Kathleen Alana McGinty (born May 11, 1963) is a retired American politician and former state and federal environmental policy official. She served as an environmental advisor to
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
and President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
. Later, she served as Secretary of the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and public health through enforcement of the state's environmental laws. ...
in the cabinet of Governor
Ed Rendell
Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philade ...
.
Prior to the nomination of
Lisa P. Jackson
Lisa Perez Jackson (born February 8, 1962) is an American chemical engineer who served as the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2009 to 2013. She was the first African American to hold that position.
B ...
, she was mentioned as a possible
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
Administrator under President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, as well as a possible candidate to succeed Ed Rendell as
Governor of Pennsylvania
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, but was not a candidate in the
2010 election. McGinty was an unsuccessful candidate for the governorship in
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
.
After Democrat
Tom Wolf
Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 guber ...
won Pennsylvania's 2014 gubernatorial election, he appointed McGinty as his Chief of Staff.
On August 4, 2015, she officially announced her candidacy for the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
. McGinty won the Democratic nomination on April 26, 2016, but lost in a close election, with 47.3% of the vote, to incumbent Republican Senator
Pat Toomey
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. representat ...
, who garnered 48.7% in the general election. McGinty served as the Senior Vice President of the Oceans Program for the
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Defense Fund or EDF (formerly known as Environmental Defense) is a United States-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group. The group is known for its work on issues including global warming, ecosystem restoration, oceans, and hu ...
. In June 2019, she became the vice-president of global government relations for
Johnson Controls
Johnson Controls International is an American
Irish-domiciled multinational conglomerate headquartered in Cork, Ireland, that produces fire, HVAC, and security equipment for buildings. As of mid-2019, it employed 105,000 people in around 2,0 ...
.
Early life and education
McGinty grew up in
Northeast Philadelphia
Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of between 300,000 and 450,000, depending ...
.
She graduated from
St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls
St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls is a private Catholic preparatory school for girls located in the Holmesburg neighborhood Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With over 425 students, it is the largest all-girls school in Philadelphia.
The scho ...
,
Saint Joseph's University
Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College. Saint Joseph's is the seventh olde ...
in 1985 (with a BS in chemistry), and
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
in 1988 (with a JD). She earned a Judicial Clerkship appointment to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington upon graduating from Columbia.
Career
![President Bill Clinton celebrates after the signing of the World Mine Property Agreement](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/President_Bill_Clinton_celebrates_after_the_signing_of_the_World_Mine_Property_Agreement.jpg)
After law school, McGinty clerked for a federal judge but did not ultimately take the bar exam or practice law.
[ She won a Congressional Fellowship after crafting a strategy to bring technology jobs back to the United States and became a legislative assistant to ]Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
when he was serving as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee. In 1993, she became a deputy assistant to President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
. She chaired the White House Council on Environmental Quality
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is a division of the Executive Office of the President that coordinates federal environmental efforts in the United States and works closely with agencies and other White House offices on the developmen ...
from 1995 to 1998. She moved to India in 1999 where she worked at the Tata Energy Research Institute, forging new partnerships between US and Indian clean energy companies to help address climate change
Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels b ...
, an effort that supported the negotiation of new environmental agreements between the US and India.
In 2003 she was appointed as the Secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection, serving in Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell
Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philade ...
's administration for over five years.
In the private sector, McGinty led a business cleaning up and redeveloping "brownfield properties" and developing renewable energy projects. As an Operating Partner with a private equity fund, she helped build successful growth strategies for mid-stage clean energy, water, and efficiency companies. She also started her own small company, and has been a Director on public and private company boards. Specifically, McGinty served as Chair of the Audit Committee of Iberdrola USA, as Chair of the Nuclear Subcommittee of the Board of NRGEnergy, and as member of the boards of Weston Solutions, ECORE International Inc., Thar Energy, and Proton Energy Systems. McGinty also served on the Advisory Boards of early stage companies including Petra Solar, AE Polysilicon, Plextronics and GridPoint.
McGinty currently serves on the boards of the Energy Futures Initiative, the Committee of Seventy, and the American Sustainable Business Council.
McGinty is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. She received Honorary Doctorates from Muhlenberg University, Dickinson College, and Clarion State University. She was named a Global Leader for Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland. She was awarded the Ansel Adams Award by the Wilderness Society for Exceptional Commitment to Conservation. And she was named Woman of the Year by the Women's Council on Energy and the Environment.
Political campaigns
2014 Pennsylvania gubernatorial campaign
On April 12, 2013, McGinty announced she would be a candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2014.[ McGinty finished fourth in the primary behind Allyson Schwartz, Rob McCord, and eventual general election winner ]Tom Wolf
Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 guber ...
, who appointed her his chief of staff. She served in that capacity from January 2015 until July 2015, amid speculation that she was considering running for the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
in the 2016 election.
2016 U.S. Senate campaign
On August 4, 2015, McGinty officially announced her candidacy for the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
in 2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
. She was endorsed by EMILY's List
EMILY's List is an American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "Early Money ...
, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf
Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 guber ...
, former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell
Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philade ...
, and President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
.
In April 2016, she defeated former U.S. Representative Joe Sestak
Joseph Ambrose Sestak Jr. (born December 12, 1951) is an American politician and retired United States Department of the Navy, U.S. Navy officer. He represented in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives from ...
and then-Mayor of Braddock John Fetterman
John Karl Fetterman (born August 15, 1969) is an American politician who is the United States senator-elect from Pennsylvania. A member of the Democratic Party, he has also served as the 34th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania since 2019. Fet ...
in the Democratic primary. As of June 30, 2016, financial disclosures showed that McGinty's campaign had spent $4,312,688 and raised $6,713,202.
The Senate election between McGinty and incumbent Republican Pat Toomey
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. representat ...
was among the most expensive Senate races in America. According to the nonpartisan OpenSecrets
OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...
, as of October 2016, more than $52 million had been spent on the general and primary election between the two candidates. During the race, McGinty was attacked for awarding state grants to a group where her husband was a consultant when she was on a state Ethics Committee
An ethics committee is a body responsible for ensuring that medical experimentation and human subject research are carried out in an ethical manner in accordance with national and international law.
Specific regions
An ethics committee in the E ...
. Due to this and her wealth, several attack ad
Attack may refer to:
Warfare and combat
* Offensive (military)
* Charge (warfare)
* Attack (fencing)
* Strike (attack)
* Attack (computing)
* Attack aircraft
Books and publishing
* ''The Attack'' (novel), a book
* '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...
s labeled her "Shady Katie."
In the general election on November 8, 2016, she was defeated by Toomey by the margin of 86,000 votes. McGinty received 47.34% of the vote.
Personal life
McGinty is married to Karl Hausker. They have three daughters and reside in Wayne, Pennsylvania
Wayne is an unincorporated community centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on the Main Line, a series of highly affluent Philadelphia suburbs located along the railroad tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and one of the wealthiest areas ...
.
Electoral history
References
External links
*
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGinty, Kathleen
1963 births
American environmentalists
American women environmentalists
Chiefs of staff to United States state governors
Columbia Law School alumni
Living people
Pennsylvania Democrats
Politicians from Philadelphia
Saint Joseph's University alumni
State cabinet secretaries of Pennsylvania
Candidates in the 2016 United States Senate elections
21st-century American women politicians
21st-century American politicians