THREE PRO-CHOICE CHAMPIONS & EXPERIENCED SENATORS
TAMMY DUCKWORTH (U.S. Senate, Illinois)
- A hero and a proven leader
- A champion for Illinois working families
A must-win reelection fight
United States Senator Tammy Duckworth is a Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and a former head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. She served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years before retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In Iraq, Tammy was flying a mission north of Baghdad in November of 2004 when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Tammy’s crew landed the aircraft, but she lost both of her legs and shattered her right arm in the blast. She received the Purple Heart for her injuries. During her recovery and beyond, Tammy has remained committed to public service, advocating for Veterans and disability rights and fighting for Illinois’ working families. Fluent in Thai and Indonesian, Tammy holds a master’s degree in international affairs and a Ph.D. in human services. Tammy was elected to the House of Representatives in 2012, where she served on the Armed Services and Oversight and Government Reform Committees, and went on to be elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, flipping a seat from red to blue. In 2018, after she became the first senator to give birth while serving in office, she sent a message to working families across the country about the value of family-friendly policies by securing a historic rules change that allows senators to bring their infant children onto the Senate floor. Tammy lives with her husband Bryan, their daughters Abigail and Maile and her mother, Lamai.
In the Senate, Tammy is focused on expanding economic opportunity for all of Illinois’s working families. She advocates for practical, commonsense solutions needed to move Illinois and our country forward like rebuilding our infrastructure, growing manufacturing jobs while supporting minority-owned small businesses, investing in communities that have been ignored for too long, and making college more affordable for all Americans. Tammy co-founded the Senate’s first-ever Environmental Justice Caucus and also continues her lifelong mission of supporting, protecting, and keeping the promises we’ve made to our servicemembers, military families and Veterans. When reelected, she will continue her life’s work of serving our country and defending our American values.
Tammy’s lived experience and her commitment to championing the rights of women and families make her an indispensable leader in the U.S. Senate. “I view my time now as a bonus, and that has allowed me to speak up without fear,” she has said. We need her voice in the halls of power now more than ever before. Tammy flipped a seat from red to blue in 2016, and Republicans are sure to attempt to win it back in 2022. Let’s show this pro-choice champion our full support as she defends this critical seat in 2022.
MAGGIE HASSAN (U.S. Senate, New Hampshire)
- A dedicated public servant
- A champion for New Hampshire working families
A critical hold in a perennial swing state
Senator Maggie Hassan was elected to represent New Hampshire in the United States Senate in 2016, and she is running for reelection to build on her outstanding record of fighting for Granite State working families. Maggie and her husband Tom are the proud parents of two children, Ben and Meg, and Maggie got her start in public service by advocating to ensure that children like her son Ben, who experiences severe disabilities, would be fully included in their communities and have the same opportunities that all parents want for their children. Maggie, an attorney, went on to serve for three terms in the New Hampshire state Senate and as the 81st governor of New Hampshire, fighting to expand opportunity for all Granite Staters. She is the second woman in American history to be elected both governor and United States senator, along with fellow New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen. Maggie is dedicated to solving the toughest problems working families face, and she fearlessly stands up to those seeking to roll back progress or violate the fundamental rights of Americans.
From her time in the New Hampshire state legislature to her years serving as the state’s governor, Maggie has shown she has what it takes to get things done — and she’s done it with pragmatism and compassion. She is working tirelessly to expand economic and educational opportunity for all, and to help lead our country forward. Growing up, Maggie’s father taught her that “policies that don’t help people are bad policies,” and she has spent her career in public service motivated by that same belief. Her work in the U.S. Senate has focused on building a more inclusive economic future where all people who work hard to get ahead can stay ahead, expanding access to job training and making college more affordable for our students and families, and helping innovative businesses grow and create good jobs. Maggie has worked tirelessly to protect Social Security and Medicare, combat climate change and preserve our natural resources, to address the opioid crisis, and to protect a woman's right to make her own health care decisions. When reelected, she will continue to be a fierce champion for New Hampshire working families.
In 2016, Maggie faced one of the toughest fights of the cycle, ultimately winning her battle to flip a seat from red to blue with a margin of just 1,017 votes. EMILY’s List has been with Maggie since her first race for New Hampshire state senator, and we are proud to be with her every step of the way as she defends this critical swing seat in a state where we cannot take a single vote for granted. Republicans are sure to do everything in their power to turn this seat red, but we know Maggie has what it takes to win again in 2022. Let’s show Maggie our full support and show her that we continue to have her back as she fights to move our country forward.
PATTY MURRAY (U.S. Senate, Washington)
- A proven leader and trailblazer
- A fierce champion for women and families
A must-win reelection fight
Senator Patty Murray first got involved in politics to fight back against politicians who were trying to cut a preschool program that her kids counted on. When she was told she couldn’t make a difference because she was “just a mom in tennis shoes,” she realized that if she wanted change, she was going to have to lace up those tennis shoes and fight back. Patty decided to run for the school board and then the state legislature to make a difference from the inside on policies impacting families like hers. In 1992, she became the first woman elected to represent Washington State in the U.S. Senate after her election during the historic Year of the Woman, and has continued to be a trailblazing force ever since — becoming the first woman to chair the Senate Budget Committee, the first woman to chair the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and now serving as the incoming chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
Since the moment she was elected, Patty has used every tool at her disposal to help people, solve problems, lift up the stories and concerns of families in Washington state, and offer a clear and loud voice for progressive change. She is one of the most influential and forceful advocates in the Senate for policies that benefit women and families. In the new Congress, Patty will serve as chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee—where she has been the top Democrat for years and a champion for families for decades. She has used her role as a leader on the Committee to put a spotlight on women’s health and economic issues, fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care, and advocate for necessary reforms, including equal pay protections, paid family leave, and increasing the minimum wage. She has also worked across the aisle to finally fix the broken No Child Left Behind law, make significant investments to address the maternal mortality crisis, and secure the largest ever increase in child care funding.
Show Senator Murray we continue to have her back as she faces reelection again in 2022. Let’s ensure that this pro-choice champion continues her tireless work in the United States Senate, building on her outstanding record as a fierce advocate for working families and leading our country forward.
Original post blogged on Women' Voices Media.