Women for the Future Pittsburgh (WTF) started in 2017, and since then we have seen an exponential increase of women holding political power in our region. Since our founding, our Political Action Committee (PAC) has raised over $65,000 funds for women candidates to be elected to our state legislature, school boards, local and county government and more.  It is time to close this PAC, not as an ending but a new beginning and chapter in our region's history.

 

Over seven years, WTF has endorsed 45 women candidates across five counties in Western Pennsylvania; this includes half state and half local candidates. Sixty percent won their general elections. We want to make special note that of the 28 legislators representing Allegheny County in the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2017, only one was a woman. As of 2024, we have the most women ever elected to the Pennsylvania State Legislature statewide, and our region has been part of this wave. Overall in Allegheny County, from 2017 to 2024 we moved from having one to having ten women elected state legislators, including three Black women, a groundbreaking first. (Statistically, the percentage of women state legislators in Allegheny County has increased from one percent to 33% over seven years- even more impressive when you look at it that way!) In Allegheny County, our County Executive and Congressional representative seats are finally held by women under forty for the first time ever. Now these stats represent only Allegheny County, we know, and certainly, there’s more work to be done in other parts of our region. 

 

We want to thank all of our endorsed candidates for their bravery, fortitude, and determination to run demanding campaigns in the face of often brutal misogyny and challenging political environments. They deserve our gratitude for working to create a better region for our children.

 

We know we have more work to do. We at WTF have been thinking about the future, and while campaign funding is still a barrier to full representation, our voting rights overall are under attack and threaten the very foundation of our democracy. We support increased voter expansion and protection policies at the local and state level, and endorse Common Cause Pennsylvania’s work on this important issue. In addition, organizations like Emerge PA continue to train women candidates across the state, and Represent PA continues to support women through fundraising efforts. Please support these organizations.

 

We can keep supporting candidates in our own way, but we at WTF have served our role to support this inspiring and effective new wave of women of all ages, races, and backgrounds to represent our democratic interests. The work of course is still not done – Pennsylvania has still never had a woman Senator or Governor. (To put this in context, Arizona has been a state since 1912 and has had five women governors, while Pennsylvania, one of the original 13 colonies, is still stuck in the 18th century.) Women are long overdue to hold positions of power at all levels of government, and we will continue to fight behind the scenes to create that table where we are all heard. 

 

Thank you for your support from the bottom of our feminist hearts. 

 

In Solidarity, 

The Women for the Future Board of Directors