The state Capitol building in downtown Harrisburg on October 14, 2025. (Photo by Jessica Kourkounis for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star)<\/p>\n
The liberal Political Action Committee EMILYs List announced plans to spend $15 million supporting state-level candidates in nine states, including Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
The group, which focuses on electing pro-choice women in races across the country, framed the effort to increase investment in state-level races as a way to create a bulwark against \u201cRepublicans\u2019 assault on the economy, our health care, and our everyday lives\u201d in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
\u201cEMILYs List is taking an aggressive approach to building Democrats\u2019 state power in Pennsylvania with bold candidates who know exactly what\u2019s at stake,\u201d\u00a0 Jessica Mackler, the organization\u2019s president, said in a press release.<\/p>\n
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX<\/a><\/p>\n The announcement did not say which candidates it would be supporting. Historically, EMILY\u2019s List has backed state Supreme Court Justice Christine Donohue, who won retention last November, state Sens. Maria Collett (D-Montgomery), Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny) and Katie Muth (D-Montgomery), and state House Rep. Mandy Steele (D-Allegheny).<\/p>\n The group said it will be targeting races to elect governors, attorneys general, secretaries of state, legislatures, and supreme court justices in \u201ckey states.\u201d<\/p>\n The announcement follows a tough 2024 election season for state-level Democrats, who lost ground in state legislatures across the country<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Democrats, however, were able to maintain their slim majority in the state House in 2024, despite Republicans outperforming them at the top of the ballot. GOP candidates won every row office election in the commonwealth that year.<\/p>\n