Joanna McClinton
Joanna E. McClinton (born August 19, 1982) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A member of the Democratic Party, she serves in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 191st House district in Delaware County and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since 2015. In November 2020, she was elected to serve as the House Democratic Leader. Education and early career. McClinton received her Bachelor's of Arts in Political Science from La Salle University. She earned her J.D. from Villanova University. During her enrollment at Villanova School of Law, McClinton interned at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office  as well as the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Upon graduation, McClinton went on to work for seven years as an assistant public defender. She was eventually named assistant chief of the East Zone. In 2013, McClinton was named Chief Counsel to State Senator Anthony Hardy Williams of the 8th district. McClinton's volunteer work includes acting as a Board Member of La Salle University's Alumni Association Board of Directors and president of La Salle University's African American Alumni Association, acting as a youth minister for ten years, volunteering at the Outreach to Youth and Hand of Compassion American  Sign Language Ministry, and serving as secretary to Philadelphia Barrister's Association. Political career. McClinton started her first term in the state legislature after she won a special election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2015, winning 70% of the vote and beating Republican Charles Wilkins. The special election was held following Ronald Water's resignation on June 1, 2015 after he pled guilty to cash payments from lobbyists and sentenced to 23 months probation. She then went on to win reelection in 2016, and was named secretary/treasurer of the Philadelphia County Delegation alongside Maria Donatucci and Jason Dawkins . McClinton's policy proposals center around education reform, job creation, creating a state-funded indigent defense system, and reforming the criminal justice system. She proposed legislation to establish universal pre-K and reform the Pennsylvania's expungement system. As a public defender, much of McClinton's focus has been on reforming Pennsylvania's criminal justice system. She has proposed changing the indigent defense system from being funded by the city to being funded by the state, and connecting constituents with career placement resources. During the 2017–2018 legislative session McClinton will propose legislation that she co-sponsored to create a school -based drug substance abuse intervention program in Pennsylvania schools. This proposed legislation would require the Board of Education to work alongside the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Program to develop the appropriate curriculum guidelines and would require schools to implement the program into their health classes. In 2018, she was elected to serve as Democratic Caucus Chair by members of the House Democratic Caucus. In November 2020, she was elected to serve as the House Democratic Leader.