Christina Marie Houlahan

Christina Marie Houlahan, 2018.

Christina Marie Houlahan, born June 5, 1967, and better known as Chrissy Houlahan, is an American politician, engineer, and former United States Air Force officer. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the U.S. representative from Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district. The district includes almost all of Chester County, a suburban county west of Philadelphia, as well as the southern portion of Berks County including the city of Reading. She was first elected in 2018, defeating Republican Greg McCauley in the midterms.

Military service

After graduation 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. She left active duty in 1991 for the Air Force Reserve, separating from the service in 2004 as a captain.

Private sector

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). Houlahan became Chief Operating Officer of B Lab, a non-profit start-up, when AND1 was sold.

Election

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. 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."

Houlahan ran on a platform that included healthcare, job creation, and campaign finance reform.[24] Other campaign issues she identified included education, family issues, and veteran's issues.[25] Houlahan had a strong record of campaign fundraising,[26] with donations totaling almost $5 million so far.[3][27] She was also endorsed by many organizations, including Emily's List,[28] Human Rights Campaign,[29] Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence,[30] Project 100,[31] Vote Vets,[32] the Service Employees International Union-PA (SEIU PA)[33] and several other unions.[32]

Quotes

"By using available federal databases, the [Selective Service] agency will be able to register all of the individuals required and thus help ensure that any future military draft is fair and equitable,"