Polish-American Mayor Announces
Run For U.S. Senate
- PostEagle
- May 6, 2015
- Uncategorized
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On Thursday, April 30th, Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski met with supporters at the West End Pulaski Club in Pittsburgh to announce his candidacy for U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania in 2016. Pittsburgh was one of a number of stops the three-term mayor made in the last weeks across the state to greet supporters and announce his campaign.
Pawlowski has served with distinction as mayor of Pennsylvania’s third largest city since 2006, building a reputation as a leader who can reach across the aisle and work with the private sector to get things done.
“I look forward to listening to voters and sharing with them the story of success we’ve had in Allentown in solving real problems for real people in a real way. We didn’t wait on Washington or Harrisburg to get things done. We rolled up our sleeves and we got things done,” Pawlowski said as part of his announcement.
Mayor Pawlowski has assembled a team of consultants and staff with vast experience that have had many successes on the national stage.
Darek Barcikowski, a major Polish-American political strategist, will be assisting with fundraising and constituency community outreach. He is the executive director of the nonpartisan American Polish Advisory Council in Washington, D.C. and the publisher and managing partner of White Eagle Media, which produces Polish-American newspapers in eight states.
“Ed’s immigrant heritage is similar to that of so many Pennsylvanians. He understands not only what it means to pursue the American Dream but what it takes to make sure that this dream is within reach for everyone. I am delighted about the opportunity to elect a Polish American to the US Senate, especially as Barbara Mikulski, who has been the voice of 10 million Polish Americans on Capitol Hill for almost three decades announced her retirement earlier this year,” Barcikowski said.
When Pawlowski was elected mayor, Allentown was a struggling city with an escalating crime rate, a shrinking police force, an $8 million budget deficit and very little new economic development on the horizon.
Through Pawlowski’s leadership, Allentown has become a shining example in Pennsylvania of how to break the cycle of urban decay and overcome the country’s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
The city has attracted more than a billion dollars of new development, which has contributed to the creation of over four thousand permanent and construction jobs. Crime has dropped significantly over the last ten years. An $8 million budget deficit has been turned into a surplus and Standard & Poor’s has recently upgraded the city’s bond rating three notches to A+. All of these things have been achieved without a single increase in the city’s real estate tax rate for a decade under Mayor Pawlowski’s leadership.
“I know I have a great story to tell the voters about myself and the work I have done to help make Allentown’s incredible turnaround possible,” Pawlowski said. “Representing Pennsylvania in the US Senate, I will work tirelessly to make sure that the story of economic revival of Allentown is the story of every community in our great state and that the story of our hard working residents who took advantage of newly created opportunities is the story of every Pennsylvanian.”
Pawlowski has been meeting with members of the Polish American community both inside and outside of Pennsylvania over the last weeks and will soon announce the formation of a Polish Americans for Pawlowski National Steering Committee which will be a part of his campaign.
Pawlowski’s grandmother immigrated for Poland in 1903 when she was just 19 years old. His parents were small business owners who operated a Polish restaurant in Chicago, where Ed grew up attended school. Growing up, Ed recalls that Polish heritage and values were a big part of family life. Ed married his college sweetheart Lisa who is a community activist and a social worker. They have two children.
– American Polish Advisory Committee
