he now has an opponent in the May 20 primary: Rep. Erin Molchany (D-Allegheny-Dist 22) who is progressive and pro choice and who has picked up endorsements from such local elected democrats as County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Mayor Bill Peduto, City Council President Bruce Kraus, City Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak, and others.

Maybe that's what's driving (no pun intended) some of Readshaw's supporters over the edge. From the Community Matters blog description of the rally:

I've been to hundreds of demonstrations in my lifetime. This began as a pretty standard event. We circled the sidewalk in front of Readshaw's office until a woman in a large SUV backed up along the curb, nearly hitting some protestors and reporters. Jeanne Clark, a longtime Pittsburgh activist, walked to the driver's window and said "Stop. There are people behind you." The driver said "You don't care about killing babies", and she did it again. Deliberately. She sat in the car screeching "Abortion is murder." Apparently, she doesn't have a problem with vehicular homicide or critical injury. Pro-life my ass. 

We learned that the woman is Megan Readshaw Perfetti, Harry Readshaw's DAUGHTER. 

Perfetti is a health teacher and coordinates the health education curriculum for the Pittsburgh Public Schools. I guess she doesn't think women need health care. 

Before the event even began, a man from the business next door strongly objected to our presence. He shouted that he was calling the police. No one cared, since we were protesting legally. A Pittsburgh Police car arrived a few minutes later, after Perfetti's stunt, and sat in a parking space across the street. Perfetti walked over to talk to the officer. I don't know what they discussed, since she was clearly the only person committing a crime at the time, but the officer never left his car. He drove away as the event ended.

Wow! And they call themselves "pro life."

You can also read the City Paper's Blogh coverage here.

A Man (or two) With A Plan!

(Recent mailers for Readshaw and Ravenstahl)

I have a plan to not vote for either of them...EVER.

Little girl, do your parents know what district you're in? (My guess would be PA-iStock.)

Keystone Analytics Poll Shows Peduto Ahead by Double Digits

Via Keystone Analytics:

Current Councilman Bill Peduto appears strongest out of the gate polling the highest among five potential candidates tested. Peduto, along with City Controller Michael Lamb, both have very strong name recognition with these voters but Peduto’s recognition translates to actual support with 30 percent of likely Democratic Primary voters saying they would vote for him if the election were held today.

Jack Wagner gets 20%, Lamb comes in at 13% and Jim Ferlo and Darlene Harris are in the single digits.

In other good news for Peduto, he was endorsed today by three elected officials from Pittsburgh's southern neighborhoods: PA State Rep. Erin C. Molchany, Pittsburgh City Councilor Natalia Rudiak and Pittsburgh City Councilor Bruce Kraus.

Additionally, Peduto announced he hit a half million dollars in donations this week.

Maybe Peduto is doing so well because he has actual ideas and "political imagination."


*** Obligatory Disclaimer: As everyone should know by now, I've been working part-time for People For Peduto since 2010.

Finally, some much needed oversight!

Finally, we have some much needed oversight from some newly minted elected officials here in Pennsyltucky:

New PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane to launch an investigation into the Attorney General’s office’s (Tom Corbett's) handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse case.

New PA Auditor General Eugene DePasquale to order a performance audit of the Department of Environmental Protection’s policing of the natural gas industry “to make sure our constitutional right to pure water is not being compromised.”

New PA State Rep. Erin Molchany speaks out against Governor Corbett's deal to hand over control of the billion-dollar-a-year Pennsylvania Lottery to a foreign firm with no say by anyone other than Corbett:

Congratulations!

Photo by Chuck Pascal
Congratulations to PA State Representative Erin Molchany, PA State Representative Ed Gainey and PA Auditor General Eugene DePasquale on being sworn in to your new offices yesterday -- looking forward to great things from all of you!

Sightings of the Extremely Rare Female PA Pol

Did you know that Pennsylvania ranks 47th in the nation in terms of female representation and participation in politics? Public Source takes a look at three of these rare birds in Southwestern PA: Pittsburgh City Councilor Natalia Rudiak, prominent Republican Elsie Hillman and Braddock Borough Council President Tina Doose. The slideshow is by Martha Rial who I had the pleasure of sharing a panel with on new media at CMU earlier this year. (If you'd like to up the odds, please help out Erin Molchany's campaign here.)

Primary Wrap Up

Chris Potter on the wins by young, progressives Erin Molchany and Ed Gainey and Matt Merriman-Preston's role in the election. Also, how this bodes well for a bid for mayor by Bill Peduto.

Sue Kerr on Brian Sims being on course to becoming PA's first openly gay state representative.

Howard Fineman on the 'Clinton Party' wins in PA.

And, kudos to the Post-Gazette for their unendorsement.

Let's all get out there and vote!

It occurs to me that I should have run a contest as to what name I should write in instead of voting for Harry Readshaw. I'm thinking something like "A. Real Democrat."

Endorsements

There are a lot of progressive people running tomorrow in the PA Democratic primary. Here are some of the best:

STATEWIDE:
Attorney General
Patrick Murphy
Murphy played a leadership role in the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" when he was in Congress. He's also been extremely up front about his pro choice views and against the Republican War on Women.
http://www.murphyforpa.com

Auditor General
Eugene DePasquale
Great on Marcellus Shale and all the other issues you care about! A candidate with strong progressive tendencies, but also "something more essential: a deep-seated commitment towards doing right by all citizens of PA, in a way that transcends ideology."
http://eugene4pa.com

LOCAL:
District 22
Erin Molchany
She's so good, she's endorsed nationally! I'll be hoofing it out to Brookline to phone bank for her this afternoon.
http://erinmolchany.com

District 23
Dan Frankel
An always reliable progressive!

District 24
Edward Gainey
I agree with the P-G -- it's time for a change!
http://edgainey.com

District 56
Marybeth Kuznik
Not exactly from around here, but she's great! She's also the founder of VotePA
http://vote4marybeth.com