Moro officially announces Congressional bid
As the 11th of 12 kids and with eight brothers, Elizabeth Moro grew up learning how to work with people and fighting for equality from an early age.
The soon-to-be Pennsbury resident hopes to bring those qualities to Washington as she campaigns for the Democratic nomination for Pennsylvania’s 7th U.S. Congressional District seat.
“I’m really upset by the disrespect I see toward people now,” Moro said Tuesday night at a campaign event at The Gables restaurant. “I just see our government now working through special interests. We have to have a level playing field.”
Moro, 44, and four other Democrats – State Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, Drew McGinty, Dan Muroff, and Molly Sheehan — are vying for the party’s nomination in May 2018 in a district often called one of the nation’s most gerrymandered. Gerrymandering is when voting boundaries are redrawn to favor one political party over another, and is a subject of a current U.S. Supreme Court case.
The race for the seat, currently held by Republican Pat Meehan, has received national attention from CNN, New York Times, the Washington Post, and other media outlets.
“This is one of the most studied districts in the nation,” said Mary Sue Boyle, after listening to Moro speak Tuesday. “All eyes are on this race.”
When asked why she was running, Moro said politics and public service had been passions of hers since she was young. A main theme of her campaign is bringing people together to find solutions.
“I am a leader who listens and invites dialogue so we can develop strategies, bring our talents forward, and reach for resolutions together,” she wrote on her Website. “We are all Americans and need to learn to work together.”
At the campaign event, she told the audience how she got her real estate license after the crash of ’08, and how she saw people lose everything.
“I will not sit on the sidelines and let the banks and Wall Street be further deregulated,” she said. “America should not be for sale to the highest bidder or the highest special interest group. People matter to me more than money.”
Leslie Wooding attended Tuesday night’s event to learn more about Moro and what she stood for.
“She gave a great speech,” Wooding said. “She’s a woman. She’s a Democrat. I’m impressed.”
“Pennsylvania needs to have a woman in Congress,” said Mike Mays, one of Moro’s supporters who was talking with Wooding. “It really feels like we’re on the ground floor of something big.”
Jamie Jones of Hockessin attended to support Moro, her friend through church.
“I know Elizabeth and what she stands for,” Jones said.
Moro drew chuckles from the crowd when she mentioned her monogram before she got married was “ERA.”
“I’ve been waiting for my turn (to campaign) since I’ve been born,” she said. “And with eight brothers, I’ve been fighting for women’s rights my whole life.”
Moro, who has a background in public policy and women’s studies, told the crowd she is passionate about fighting for health care, education for everyone, a livable wage, and a cleaner environment.
She and her husband Vince, who married in April, started the Neighbors for Crebilly organization to protest the development of Crebilly Farm in Westtown Township. She said she would oppose the weakening of environmental protections, defend civil and women’s rights and the rights of working and middle-class families.
“I’m just like everyone else,” Moro said. “I work hard for my family. All I ask is for our government to do the same.”
She connected her move from Kennett Township to the Chadds Peak Farm in Pennsbury with her bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination: “I raise chickens across the street on Chadds Peak Farm. Chickens belong on farms, not in Washington.”
For more information on Moro, go online at www.elizabethmoro.com.
About Monica Fragale
Monica Thompson Fragale is a freelance reporter who spent her life dreaming of being in the newspaper business. That dream came true after college when she started working at The Kennett Paper and, years later The Reporter newspaper in Lansdale and other dailies. She turned to non-profit work after her first daughter was born and spent the next 13 years in that field. But while you can take the girl out of journalism, you can’t take journalism out of the girl. Offers to freelance sparked the writing bug again started her fingers happily tapping away on the keyboard. Monica lives with her husband and two children in Kennett Square.
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