Meet Madeleine Dean

Quick Facts

• Born: June 6, 1959 (currently 59 years old)
• Family: Husband (Patrick "PJ" Cunnane), 3 sons (Patrick, Harry, Alex), 2 daughters-in-law (Stephanie, Juliet), 1 granddaughter (Aubrey, 7 years old)
• Residence: Jenkintown, Abington Township, Pennsylvania
• Education: La Salle University (B.A.), Widener University (J.D.), the University of Pennsylvania (current)
• Political Party: Democratic
• Religion: Roman Catholic
• Office: Representative (Pennsylvania's 4th District) since 2019

Via U.S. House of Representatives

Education and Career

According to the U.S. House of Representatives, Madeleine earned her B.A. at La Salle University in Philadelphia, majoring in English Literature and Language. She went on to earn her law degree at the Delaware Law School of Widener University. She then practiced law at a small firm in Philadelphia before opening her own small practice. From 2001 to 2011, she was an English professor at La Salle University. After beginning her studies of politics and public service at University of Pennsylvania's Fels School of Government in 2011, Madeleine served as Abington Township commissioner. In 2012, she entered the Pennsylvania State House. In 2015, Madeleine was appointed to the Pennsylvania Commission for Women. In 2018, she won the Fourth Congressional District seat for Pennsylvania.

Previous Elected Experience

Madeleine was a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives for four consecutive terms (2012-2018), representing the District 153. While in office, she focused on public education, the environment, equal gender rights, access to health care, and gun violence. The Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 influenced Madeleine to co-found PA SAFE, a gun violence prevention caucus, with Representative Dan Frankel.

Fun Facts

• Nickname: "Mad"
• Favorite pump-up song: "Happy" by Pharrell Williams
• Favorite thing to teach: Writing
• Favorite food from her district: Glenside Pub (Glenside, PA)
• The U.S. House of Representatives notes that while teaching at La Salle, Madeleine also contributed to The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Daily News, The Patriot-News, and other publications.

Committee Assignments

Madeleine's current committee assignments are Financial Services and Judiciary. However, the committees that have been involved in the bills she has sponsored or cosponsored include Judiciary, Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Reform, and Ways and Means. Madeleine's committee assignments while in the Pennsylvania House include Appropriations (2013-2018), Finance (2013-2018), Judiciary (2013-2018), State Government (2017-2018), Urban Affairs (2017-2018), Ethics (2013-2016), Gaming Oversight (2015-2016), Local Government (2015-2016), and Human Services (2013-2014).

Sponsored Legislation

Having not been in Congress very long, Madeleine Dean has not had the opportunity to sponsor many bills. The only bill that she has sponsored is H.R. 869, the Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act. Madeleine has, however, cosponsored 37 bills. The majority of these bills involve gun safety, fair wages, and veteran support programs. In my opinion, the most important bill that Madeleine cosponsors is H.R. 737, the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019. All of these bills are in the introductory phase, other than H.R. 1, the For the People Act of 2019, which is in the committee hearings phase.

ADA and Interest Group Scores

Although Madeleine has not yet received an ADA rating, Vote Smart assigns percentages to members of Congress that "can be invaluable in showing where an incumbent has stood on a series of votes in the past one or two years, especially when ratings by groups on all sides of an issue are compared." Madeleine is at 100% for abortion, animals and wildlife, the environment, health and health care, and sexual orientation and gender identity. She is consistently below 25% for business and consumers, the NRA, and socially and fiscally conservative measures.

Crossing Party Lines

Out of the 37 bills that Madeleine has cosponsored, only two have been sponsored by a Republican: H.R. 555 and H.R. 1225. H.R. 555, the Disability Integration Act of 2019, is sponsored by Rep. Sensenbrenner. Although sponsored by a Republican, 81 of the 90 cosponsors for this bill are Democrats. Therefore, it seems as though this bill would be crossing party lines for Rep. Sensenbrenner more than for Madeleine Dean. H.R. 1225 (To establish, fund, and provide for the use of amounts in a National Park Service and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund to address the maintenance backlog of the National Park Service, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Indian Education, and for other purposes) is sponsored by Rep. Bishop and needs a shorter title. H.R. 1225 is far more bipartisan than H.R. 555, with 52 Democrats and 40 Republicans as cosponsors.

Positions of Leadership

As early as age 18, Madeleine Dean began her leadership journey by winning an election to serve as a local committee-person. Before opening her own law firm, she rose to the position of Executive Director at her previous firm. She was the Abingtown Town commissioner until she won a special election to the Pennsylvania State House. In 2015, she was appointed by Governor Tom Wolf to the Pennsylvania Commission for Women. She also served as a board member for the St. Vincent de Paul Society.