RandySF
RandySF's JournalFLIPPABLE: Beth Llewellyn McLaughlin for TX-HD97
The 4th in a family of 5 children, her father's career in the newspaper business meant frequent moves. Born in Portland, Oregon, she attended school in Napa and Burlingame, California before moving to Nebraska in 9th grade. Her parents encouraged her and her siblings to participate in their community. She was a competitive swimmer and a Girl Scout throughout high school and sang in the youth choir at church.
Already an avid explorer of the USA thanks to her family, her opportunity to spend a year in France as an exchange student while in high school shaped her professional future and made her a citizen of the world. She received a B.A. in French, German, and Political Science from the University of Nebraska, with Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors. She moved to Fort Worth in 1981. Exceptional communication skills, empathy for others and a tireless work ethic were all hallmarks of her 32-year career as a public high school teacher, 29 of them at Southwest High School, in District 97. Beth held numerous school and leadership positions in the FWISD. She served on local and state-level textbook adoption committees. She chose to retire in 2010 for personal growth and to explore new career opportunities.
In 2011, her husband John, who had begun a second career as a public school teacher, was diagnosed with blood cancer. She became a full-time caregiver and insurance advocate during his 2 years of intensive treatment. Although now disabled due to complications of treatment, he is cancer-free. His recovery allowed her to return to work part-time, a financial necessity. After completing training in 2012, Beth continues to serve as a volunteer docent at the Kimbell Art Museum, sharing her passion for this Fort Worth treasure with people of all ages. She follows politics intensely, believes in social and economic justice and in taking action to stand up for her beliefs. She wants to be a voice for her friends and neighbors in Fort Worth's District 97, where she has lived for many years. Her friends, former students, and family enthusiastically support her bid to represent them in Austin.
https://www.beth4tx97.com
FLIPPABLE: Meghan Scoggins for TX-HD28
Meghan Scoggins grew up in the Houston area. Her husband, Jim Scoggins, is a safety and risk consultant in the oil and gas industry, who has also served as a volunteer firefighter for the last 18 years. Between them, they have 5 children.
Early in Meghan's adult life, her family had "more month than money," and needed to find a way to provide more income. When her second child was 6 weeks old, she took a risk that allowed her to care for her children at home while still bringing in financial resources. She became involved with a company called Pre-Paid Legal, now known as Legal Shield. Within 6 months, she had tripled her family's income. At the age of 24, she was fast tracked to a Regional Vice President role, the youngest in the company.
In 2003, she discovered she had been the victim of identity theft. It was an extreme case, and clearing her name became all-consuming. Legal fees were mounting even though was the victim. She began efforts to ensure no one else faced the same challenges in recovery her family did. She worked with the founders of Pre-Paid Legal services, in cooperation with industry leading security experts, to create a brand-new program called the ID Shield. The program was the only credit monitoring service that offered legal assistance to victims at the time. She also assisted with creating support groups that shared resources for victims, worked to create awareness programs, and worked with law enforcement to strengthen penalties for criminals. She took her fight all the way to Congress, testifying on consumer protection bills and getting legislation passed.
Meghan Scoggins later studied Business Management in college. While pursuing her degree as an adult student, she worked on Problem Resolution and Corrective Action for the Life Support Systems of the International Space Station. At any given time, she was responsible for 150-200 issues on the International Space Station of varying complexity. She was the first subcontractor to be invited to assist NASA Quality Assurance personnel in revamping procedures and creating an updated database to track the steps to issue resolution. Among other accolades, she was honored with a Letter of Commendation from NASA for her work. In 2009, she was the first subcontractor ever elected to the board of directors’ position for the Boeing Women in Leadership (BWIL) organization. While on that board, Meghan Scoggins was the BWIL liaison working with Texas Workforce Solutions to set up transition programs to assist the highly skilled workers being laid off due to the end of the Space Shuttle program.
After dealing with illness in 2010, she learned about some of the very harsh realities that routinely affect our disabled population face. Instead of accepting that reality, she continued to fight for herself and for those struggling with disability discrimination. She worked with local veteran resource groups to create a new division that specifically targeted part time, work from home or time flexible jobs for long or short term disabled members of the veteran community. The program allowed them to an earn income while accommodating their unique needs and not interfere with their ability to receive veteran's benefits.
Since 2014, she has focused exclusively on non-profit and community work. She has served on multiple non-profit boards that focused on domestic violence victim assistance organizations, the arts community, college scholarship fund programs, animal rescue groups and school booster club organizations. In addition, she has dedicated her time and resources to assisting other charity organizations with fundraising or awareness initiatives.
