Democrats line up to challenge Meehan
A second Democratic candidate has announced her intention to run against U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan in a bid to upset the four-term Republican incumbent in 2018.
Political newcomer Molly Sheehan, 31, of Philadelphia, will vie for the Democratic nomination riding on the wave of criticism sent Meehan’s way in the aftermath of the failed Republican replacement of
Obamacare.
Meehan, 61, has represented Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District since 2011. The district covers Delaware County and parts of Chester, Montgomery, Berks and Lancaster counties. The sprawling district has been singled out as one of the worst examples of gerrymandering in the country.
Dan Muroff, 49, of Mt. Airy, the former president of the anti-gun violence group CeaseFirePA and former chief of staff of U.S. Rep. Mike Capuano, DMass., announced earlier this week he will seek the Democratic Party nomination to challenge Meehan.
Sheehan, a biomedical engineer at the University of Pennsylvania, who “wears the term ‘progressive’ proudly,” criticized Meehan’s stance as a “moderate” Republican.
“He used to sell himself as a moderate, but his voting record is antithetical to that,” Sheehan said. “People are worried about losing their health insurance, this is right here, people depend on it right now.”
Sheehan is currently finishing a fellowship at Penn. She lives in University City with her husband, Ian Yuan, a pediatric anesthesiologist, and their daughter Ida, 3. They are in the process of moving to a permanent residence in Springfield, which her family has called home for three generations.
“I think Meehan is proving the only constituents he’s loyal to is in Washington,” she said.
Muroff said his roots are in Delaware County and if elected to Congress would represent its views in Washington.
“Can you build upon this fervor?” Muroff asked of the action en masse of voters around the country taking to the streets in response to the policies of President Donald Trump who locally have put pressure on Meehan and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., in the form of rallies and street protests.
“Those who are most active, they’re on the front line in this,” Muroff said. “They represent a large field of people who are really frustrated and deeply concerned about the rhetoric of this administration.”
Muroff previously ran for the Congress in the 2nd District, Chaka Fattah’s former territory, and lost in the primary election. Recently he sold his home in Mt. Airy and is in the process of moving back to Flourtown in Montgomery County. A private practice attorney, he said he has led efforts to aid women transitioning into the workforce, expedited federal funds for affordable housing to people with disabilities and secured funding for neighborhood improvements across Philadelphia.
Health care is among his highest priorities.
“We have a social contract with people of this district in Pennsylvania and nationally to provide basic securities,” Muroff said.
Rallies outside of Meehan’s office followed his vote on the Ways and Means Committee to send the GOP health care bill to the full House; it ass killed before a final vote. Meehan said he would have been a decisive “no” on a final vote.
Meehan made his intentions known after the bill was already dead. Muroff and Sheehan criticized that move.
“I’ve been disappointed that Pat Meehan has not stepped out in front of his constituents from the community,” Muroff said. “It won’t always be pleasant, it might be hostile ... but people need fair representation.”
Muroff said that while the size of the war chest needed to challenge Meehan, who raised $2,419,636 in 2015-16, will be daunting, he is up for the challenge.
“People want their elected officials to be straight with them. Do they want a super hardleft liberal? No,” Muroff said. “I consider myself a person who is deliberative and evaluates everything for the best approach and solution. Sometimes that means compromise, which has become increasingly dirty in Washington.”
While ideologically far different from the policies of the president, Sheehan said there is something to learn from the campaign methods Trump used in victory.
“He really did run a people’s campaign, I think he had half the equation right and the other half incredibly wrong,” Sheehan said. “Those ‘Make America Great Again’ hats are the most brilliant brand ... It triggers me to think about him whenever I see a red Phillies hat.”
She hopes to foster the millennial vote through digital volunteering and ramping up excitement to vote on college campuses in finding solutions for economic policies that are “flexible for families and the ability for entrepreneurs to succeed.”
“I will fight for the middle class in a real way and capitalize on it,” Sheehan said. “Many campaigns are run from the top down, but it’s got to be from the bottom up.”
Regarding the firsttime candidate’s young age, Sheehan said it was a point of empowerment, not weakness. Though she never had the lifelong career goal to be a politician, she said she the election cycle was so upsetting that she was compelled to have the voices of the millennial generation better represented in Washington.
“People are upset with the general establishment. I think a lot of Washington is out of touch,” Sheehan said. “I know what it’s like not to come from an over-privileged background and I don’t think Meehan will protect those people.”
“We need new leadership, young people in the federal pipeline,” she continued. “If we keep electing people at their latestage careers it will never happen ... health care reform, science funding, environmental regulation, those are the issues I care about.”