The 2024 election season is in full swing! In the state of Pennsylvania, control of the state House of Representatives is down to a hair! Currently Democrats control the House 102-100, with one vacancy. Every race is critical for control over the lower house in Pennsylvania, an important, very populous swing state. Naturally, we favor the Democratic Party, particularly the most progressive members who will bring change to America to keep all Americans’ civil and legal rights intact.

This week we are highlighting Emily Kinkead (she/her), a millennial lawyer who is a founding member the Leadership Team of the Pennsylvania Progressive Caucus. Collectively, this Caucus works to push progressive priorities like criminal justice reform, affordable housing, access to healthcare, affordable childcare, expanding access to public transit, and more. She is the House Chair of the Legislative Hunger Caucus and Secretary of the House Agriculture Committee, working to address hunger-related issues as well as advocate for more investment in programs that would address food insecurity. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Capitol All-Stars Softball Game, which is a softball game where legislators raise money for their charitable food network. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee and Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime & Corrections, she has been working hard to address criminal justice reform.

Where are you based?
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

What is your position/what position are you running for?
State Representative

How would you briefly summarize your platform?
I'm working hard for working families — pushing for the policies that support families from access to childcare to a living wage to investing in programs that lift people up and make our communities better and safer.

What inspired you to run?
Fundamentally, it was what inspired many progressive women to run — Trump's victory in 2016. I was politically active as far back as high school, but I never really thought that I would hold elected office myself. Seeing Trump win over an incredibly qualified woman was heartbreaking, but I also realized in looking around at my community that it was not enough to just not elect people that I disagreed with. Our communities deserved people on our team who were actual outspoken advocates, not merely occupying seats. They say if you're not at the table, you're on the menu but you also end up on the menu if your seat at the table is occupied by someone who doesn't push back when you are targeted.

What change are you hoping to bring to your district and country?
I have been working to be a representative that is far more present and accessible throughout the district, as well as someone who is a vocal champion for progressive policies — and who does not let bad policy go unchallenged. I want to see real criminal justice reform in Pennsylvania. I want to address food insecurity. I want to make our communities safer by addressing the social determinants of criminal behavior — economic instability, discrimination in hiring practices (especially towards returning citizens), housing instability, etc. I also want to address less sexy, but equally important issues for my district like the serious problems caused by landslides throughout Western Pennsylvania.

How long have you been in office? What do you consider to be your major accomplishments so far?
I've been in office since December 2020, so a little over 3 years. Most recently, I got a bill passed that will form a bipartisan commission to study our criminal statutes to look for duplicative offenses, outdated language, inconsistent grading, and unenforceable language. A study may sound like a small thing, but when you consider that when our Crimes Code was first introduced, it had about 250 crimes. Now, Pennsylvania has more than 1500 criminal offenses on the books. Getting experts to look at our laws and make recommendations about changing, repealing, or adjusting our criminal statutes is a major step to addressing criminal justice reform.

What do you feel are the most important issues right now, why, and how do you plan to tackle them?
It's hard to choose just a few issues. Criminal justice reform, job training, childcare, healthcare, education, and on and on are all entwined together. We have a court order in Pennsylvania saying that the way we fund our schools right now is unconstitutional and the state must do more to fund them rather than forcing school districts to rely on property taxes so heavily. But we need to identify new sources of funding to do it because Pennsylvania has a shrinking and aging population. So we're talking about legalizing marijuana, but if we legalize marijuana, we must tackle expunging criminal records for marijuna-related offenses. And how far does that go? Do we address resentencing people who are currently serving time on offenses that are not marijuana-related because their prior record score dropped after the expungement of a marijuana-related offense, acknowledging that marijuana-related convictions are often the gateway into the criminal justice system for many people, especially Black and brown people? And as we talk about addressing those injustices, we must talk about addressing other injustices in our criminal justice system like seemingly unending probation sentences and useless sentencing enhancements and disproportionate punishments for crimes. And we need to talk about the fact that as we are struggling to fill jobs, especially in healthcare and childcare, that we are frequently leaving an entire class of eager workers on the sidelines — our returning citizens. Stable employment, stable housing, and a robust support network are the three key ways that we reduce recidivism and yet we continue to make it all but impossible for returning citizens to access jobs, housing, and other supports. I have been working to use my platform to educate my colleagues on how so many of the issues we tackle are interrelated and that we must approach things holistically. I will continue to advocate for bills that work to address the issues, big and small, that I come across through conversations with constituents and stakeholders, and my own experiences in the community to fix problems big and small. Fundamentally, I guess I can't say that any one issue is the most important to address right now. They are all important and that's why I appreciate having so many colleagues with different backgrounds who take on these issues from a multitude of perspectives that I don't have so that I can support legislation I would never have thought of myself.

America is extremely divided these days. How would you hope to bridge that divide with your constituents to better unite Americans?
I made a commitment when I was first running that I would always tell people where I stand and why. We may not agree on everything, but I will never avoid telling someone my position and my reason for supporting or opposing bills will never be merely because I was told to do so by my Leadership or the Governor. Because of that, I have constituents across the political spectrum who appreciate the work I do because I am honest and transparent. I think transparency and giving people the courtesy of not just telling them what is happening but also why helps to bridge the partisan divide. I also happily work across the aisle with anyone that I can get to sign onto my legislation because I would rather govern than score political points.

How do you see your unique identity and background to be an asset to you in office?
As a lawyer, a policy wonk, a woman, a person under 40, a survivor of childhood abuse, a person without children, a person without a spouse, a personal with mental illness, as a person who doesn't identify as religious — all of the aspects of my identity make me a better legislator. My struggles and my successes make me a stronger advocate because I can share my experiences, I can govern with compassion, and I can see things from a perspective that not everyone has.

What is your motto in life?
Do the most good for the most people.

Where can we find out more about you?
You can learn more about me at www.emily4pa20.com or any of my social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Our Favorite Progressive Candidates in 2024 - Emily Kinkead, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 20