Now, she wants to take that same passion and drive for improving our community to the Texas State Capitol to represent you and your family.
https://www.meghanscoggins.com
FLIPPABLE: Jon Rosenthal for TX-HD135
Jon Rosenthal has been in Texas since 1979. His father Haskell was a professor at the University of Texas at Austin for over 25 years. Jon attended UT Austin and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, and has since worked for over 20 years in various technical capacities in and around the oil & gas industry in Houston.
We need to look at ways to improve our education system so that our young people will be better prepared and more competitive. We need to become more efficient with our education so that we get more bang for the buck.
We need to build a trusting and positive relationship between law enforcement and communities of color, so I will push for policies and laws that promote positive community engagement, and de-escalation training for law enforcement.
We need to care for our environment and promote clean energy indutry in Texas, so I will advocate for policies and laws to promote clean energy and clean energy industry as well as environmental protections for Texas.
We need to be safe, and I believe in having sensible safety regulation for potentially dangerous industry and also for sensible gun safety (like stronger background checks).
http://rosenthal4usall.com
FLIPPABLE: Rhetta Andrews Bowers for TX-HD113
Rhetta Bowers is a dedicated wife, mother, and democrat, committed to changing her community for the better.
Bowers comes from a long line of activists. Her father, an immigrant from the West Indies, was a nationally recognized surgeon. Her mother, who worked beside him, was a prominent community leader. Rhetta followed their courageous examples of community engagement. Her own life of activism began when she volunteered to phone bank for the late Congressman Mickey Leland as a pre-teen and she has not stopped since.
An involved member of the community, Rhetta shepherded her children through local public schools. As an educator, a PTA member, and through her volunteer work with Garland Independent School District, Rhetta has learned the value of investing in young people. She was appointed to the Rowlett Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and served for eight years. She has a proven record of working with community leaders in the City of Rowlett, as well as leaders in the City of Dallas. Rhetta looks forward to serving the North Texas community in which she and her husband have raised their children.
As a part-time educator and a full-time wife and mother, she knows from experience that the path to success is founded upon hard work, access to education, job opportunity, and healthcare. She ran for State House in 2016 and is running again in 2018 because of her commitment to ensuring that every Texan gets a fair shot.
In January 2017, Rhetta served as the Chair of the Dallas Women’s March, an empowering and positive march that drew thousands of participants. Rhetta is a faithful and active member of St. Paul United Methodist Church and a lifetime member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She is the proud wife of a Gulf War veteran, MSG (ret.).
Bowers is a native Houstonian, an alumna of both Spelman College and Texas Southern University, earning her bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications, with an emphasis in Broadcast Journalism. Additionally, she is a former Broadcast Journalist.
http://rhettabowers.com
FLIPPABLE: Lindsey Williams for PA-SD38
Lindsey Williams knows first hand that it takes courage to stand up for what’s right and to fight for working families because that is the life she’s lived.
Lindsey gained national attention from her work at the National Whistleblowers Center (NWC). While at the NWC, Lindsey told the stories of whistleblowers who were retaliated against for reporting waste, fraud, and abuse. She fought to help employees get their jobs back, protect their pensions, and make them whole again. She also advocated for legislation that would better protect future whistleblowers.
But then she found herself in need of those very protections that she had fought so hard for when she was illegally terminated by the NWC for attempting to organize a staff union.
Determined to protect her rights and those of her co-workers, Lindsey refused to accept a severance package that required her to sign a gag clause preventing her from speaking about the circumstances of her termination. Instead, Lindsey pursued a wrongful termination charge with the National Labor Relations Board. After two years of litigation, she successfully settled her case and shared her story with the New York Times.
Raised in a union household, Lindsey’s parents stressed hard work and education through both words and actions. She knows how strong unions and protections for workers’ rights can help families achieve the American Dream because she watched them in action. Lindsey's father has worked for 40 years as an Operating Engineer (Local 542). Her mom worked for a temporary service company for 17 years so she could be home after school with Lindsey and her sister, Caitlyn. When they got older, her mom took a job as an accounts receivable clerk at Keystone Automotive. In 2012, her job was eliminated and relocated to India. Fortunately, Lindsey’s mom was able to take advantage of education incentives with her unemployment benefits and she finished her college degree in May 2014 -- more than 15 years after starting her education.
