The other day, Holly Otterbein stated that Delaware County Democrats had did not endorse an applicant when it comes to PA House that is 5th District, split between applicants Mary Gay Scanlon and Ashley Lunkenheimer. Chair regarding the celebration David Landau indicated dissatisfaction that the Delco Democrats did not endorse some body when it comes to chair, and has now formerly expressed a misgivings concerning the leading candidate Richard Lazer, winning the competition, stating that he hoped the region could possibly be represented by some body from Delaware County (the 5th region, when it comes to many component, is made up of about 80% Delco. residents.) And that is the big publicized split over PA-5—should a Philadelphian represent the fifth district?
At first glance, Lunkenheimer, Scanlon, and Lazer have comparable sounding that is progressive. Mary Gay Scanlon also states it front—her landing page checks out “Tough. Smart. Modern.” A closer glance at the records and companies of Scanlon, her spouse, and their company, law practice Ballard Spahr, show questionable credentials that are progressive
Scanlon and previous Gov. Ed Rendell, whom endorsed her campaign and additionally works well with Ballard Spahr. (Emma Le/WHYY)
In accordance with Mary Gay Scanlon’s biography that is professional is the seat of this pro bono group at Ballard Spahr, a huge nationwide attorney located in Philadelphia. She’s additionally “a member associated with Association of professional Bono Counsel, and serves as Co-Chair for the Philadelphia Bar Association’s lawyer professional Bono Committee as well as on the board of Philadelphia VIP”, a nearby pro bono appropriate help team.
Her campaign site touts her experience as a progressive fighter and she seals her modern cred with an array of strictly modern policy roles. Lacking nevertheless through the list and from her experience are any mention of modern taxation reform, banking and finance industry reform, or customer defenses. That’s wthe womane her husband, Mark S. Stewart, and their shared boss lawfirm Ballard Spahr LLP can be worth using a closer examine.
Protesters fighting against unjust housing debt.
While Scanlon touts just what seem to be impressive modern qualifications, her spouse is a lawyer that is corporate the seat of Ballard Spahr LLP. The company happens to be making headlines for the previous decade for its massive expansion through mergers and purchases around the world, that the Legal Intelligencer called a “Merger Spree”
Ballard Spahr centers on numerous appropriate areas including finance and pharmaceuticals. These people were additionally recently within the news for leading the cost to block a regulations that are major the buyer Financial Protection Bureau. This is the agency set up following the 2008 collapse that has been designed to provide residents ways to just take appropriate action against banking institutions and monetary agencies that preyed on low earnings individuals and caused the crash. The law that is online Law360 praised Ballard Spahr for going following the CFPB. Certainly, this became one of many key income streams for the attorney, and so they sank millions into court instances and lobbying efforts. Those efforts paid down, plus in 2017, President Trump essentially eliminated the CFPB.
The firm took on the CFPB’s pay-day lending regulations as another part of the same strategy
“Ballard Spahr’s Jeremy T. Rosenblum, co-practice frontrunner for the company’s customer economic solutions team, has represented payday lenders, including ACE money Express and Advance Financial, within their battle from the CFPB’s payday loan rules. The legislation, that was introduced in October, would impose an ability-to-repay test to all pay day loans with a 45-day payment term, car name loans with 30-day terms along with other small-dollar loans.” (Through the company’s news and news page.)
It is harder to separate the fact that Scanlon is married to the head of the firm and her campaign is largely financed by firm employees while it is entirely plausible to contest the importance of this case in relation to Mary Gay Scanlon’s personal record. In a strange paradox, Mark Stewart’s lawyer earnestly promotes legal actions that keep the indegent in poverty, while Mary Scanlon’s pro-bono legal work provides assistance to individuals in poverty whom can’t manage an attorney.
Scanlon’s Husband and Ballard Spahr seat Mark Stewart during the Mortgage Banker’s Association’s Diversity and Inclusion Summit (supply)
Holly Otterbein and Andrew Seidman report that: “Contributions from BallardSpahr lawyers take into account about 45 per cent regarding the $254,000 Scanlon raised through March. That doesn’t count the $150,000 she lent her campaign.” These campaign finance documents cast Scanlon’s capacity to distance herself from Ballard Spahr’s passions further into doubt . It may possibly be plausible to wave from the actions of Scanlon’s employer as unrelated to her campaign, nevertheless the undeniable fact that Scanlon’s campaign is essentially financed by Ballard Spahr workers is another matter.
Otterbein and Seidman continue in their reporting to throw Scanlon’s progressive qualifications into concern further, reporting that “Comcast senior executive vice president David L. Cohen held a fundraiser a week ago for Scanlon, that is a longtime buddy of him along with his spouse, Rhonda.”
This can be to state, Ballard Spahr and Comcast’s David Cohen are maintaining Mary Gay Scanlon’s campaign afloat (about matching Scanlon’s own $150,000 investment.)
Our company is in a right time where we can’t waste work and votes on an individual who is certainly not wholly, completely, really committed to dismantling the structures of inequality that keep up with the status quo. Mary Gay Scanlon may myself think every one of her “progressive” points, however it is crucial to inquire of whether she could be able to say “No” online payday MN to a lobbyist covered by her husband’s company, along with her biggest donor, and vote to safeguard those that need the absolute most security.
Read the sources and much more links right here.
Ballard Spahr LLP workers contributed nearly three quarters of Scanlon’s campaign contributions. (Source: Philly Energy analysis)