Chrissy Houlahan

After graduating from Stanford University, Houlahan spent three years on United States Air Force active duty at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Massachusetts. There, she served as a project manager working on air and space defense technologies.[3] She left active duty in 1991 for the Air Force Reserve, retiring in 2004 as a captain.

After leaving active duty, Houlahan went to work for the start-up sportswear company AND1 as Chief Operating Officer. As part of the employee benefits program the company offered 40 paid hours of community service at a location of the employee's choosing. Houlahan dedicated her hours to working with girls and women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).[3] Houlahan became Chief Operating Officer of B-Lab, a non-profit start-up, when AND1 was sold.[5]

Citing a need to experience the problems in the U.S. educational system first-hand, Houlahan entered the lifelong learning program at University of Pennsylvania where she re-took courses in the hard sciences. She enrolled in the Teach for America program and began working as an 11th-grade science teacher at Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia.[16] She withdrew from the Teach for America program after one year and joined Springboard Collaborative, a Philadelphia-based non-profit focusing on early childhood literacy in underserved populations nationwide. Houlahan served as both President and CFO/COO of Springboard Collaborative before leaving to focus on her political campaign.[5]

Houlahan has said that one of the experiences that motivated her to run for Congress was her organization of a bus trip to the Women's March in Washington, D.C., on January 21, 2017.[5] When asked why she chose to begin her political career by running for Congress and not a lower office, she said, “I don’t have time for that. The stakes are too high, and I think I’m qualified."[17]

Houlahan expected to face two-term Republican incumbent Ryan Costello. However, Costello pulled out of the race after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania threw out Pennsylvania's congressional map as an unconstitutional partisan Republican gerrymander.[18][19] While Costello was the only incumbent to retain his previous district number, it was made significantly more compact and bluer than its predecessor. It lost its heavily Republican western portion around Lebanon, which had only been connected to the rest of the district by way of a tendril through Berks County. Instead, it now took in almost all of Chester County (except for a sliver around Birmingham Township that was drawn into the neighboring 5th district), along with the more Democratic portions of Berks County, including Reading.[20] Had the district existed in 2016, Hillary Clinton would have won it with 52 percent of the vote to Donald Trump's 43 percent;[21] By comparison, Clinton carried the old 6th with 48 percent of the vote.[22]

Houlahan took the Democratic nomination unopposed and faced first-time candidate Greg McCauley in the general election.[23] On November 6, 2018, Houlahan easily defeated McCauley, garnering 58.8% of the vote over McCauley's 41.1%.[24] Houlahan was one of seven Pennsylvania women running for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018,[25] and one of four Democratic women to win, along with Mary Gay Scanlon, Madeleine Dean and Susan Wild. She also joined two other female veterans in the House freshman class, former naval officers Elaine Luria and Mikie Sherrill.

Upon taking office in January 2019, Houlahan became the first Democrat to represent a Chester County-based district in 166 years. The county had historically been very Republican, but has trended much more Democratic in recent years.[26]

Houlahan ran on a platform that included healthcare, job creation, and campaign finance reform.[27] Other campaign issues she identified included education, family issues, and veteran's issues.[28] Houlahan had a strong record of campaign fundraising,[29] with donations totaling almost $5 million so far.[3][30] She was also endorsed by many organizations, including Emily's List,[31] Human Rights Campaign,[32] Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence,[33] Project 100,[34] Vote Vets,[35] the Service Employees International Union-PA (SEIU PA)[36] and several other local unions.[35]

Houlahan ran for re-election in 2020 against Republican John Emmons.[37] She was re-elected with over 56% of the vote.[38]

Houlahan supports the government negotiating drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies and a public option, but opposes a single payer healthcare system.[39] She supports same-sex marriage, the Equality Act, and opposes President Trump's memorandum banning transgender individuals from the military.[40][41] She has stated she is not an advocate of withdrawing US troops from Syria at this time.[42]

• Servicewomen and Female Veterans Caucus,(Co-Chair)
• Women in STEM Caucus
• For Country Caucus
• New Democrat Coalition
• Honor and Civility Caucus
• Congressional National Service Caucus
• Veterans' Education Caucus
• Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus
• Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities
  • United States House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness
• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations
  • Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation
• Committee on Small Business