Schwartz Says Harrisburg Needs Woman Gov. To Clean Out Old Boys Club
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Polls show her a distant second to front-runner Tom Wolf, but Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz says the fight has only just begun against a millionaire who will outspend everyone.
"The law allows him to do that," Schwartz told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Tuesday.
"It's a fact. What I have is 9,000 people, so far, have donated to my campaign -- 9,000. And some of them are giving me $5, some of them are giving me $25," Schwartz said.
The Philadelphia congresswoman says her grass-roots campaign will trump Wolf's money and recent endorsements from local officials like Congressman Mike Doyle, Allegheny County executive Rich Fitzgerald and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto.
"My own feeling is that the voters will decide," Schwartz said.
Schwartz took calls on the local WESA talk show with host Paul Guggenheimer.
Guggenheimer: "Is Pennsylvania ready to elect a woman to be governor?"
Schwartz: "Absolutely. I would say they are really hungry to elect a new governor. To defeat Tom Corbett and his failed leadership is something I think unites a lot of Pennsylvanians."
Schwartz is the state's only female congresswoman.
"It's going to take a woman to shake things up in Harrisburg," she told Jon Delano.
Schwartz isn't just playing on gender. She stresses her legislative experience.
"It's not just any woman," she said. "I think it actually matters to have the right kind of experience, to know how to handle yourself."
But she calls Harrisburg an old boys club.
"They kind of look out for each other a whole lot more than they look out for all the rest of us," she added. "And as a woman, I challenge that old boys club by who I am, by what I care about, by what I'm going to fight for."
Schwartz is not the only woman running for governor this year.
Former environmental protection secretary Katie McGinty is running as well, and she beat Schwartz in getting her TV ads up on the air.
Besides Wolf, Schwartz and McGinty, Rob McCord and Jack Wagner are also on the primary ballot, too.
The primary election is just nine weeks from Tuesday.
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