Katie McGinty | |
|---|---|
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| Chief of Staff to theGovernor of Pennsylvania | |
| In office January 20, 2015 – July 23, 2015 | |
| Governor | Tom Wolf |
| Preceded by | Leslie Gromis-Baker |
| Succeeded by | Mary Isenhour |
| Pennsylvania Secretary of Environmental Protection | |
| In office January 2003 – July 2008 | |
| Governor | Ed Rendell |
| Preceded by | David Hess |
| Succeeded by | John Hanger |
| Chair of theCouncil on Environmental Quality | |
| In office January 20, 1993 – November 7, 1998* | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Michael Deland |
| Succeeded by | George Frampton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kathleen Alana McGinty (1963-05-11)May 11, 1963 (age 62) Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Karl Hausker |
| Education | St. Joseph's University (BS) Columbia University (JD) |
| Website | Campaign website |
| *McGinty was appointed as director of a new White House Office on Environmental Policy intended to replace CEQ, before Clinton later merged that office back into CEQ, with McGinty formally nominated and confirmed as chair on January 5, 1995.[1][2][3] | |
Kathleen Alana McGinty (born May 11, 1963) is a retired American politician and former state and federal environmental policy official.[4] She served as an environmental advisor toVice PresidentAl Gore and PresidentBill Clinton. Later, she served as Secretary of thePennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in the cabinet of GovernorEd Rendell.
Prior to the nomination ofLisa P. Jackson, she was mentioned as a possibleUnited States Environmental Protection Agency Administrator under PresidentBarack Obama,[5] as well as a possible candidate to succeed Ed Rendell asGovernor of Pennsylvania, but was not a candidate in the2010 election.[6] McGinty was an unsuccessful candidate for the governorship in2014.[7] After DemocratTom Wolf won Pennsylvania's 2014 gubernatorial election, he appointed McGinty as his chief of staff.[8]
On August 4, 2015, she officially announced her candidacy for theUnited States Senate in2016.[9] McGinty won the Democratic nomination on April 26, 2016, but lost in a close election, with 47.3% of the vote, to incumbent Republican SenatorPat Toomey, who garnered 48.7% in the general election. McGinty served as the Senior Vice President of the Oceans Program for theEnvironmental Defense Fund.[10] In June 2019, she became the vice-president of global government relations forJohnson Controls.[11]
McGinty grew up inNortheast Philadelphia.[12][13] She graduated fromSt. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls,Saint Joseph's University in 1985 (with a BS in chemistry), andColumbia Law School 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.[12][14]
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After law school, McGinty clerked for a federal judge but did not ultimately take the bar exam or practice law.[12] She won a Congressional Fellowship after crafting a strategy to bring technology jobs back to the United States and became a legislative assistant toAl Gore when he was serving as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee. In 1993, she became a deputy assistant to PresidentBill Clinton. She chaired theWhite House Council on Environmental Quality 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 helpaddress climate change, 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 GovernorEd Rendell's administration for over five years.[15]
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.
On April 12, 2013, McGinty announced she would be a candidate forGovernor of Pennsylvania in 2014.[7] McGinty finished fourth in the primary behind Allyson Schwartz, Rob McCord, and eventual general election winnerTom Wolf, 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 theUnited States Senate in the2016 election.[16]
On August 4, 2015, McGinty officially announced her candidacy for theUnited States Senate in2016. She was endorsed byEMILY's List, Pennsylvania GovernorTom Wolf, former Pennsylvania GovernorEd Rendell, and PresidentBarack Obama.[17][18]
In April 2016, she defeated former U.S. RepresentativeJoe Sestak and then-Mayor ofBraddockJohn Fetterman in the Democratic primary.[19] As of June 30, 2016, financial disclosures showed that McGinty's campaign had spent $4,312,688 and raised $6,713,202.[20]
The Senate election between McGinty and incumbent RepublicanPat Toomey was among the most expensive Senate races in America. According to the nonpartisanOpenSecrets, as of October 2016, more than $52 million had been spent on the general and primary election between the two candidates.[21] During the race, McGinty was attacked for awarding state grants to a group where her husband was a consultant when she was on a stateEthics Committee. Due to this and her wealth, severalattack ads labeled her "Shady Katie."[22]
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.[23]
McGinty is married to Karl Hausker. They have three daughters and reside inWayne, Pennsylvania.[24]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tom Wolf | 488,917 | 57.86 | |
| Democratic | Allyson Schwartz | 149,027 | 17.64 | |
| Democratic | Robert McCord | 142,311 | 16.84 | |
| Democratic | Katie McGinty | 64,754 | 7.66 | |
| Total votes | 845,009 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Katie McGinty | 669,774 | 42.50 | |
| Democratic | Joe Sestak | 513,221 | 32.57 | |
| Democratic | John Fetterman | 307,090 | 19.49 | |
| Democratic | Joseph Vodvarka | 85,837 | 5.45 | |
| Total votes | 1,575,922 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Pat Toomey (inc.) | 2,951,702 | 48.77% | ||
| Democratic | Katie McGinty | 2,865,012 | 47.34% | ||
| Libertarian | Edward T. Clifford III | 235,142 | 3.89% | ||
| Total votes | 6,051,856 | 100.00% | |||
| Republicanhold | Swing | NA | |||
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chair of theCouncil on Environmental Quality 1995–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromPennsylvania (Class 3) 2016 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
