Haverford’s Balchunis running for 7th district, but takes in festivities this week
PHILADELPHIA >> Mary Ellen Balchunis, the Democratic candidate for the 7th U.S. Congressional District, sat in the 200-level of the Wells Fargo Center Thursday night, watching a woman who once visited her college classroom.
“It means so much to me to be here,” Balchunis said, attending her seventh Democratic National Convention. “It’s really history in the making. On Tuesday night, with the nomination, I have to be honest, I cried.”
A political science professor, the Haverford resident said she talks about how difficult it has been for women in her “Women in Politics” class, especially as they discuss the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which in 1920 gave women the right to vote.
During the 1992 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton visited her class at St. Joseph’s University.
“I could have never imagined that she would go on to be a U.S. senator, then Secretary of State and then run for president. Even more, I could never imagine that I would be on the ballot, with her running for president.”
She noted the number of women on the ballots in Pennsylvania this fall.
“When we were talking we were talking about Hillary being the first president, Katie McGinty running as the first woman Senator in Pennsylvania and I’d be the first woman running for the Pennsylvania’s 7th District,” she said.
“This one is very different. We’ve been coming here for male presidents. Even in the Pennsylvania delegation, we’re running a well-coordinated campaign … I see us, we’re all helping each other, helping other candidates out.”
“You can see the problems Gov. (Tom) Wolf has when you have a divided Legislature,” she said. “So, now, it’s very difficult to get things done. We see that at the state level, we see that at the national.”
Her opponent, U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-7, of Chadds Ford, issued a statement in response to Balchunis.
“Pat Meehan is focused on making Washington more accountable and getting government out of the way of Pennsylvania families and small businesses,” it read. “He is fighting to end the hemorrhaging of jobs overseas, working to fix a broken tax code, controlling the cost of health care and keeping us safe from terrorism.”
For Lauren Balchunis, 22, this convention was her sixth and she was 2 years old at her first.
“It’s incredible,” Lauren Balchunis said. “I’ve been going to conventions since I was so young and I didn’t really appreciate it then because I didn’t really understand it, I didn’t really know what was going but now that I’m old enough to understand the issues and I’m in college, I realize what an incredible opportunity I’ve had for all these years.”
She said she grew up loving Hillary Clinton, almost by osmosis through her mom.
“But now that I can understand her, I realize how amazing it really is to have a woman be nominated for the presidency and it’s just such an incredible experience,” the USC student said. “Whenever I hear anybody insult Hillary, I feel like I defend her like she’s my second mom because of how long I’ve been following her for.”
She was also excited Chelsea Clinton speak.
“Because I have to follow my mom as she runs for Congress, I almost have a similar role to Chelsea on a smaller scale, so seeing the way she steps up for her mom to see and introduces her will be really interesting to apply to my journey with my mom’s campaign,” Lauren Balchunis said.
The night also resonated her mom.
“Campaigns are tough and to see Hillary do this, … it’s so inspirational,” Mary Ellen Balchunis said. with