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March 12, 2023       Political Note #546 Susan Wild Pennsylvania 07

2024                           General Election

It should be no surprise that Susan Wild chaired the House Ethics Committee when the Democrats were in the majority. She came to Congress because she exercised a keen sense of ethics in tough circumstances in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Susan Wild was born in Germany.  Daughter of an Air Force officer, she also lived in France, New Mexico, California, and Washington, DC.  Her father was a conservative Republican. Her mother, who raised her two daughters on her own after the divorce, left Susan with three legacies – a connection to the Quakers, an interest in public affairs, and a Democratic orientation.  Her mother had been a member of Friends Meeting of Washington and was a journalist.   She worked, in California for a newspaper and a television station and in Washington for the AFL-CIO, the Peace Corps, the Government Employees union, and on the Africa newsletter for USIA.  Susan Wild also has a legacy from her first husband who was Jewish.  She did not convert to Judaism when they married, but was inspired to convert when her son went through the process of becoming Bar Mitzvah.

Susan Wild went to college and law school in Washington  – American University and George Washington, graduating respectively in 1978 and 1982.  She worked for 11 years for the Harrisburg firm Post & Schell and then for almost 20 years for Gross McGinley, an Allentown firm with a reach that went far beyond that small city. She was appointed city solicitor of Allentown in 2015.  Six months after becoming city solicitor, the role became complicated.  In that role, she earned a reputation that went beyond being another effective and successful attorney.

A search warrant was issued for city records.  Susan Wild was responsible for collecting the required documents and turning them over to the FBI.  The prosecutors credited her cooperation, her ability to maintain her independence and produce the necessary evidence as crucial for destroying the city’s culture of corruption through “perjury, destruction of evidence, and lies to the FBI.”

In September, 2017, Charlie Dent announced that he would not run for Congress again and in April, 2018, surprising many, he resigned from Congress.  A moderate Republican, he found he had less and less of a place in his party in Congress.  He joined a law firm and, by 2020, was endorsing Joe Biden for President. Susan Wild ran for the special election to replace him.  Unusually, the prosecutors in Allentown endorsed Susan Wild’s run for Congress – describing her as someone who “exudes honesty, integrity and independence.”

Susan Wild won the 2018 special election, held on the same day as the general election, by ¼ of a point in a Republican-oriented district based on the 2011 redistricting.  She won the 2018 general election by 10 points in a toss-up district that reflected the State Court imposed further redistricting.  The district’s toss up character is demonstrated by her 4 point win in 2020 and her 2 ½ point, 5,837 vote win in 2022.

Susan Wild’s tenure in Congress has been personally difficult.  Not long after her divorce in 2003, she married her old boyfriend from law school.   In 2019, Susan Wild spoke to Congress about him. In an extraordinarily difficult speech, she told the Members her husband had committed suicide.  The intersection between the personal and the political is rarely so clear.  Her husband’s death changed her emphasis in Congress. Already an advocate for health care, she organized an effort to address suicide prevention and mental health care.

In her campaign website Susan Wild has three bullet points on health care:

  • Make life saving prescriptions available. She comments that one of her proudest moments was voting to give Medicare the ability to negotiate certain drug prices.
  • Take bold action to fight and treat the opioid crisis. She stresses the need to treat drug addiction as a medical problem and to provide communities with the resources they need to prevent the spread of dangerous drugs.
  • Bring mental health care out of the shadows. She argues that accessible and affordable mental health services would reduce suicide. She points to a proposal and previous successes.  The proposal is to  support mental health services for  students on college campuses.  The successes include the incorporation of mental health screening in the Older Americans Act and the support provided to those involved in mental health services during Covid through the health care provider protection act.

A workhorse Member of Congress, Susan Wild has ten areas of policy she addresses in her website.  Formerly the Chair of the Ethics Committee, she is now the Ranking Member.  She co-chairs the New Democratic Coalition Climate Change Task Force and is Vice Chair of the Labor and Working Families Caucus.  So far, no Republican challenger has announced an interest in running.  It would be astonishing if there were none.  It’s not just me who sees this district as a toss up, so does the Cook Political Report.

Help Susan Wild out now.  Discourage potential Republican candidates.  Susan Wild did a good job of raising money for 2022.  She raised just less than $7 million.  She needs to start all over because she also did a good job of spending.  She began 2023 with $50,000 in the bank.

Wisconsin

April 4 is coming.  Donate to achieve important Democratic wins. 

 Wisconsin Supreme Court

Liberal-leaning County Judge Janet Protasiewicz was the highest vote getter on February 21 in the non-partisan primary for a seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court.  She received 46% of the vote.  Criticized for indicating how she was likely to vote on issues like women’s reproductive rights and redistricting, the voters appeared to be glad to have the information.  Former Supreme Court member Daniel Kelly, who lost his seat in the 2020 election, was the second highest vote getter with 24% of the vote.  A conservative activist, Kelly leaves no doubt about where he would vote on controversial social and cultural issues.

Currently, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has 3 members whose lean can be identified as progressive, 2 members whose lean can be identified as conservative, and one member who usually votes with the conservatives.  A victory for Janet Protasiewicz on April 4 would likely transform the Wisconsin political landscape – affecting decisions on abortion, on redistricting the state legislature which is overwhelmingly Republican despite the state’s even divide.  People who spend more money on elections than most of the readers of this newsletter will spend a lot of money on this campaign.  Smaller donors count.  Support Janet Protasiewicz. For more information, see Len’s Political Note #528.

Blogger Robert Hubbell, who writes today’s edition, has urged his readers to join Postcard to Voters to remind Wisconsin Democrats to vote for Judge Janet Protasiewicz in the Supreme Court Election.  He asked those with social media followers to urge their followers to join in this election which he, like others, has described as the most important election of 2023.

To join PostcardsToVoters.org, text “join” to 484-275-2229 or email “Hello” to join@tonythedemocrat.org.  If you are already a member, text “hello” to Abby the bot at the same phone number.

Wisconsin State Senate District 08

Environmental attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin was the only serious Democratic candidate in the February 21 primary.  The Republicans had a choice of three.  They chose State Rep Dan Knodl.  In the primary, he defeated a Trump acolyte so extreme and so problematic for House Speaker Robin Vos that Wisconsin Republicans banned her from their caucus.  Knodl emphasizes reducing spending, cutting taxes, and public safety.  He would be a reliable conservative vote against abortion and on other cultural issues.  Wisconsin Republicans are talking about their ability, with a two-thirds supermajority in each body of the legislature, to impeach and remove any state official. The Republicans in the state House of Representatives are two seats away from gaining a two-thirds supermajority.  Jodi Habush Sinykin’s election would flip a Republican seat and prevent the State Senate from having a two-thirds supermajority. See Len’s Political Note #529 for more information about Jodi Habush Sinykin.