Lindsey attended Duquesne University School of Law after graduating from Dickinson College. During law school, she worked at a workers’ compensation firm, fighting for the rights of injured workers. She also clerked with the United Steelworkers. After graduation, Lindsey was able to turn her passion into her career. Her illegal termination from the NWC only strengthened her conviction and she has dedicated herself to protecting workers and the livelihood of working families. At the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Lindsey assisted with strikes and organizing fights with large national and multinational corporations. In 2014, she joined the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers to continue the fight for a quality education for every child.
Since her return to Pittsburgh, Lindsey has been involved in our community fighting for a variety of social and economic justice issues as a member of One Pennsylvania and as an Executive Board member of Fight Back Pittsburgh. Lindsey has worked hard to help elect candidates who support working families and public education as an active member of the Young Democrats of Allegheny County and as a member of the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee representing Senate District 38. She was named the 2016 Allegheny County Young Democrat of the Year and to the Incline’s 2017 Who’s Next: Politics class in recognition of her hard work. Lindsey proudly graduated in the inaugural class of Emerge Pennsylvania -- a six month intensive cohort-based program that trains Democratic women to run for office and win. She is excited to put her passion, determination, and knowledge to work for the people of Senate District 38.
https://www.lindseyforpa.com
FLIPPABLE: Tim Kearney for PA-SD26
Pennsylvania’s legislature has long been beholden to the wealthy and to corporate special interests at the expense of everyday working families and vulnerable people of the Commonwealth. It’s time to reclaim Harrisburg for the people, not the powerful, and that’s why Tim Kearney is running for state Senate in the 26th District.
Tim is a long-time community leader in Swarthmore, Delaware County. He chaired the Borough Planning Commission for 7 years, and is currently serving his second term as Mayor. Thanks to Tim, Swarthmore is a leader in environmental protection and sustainability practices, fair and equitable policing practices, and LGBTQ equality.
Tim is an accomplished public servant, a husband, a father, an architect, and a small business owner. He is an everyday Pennsylvanian, with strong relationships in his community, so he knows the issues that affect people in this district and across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Tim believes that every child deserves a quality public education. He knows that early childhood education is the best economic and community investment the Commonwealth can make. Tim is an advocate for reform of Pennsylvania’s politicized and unfair education funding system, which has been called the most inequitable in the nation by The Washington Post.
As Mayor, Tim knows that budgets must reflect the values of residents and communities, not lobbyists and special interests. As the 26th District’s senator, Tim will fight to ensure that Pennsylvania budgets support programs and investments that help the most people right here in the Commonwealth—instead of enriching the wealthy and out-of-state corporations that do not hire local residents.
Tim knows that Pennsylvania’s natural resources are important to the tourism and agriculture industries, as well as to the public’s health. Tim will fight to ensure that state rules and regulations abide by Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment, which the General Assembly has violated for too long. Tim will always put the public health and welfare before corporate profits, and he has been a vocal advocate to hold the gas industry accountable for environmental disasters and damage associated with fracking and pipelines.
http://timkearney4pa.com
FLIPPABLE: Mark Pinsley for PA-SD16
An economy that works for everybody — not just a wealthy few. Lower healthcare costs for working Pennsylvanians and local businesses. A real commitment to education, clean energy, fair wages and equal pay.
As a progressive activist and lifelong Pennsylvanian, I'm ready to take our fight for change to Harrisburg. We have a plan to get there — but we'll need your help to win new representation for PA's 16th State Senate District.
?1514550607
https://www.votemarkpinsley.com
FLIPPABLE: Steve Santarsiero for PA-SD10
Steve Santarsiero considers public service a calling. After witnessing the September 11th attacks from the window of his law office in Newark, New Jersey, he decided to seek a new career in teaching as a way to serve the community. After a couple years of night classes at Holy Family University, Steve received his state certification and was hired as a social studies teacher at Bensalem High School. At BHS he worked hard to give the next generation a strong foundation in history and civics to help them succeed and participate fully as citizens of our country.
At about that same time, Steve became a leader in a grassroots movement to stop a big box shopping mall in Lower Makefield. That experience led him to run for township supervisor. He was elected in 2003. As a supervisor he worked with both Republicans and Democrats alike. He led efforts to make government more open and transparent, to solve traffic problems, and to preserve open space and the environment.
In 2008, Steve ran for the State House in the Yardley-Newtown area of Bucks County. He won the race, becoming the first Democrat to hold the seat. In Harrisburg he was a reformer, writing the bill that would ultimately get adopted as new House rules on keeping politics and government service separate; refusing perks like per diems and a state car; and not collecting his pay during prolonged budget impasses in 2009 and 2015-16. Steve was also a leader on education, infrastructure investment, environmental protection, women’s health issues and gun violence prevention.
