Madeleine Dean

Madeleine Dean Cunnane (born June 6, 1959) is an American politician and the U.S. Representative[1] for Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district.[2] The district includes almost all of Montgomery County, a suburban county north of Philadelphia.

Madeleine Dean
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Scott Perry
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 153rd district
In office April 24, 2012 – November 30, 2018
Preceded by	Josh Shapiro
Succeeded by	Ben Sanchez
Personal details
Born	June 6, 1959 Glenside, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Patrick Cunnane
Children	3
Education	Montgomery County Community College La Salle University (BA) Widener University (JD) University of Pennsylvania
Website	House website

Before being elected to Congress, Dean was a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, representing the 153rd district[3][4] in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

A Pennsylvania native, Dean was first elected to serve in the General Assembly in 2012 in a special election. She served on several committees, including Appropriations, Judiciary, Policy, Urban Affairs, State Government, and Finance, of which she was vice-chair.[4]

Early life and education

The youngest of seven children—five brothers and one sister—Madeleine Dean was born to Bob and Mary Dean in Glenside, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Abington Public School. She graduated magna cum laude from La Salle University, and earned her J.D. degree at Widener University. She was previously a student at the Fels Institute of Government of the University of Pennsylvania.[5]

Professional career

After law school, Dean returned to the Philadelphia area and practiced law with the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers, going on to serve as executive director. She then opened a small, three-woman law practice in Glenside, and served as in-house counsel for her husband's growing bicycle business.[6]

While raising three young sons, Dean changed career paths and turned to teaching. She served 11 years as an assistant professor of English at her alma mater, La Salle University, in Philadelphia, where she taught composition, persuasive writing and rhetoric, business writing, legal writing, and ethics. In her private and professional life she has continued to write, and has contributed to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, The Patriot-News and other publications.[6]

Earlier political career

Dean got her start in politics soon after graduating from high school when at 18 she was elected to serve as a local committee-person.

She volunteered on her first campaign for Joe Hoeffel's reelection to the state legislature, for the same district seat she later held. It was on that campaign that she met her future husband, PJ Cunnane, himself a 19-year-old elected committee-person.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Having worked and volunteered in the political world for decades, and her children grown, Dean was asked to become a public servant herself, serving as Abington Township commissioner, and ran for state representative in 2012.[7] In the State House, she prioritized social issues such as addiction, equal rights, access to healthcare, ethics, criminal justice reform, and gun violence.

After the shooting at Sandy Hook, Dean and Dan Frankel co-founded the gun violence prevention caucus, PA SAFE Caucus. The caucus is a self-described coalition of legislators and advocates dedicated to curbing the problem of illegal guns.[8]

In 2015, Dean was appointed to the Governor's Commission for Women,[9] a commission designed to advise the governor on policies and legislation that promote equality issues ranging from sexual assault to business initiatives.[9] In 2017, she was elected chair of the Southeast Delegation of the Pennsylvania House Democrats, composed of 22 House Democrats representing nine counties.[10]

Education

Dean stated in 2014: "We know that the number one issue with voters is education and how we fund our public schools". Regarding the Pennsylvania education budget for 2013, the then-state Representative said: "How we educate our kids tells us how our economy will be." In that same instance, she highlighted the issue of public school funding.[11]

U.S. House of Representatives

2018 general election

In February 2018, after a significant change in Pennsylvania's congressional districts mandated by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Dean announced she would end her campaign for lieutenant governor and instead run for Congress in the 4th district.[12] The district had previously been the 13th, represented by two-term fellow Democrat Brendan Boyle. But Boyle lives in Philadelphia, along with all of the 13th's share of the city, drawn into the 2nd district, and opted to run for reelection there.

On May 15, Dean defeated two challengers, Shira Goodman and former Congressman Joe Hoeffel, in the Democratic primary.[13] In the general election she defeated Republican Dan David with 63.45% of the vote to his 36.55%.[14] She was one of four Democratic women elected to Congress from Pennsylvania in 2018. The others were Mary Gay Scanlon, Chrissy Houlahan and Susan Wild. The state's delegation had previously been all male.

Tenure

On January 12. 2021, Dean was named a manager for President Donald Trump's second impeachment.[15]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
  • Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues
• New Democrat Coalition[16]

Electoral history

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Madeleine Dean	42,625	72.6
	Democratic	Shira Goodman	9,645	16.4
	Democratic	Joe Hoeffel	6,431	11.0
Total votes			58,701	100.0

Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Madeleine Dean	211,524	63.5
	Republican	Dan David	121,467	36.5
Total votes			332,991	100.0
	Democratic hold

Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district, 2020[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Madeleine Dean (incumbent)	264,637	59.5
	Republican	Kathy Barnette	179,926	40.5
Total votes			444,563	100.0
	Democratic hold

Other political campaigns

Lieutenant governor

In November 2017, Dean announced her candidacy for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, facing, among others, incumbent Mike Stack in the Democratic primary.[18] She dropped out to run for Congress.

Personal life

She lives in Abington Township (with a Jenkintown address), with her husband P.J. Cunnane. Cunnane is an entrepreneur in the bicycle industry and managed Advanced Sports International. They have three grown sons and three grandchildren. Her son, Pat, was senior writer and deputy director of messaging in the Obama administration.[19]

See also

• Women in the United States House of Representatives
• List of La Salle University people

References

1. "Pennsylvania Election Results: Fourth House District". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
2. "Suburban Philly lawmaker drops lieutenant governor bid to run for Congress". Penn Live. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
3. "Representative Madeleine Dean's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
4. "Madeleine Dean". Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
5. "Biography". Rep. Madeleine Dean. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
6. "mad4pa". mad4pa. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
7. Freeman, Jarreau (November 6, 2012). "ELECTION 2012: Madeleine Dean defeats Nick Mattiacci, Ken Krawchuk for the 153rd seat". Times Chronicle. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
8. "Lawmakers, gun-safety advocates announce formation of PA SAFE". PA SAFE Caucus. 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
9. "Wolf Names 26 to the Pennsylvania Commission for Women". Governor Tom Wolf. 2015-10-07. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
10. "House Democrats' Southeast Delegation leadership team elected". Southeast Delegation. 2017-01-04. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
11. Pennington, Maura. "PA lawmakers put education at top of agenda in election year". Watchdog. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
12. Micek, John L. (February 22, 2018). "Suburban Philly lawmaker drops lieutenant governor bid to run for Congress". The Patriot-News. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
13. "Pennsylvania Primary Election Results". The New York Times. May 17, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
14. "2018 General Election: Representative in Congress". Pennsylvania Department of State. November 6, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
15. "Pelosi Names Impeachment Managers". Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
16. "Members". New Democrat Coalition. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
17. "2020 Presidential Election - Representative in Congress". Pennsylvania Department of State. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
18. Navratil, Liz (November 29, 2017). "State Rep. Madeleine Dean to run for lieutenant governor". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
19. Kurtz, Judy (April 18, 2018). "Former Obama staffer dishes on White House life in 'West Winging It'". The Hill. Retrieved January 5, 2019.

External links

• Congresswoman Madeleine Dean official U.S. House website
• Madeleine Dean for Congress

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Madeleine Dean (D) state legislature profile
• Appearances on C-SPAN