

For Immediate Release

August 17, 2018

EMILY’s List Endorses Dana Balter in New York’s 24th District

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Dana Balter for Congress in New York’s 24th Congressional District. Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List, released the following statement:

“A longtime educator, Dana Balter is committed to standing up for the underdog. Inspired by her brother who has cognitive disabilities, Dana has fiercely advocated to ensure everyone gets the health care they deserve. Dana knows firsthand how important access to affordable, quality health care is, and her own experience facing the fear and uncertainty that can come from having a pre-existing condition led Dana to want to make sure others don’t have to face the same concerns. Now, she is running to fight not only for central and western New Yorkers’ access to affordable health care, but also to expand economic opportunity, protect a woman’s right to choose, improve public education and more.

“Dana is running against vulnerable Republican incumbent John Katko in a perennial swing district that Hillary Clinton won in 2016. Congressman Katko’s consistent support of the disastrous Trump-Pence agenda harms families in this district, and his values are out of line with the people he represents. Fortunately, voters can elect Dana to be their champion in Washington, D.C. and fight for what matters most to them. Let’s show Dana the full support of the EMILY’s List community to flip this seat and take back the House.”

Dana Balter was inspired by her family, including her younger brother with cognitive disabilities, to begin her career in special education at a nonprofit organization serving adults with cognitive disabilities. Dana worked as a teacher and went on to serve as director of education and then director of communications and marketing. She earned her master’s degree in public administration and is a Ph.D. candidate at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The granddaughter of Holocaust refugees who made upstate New York their home, Dana was raised to stand up for her community and her values and she is deeply committed to social justice. Dana lives on Syracuse's East Side, and when elected she will continue to fight for all central and western New York working families.

EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILY’s List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILY’s List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.