Back home in Bucks County, Steve led the effort to get PECO to improve the resiliency of its electric grid, vastly reducing the number of power outages in the area. He also worked to bring jobs into his district and successfully lobbied the New Jersey Legislature to grandfather current employees when it passed a new law requiring all public sector workers in the Garden State to live in New Jersey, thereby saving the jobs of thousands of Bucks residents who worked across the Delaware.
Steve left the House at the end of his fourth term in late 2016.
In 2017, Attorney General Josh Shapiro appointed Steve the first Chief Deputy Attorney General for Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania. In that role, Steve oversaw the prosecution of environmental crimes and led Pennsylvania’s efforts to fight the Trump Administration over proposed rollbacks of important environmental protections.
Steve left the Attorney General’s office in January 2018 to run for the PA Senate here in the 10th District. He is currently a partner in a private law practice in Bucks County.
Steve and his wife Ronni have lived in the same house in Lower Makefield for over 22 years. They have three children, Nancy (20), Billy (18) and Johnny (14). The newest member of their family is Theo, a Golden Retriever puppy, who plans to be active on the campaign trail this year.
Steve coached youth baseball for 10 years in the Pennsbury Athletic Association. He is the chair of One Bucks, a grassroots group of clergy and lay people dedicated to speaking out against acts of hate. Steve is a member of the Board of the Pennsbury Scholarship Foundation and he and Ronni are active in their synagogue, Congregation Kol Emet in Lower Makefield.
Steve is a graduate of Tufts University where he received his B.A. He received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his M.Ed. from Holy Family University.
https://www.steveforpasenate.com
FLIPPABLE: Steve Malagari for PA-HD53
Steve Malagari grew up in Lansdale, where he currently lives with his wife Rachel and is in his second term on Lansdale Borough Council. He is a graduate of Ursinus College and North Penn High School. Throughout his two terms on council, Steve has served as council vice president, and on the Administration and Finance, Electric, Code Enforcement, Parks and Recreation, Public Safety, and Public Works committees. Steve currently chairs the Public Works committee. He also serves on the Library and Economic Development committees and is the Council’s representative to the Planning Commission. Since 2013, Steve has served on the Montgomery County Transportation Authority.
Steve is a sales professional who enjoys spending time with his family, volunteering, and attending the various events and activities across the Indian Valley, Hatfield, and Lansdale.
https://www.votemalagari.com
FLIPPABLE: Emily Skopov for PA-HD28
Emily moved to the Wexford community in 2010 with her husband Todd, their daughter Austen, and son Wyatt. Emily and her family were attracted to the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh by the quality of life and educational opportunities offered by the outstanding public schools. With her children enrolled in the North Allegheny school district, where they continue to thrive today, it did not take long to put down roots in such a welcoming area. Emily, Todd and their children, now students at Marshall Middle School and North Allegheny Intermediate High School, knew early on that this would be the family’s home for years to come. Along with their two cats, two dogs, (and yes, a snake!), they have enjoyed the incredible spectrum of activities and culture available to those fortunate enough to live or visit around the region.
Shortly after her arrival, Emily started a non-profit, No Crayon Left Behind, to simultaneously expand creative opportunities for under-served children and improve the environment by collecting gently used crayons from area restaurants that would have otherwise been thrown into landfills where they do not biodegrade. What started as a local charitable effort has now gone global as she receives crayons from restaurants, schools and other socially conscious individuals and organizations around the U.S. and distributes them not only to our neighbors in need, but to children and young adults overseas who have never had access to art supplies. To date, No Crayon Left Behind has taken what was once considered trash and delivered over a million of these crayons into the hands of people who can now experience the empowering impacts of self-expression and creativity.
Prior to moving to Pennsylvania, Emily was a successful screenwriter and director in Los Angeles, and she has continued to work in the field and bring the entertainment industry home to the Pittsburgh area. Emily was born and raised in New York and attended Columbia University and the University of California Los Angeles for graduate school.
Now, Emily is expanding her efforts to serve the community by putting her boundless energy and passion for bipartisan collaboration into running for Pennsylvania’s 28th legislative district in 2018. She is committed to ensuring that the Commonwealth’s lower and middle-class families have the healthcare, education, and economic conditions in which to not only survive, but actually thrive. She would consider it an honor and a privilege to respectfully represent ALL people in the increasingly diverse region of Pennsylvania which she is proud to call home.
https://www.electemily4pa.com
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit Area, MI
Home country: USA
Current location: San Francisco, CA
Member since: Wed Oct 29, 2008, 02:53 PM
Number of posts: 60,024
