Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper
The freshman congresswoman from Pennsylvania spoke about her experience as a single mother, what she learned during the campaign, and young voters.
By David Spett
January 5, 2009
Congresswoman Kathy DahlkemperCongressional upsets last Election Day included political neophyte Kathy Dahlkemper’s victory in northwest Pennsylvania. Even though she held no political office previously and was outspent by a margin of more than two to one, the 51-year-old dietitian, landscaping contractor, and arboretum director managed a four-point win over seven-term Republican incumbent Phil English. Dahlkemper opposes abortion and gun control, aligning her with numerous other Pennsylvania Democrats, including Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. But despite her cultural conservatism, she campaigned largely on progressive economic issues, linking English to President Bush’s unpopular economic policies. Dahlkemper spoke to Campus Progress about her experience as a single mother, what she learned during the campaign, and young voters.
Campus Progress: Given your experience on Election Day, what advice would you give to young people who want to run for office?
Kathy Dahlkemper: My advice would be to try to have as many varied experiences as you can, no matter what your career path. My varied experiences helped me in my election because I was able to identify with people from many different walks of life.
I’ve changed careers many times: I’ve worked in health care, in business, and in volunteer work in the nonprofit sector. The fact that I’m also a mother and raised children in that setting helped me to identify with many different people.
The other thing is that I had connections with so many different groups of people. I think my opponents, in the primary and general election, were surprised with the connections I’ve made during these 50 years. All these connections helped open up doors. It doesn’t have to be in a political sense, but connections really help.
CP: How did you end up moving into politics?
KD: I was never involved, never worked on a campaign. I had contributed to a few candidates and that was the extent of it, but I had opinions and made sure I was an informed citizen. Someone asked me to run, and at first I told them no because my private life was going well and I knew how difficult getting involved in the political world could be, but this person kept talking to me and I honestly never stopped thinking about it. I started talking to other people, and everyone I would talk to pretty much said, “I think you would make a great representative.”
You don’t always have to be involved in politics to run for an office and win. When people ask me how I ever thought I could run for Congress without serving on city council, county council, state office, whatever, I look at what our forefathers meant for this particular role, and the fact that it is the House of Representatives, and it really, truly is the people’s house. Because I’ve been living a life similar to what everyone else in my district’s been living, I can understand their concerns and be able to take that with me to Washington.
CP: Youth voted in higher numbers in this election than ever before. What does this mean to you?
KD: I think it restored my faith that all these young people got involved. It restored the faith of many in my generation. I grew up in the 1960s and ‘70s. When I was going to college, there was a lot of activism on campuses. I saw that kind of fade away, and I didn’t think the youth were involved as much for many years in politics and activism, at least insofar as voting and being part of the process.
I have five children who are [ages] 19 to 29, and I always say to them, “This is your future.” This is why I ran—I ran for my children’s future. It’s really up to your generation to stay active, to stay involved, to stay connected as you keep us actively engaged with you. It’s a two-way street.
CP: Did you reach out to college students and youth in your campaign?
KD: Anytime I was asked to speak at a college campus, I always took that opportunity. Even just a classroom of 30 students is worth my time. A lot of candidates in the past focused on senior citizens—they would prefer a senior citizen group to a youth group—but I didn’t take that attitude. I would jump at the chance to talk to any young group of people. It’s important for me to continue to focus on young people. The decisions today are going to affect your generation more than others.
CP: What were you once wrong about, or what mistake did you make, that has influenced you?
KD: I made a mistake that changed my life in many ways. At 20 years old, I became pregnant. I have a son now, 29. He’s the result of that pregnancy. I tried to raise him. At one point I was a single mother on food stamps. I used to go grocery shopping at midnight because I was embarrassed to be using the food stamps. I put myself through college. I dropped out and then went back, and that experience changed my life in so many ways that I can’t even begin to explain.
I’m not advocating that everyone have that experience, but I can go out and talk to the person on food stamps and completely empathize with where they are in life. The person who [has] lost their job and can’t pay the heating bill – I understand all that because I’ve been there. It made me much stronger and more empathetic because I’ve struggled at times. Government should be there at times for a hand up.
CP: Did government provide you that hand up when you needed it most?
KD: When I went back to school, back in the late ‘70s, they said if you go back to school your stamps go from $100/month to $12. The absurdity of that was unbelievable to me. I was going to go to school, get my degree, be a citizen who contributed to society for the rest of my life, and they were going to cut my food stamps because I wanted a degree. That changed my outlook on some government programs.
When we make laws, we need to consider long-term consequences. Are we really changing laws to help people better themselves?
CP: Any other thoughts?
KD: I just think this is a fascinating time for anyone in college because of what’s going on in our country. When you’re in school and talking about public policy in history-based courses, you don’t see the real world applications, but today, what’s going on in our world and our country, you can see so many real-world changes. It’s a fascinating time for students and professors to connect the dots.
David Spett is the Campus Publications Associate at Campus Progress.
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