Although Fern Kaufman wasn’t completely victorious at the polls in November 2008, the out candidate for the Pennsylvania House is building upon the experiences of her first bid for office — during which she narrowly lost the election to a longtime Republican incumbent — to aid her in becoming Pennsylvania’s first openly LGBT state legislator.
In the November election, Kaufman, 44, will again square off with Tim Hennessey, who’s represented Pennsylvania’s 26th District in Chester County for 18 years. Kaufman, a hospital administrator, lost to Hennessey by just about 1,000 votes two years ago and is looking to overcome that gap this year.
“Incumbents can stand there and fold their arms and do nothing and still get 40 percent of the vote,” Kaufman said. “A challenger has to achieve over that 40 percent and then get past it.”
Despite the workload of a campaign, which Kaufman is balancing while working full-time as the corporate director of pharmacy at St. Joseph’s Hospital, she said she felt compelled to run again.
“I had some real significant decisions to make about if I wanted to stay local and run for office because I was offered a job in Nashville that was a lot more money and more responsibility, but I just felt like there was this unfinished business here and knew that I had to give it another shot,” she said. “There’s a point where you get into this for your own personal reasons, but then there’s this shift where it’s not about you anymore. It starts out that way but then it becomes about something so much bigger than you.”
Aside from her political aspirations, Kaufman has had a long career in the health field as a pharmacist, having attained a doctorate degree in pharmacy and later a master’s in business administration. In her current position, Kaufman supervises 44 employees and oversees all of the hospital’s pharmacy services.
She postured that “you can probably count on one hand with fingers left over the number of people in Harrisburg who actually understand healthcare,” adding her varied experiences in the field would be an invaluable asset to healthcare reform in the state.
From her original campaign, however, she quickly saw that the political realm is vastly different from her current career.
“Politics can really be a dirty game and, especially running against an entrenched incumbent, there are whisper campaigns and stuff said that isn’t true and you have to learn how to navigate that. And that’s something I have gotten better at,” she said. “I’ve learned to listen to myself a lot more and to balance what others are telling me to do with what I feel is right.”
She also learned that running for office isn’t nearly as glamorous as it’s portrayed in television and movies.
“It’s walking around a few nights a week and every weekend, doing grassroots stuff. You’re sweating and tired and have to knock on people’s doors and hand them this polished picture of yourself and say, ‘Hey I’m running for office, and you should vote for me,’ when your hair’s a mess and you look like you just rolled out from under a car. It’s hard work, but you have to have those conversations.”
Kaufman said she’s become more adept at having such conversations with all types of people, even those who express opposition to her sexual orientation.
“I had a conversation with a woman last week who called me an abomination. And we stood there and talked for a while and we were even joking with each other. She basically thought my life meant nothing, but I said, ‘Look, I know you’re probably not going to vote for me, but when I win, I will represent you and I’ll do it with enthusiasm.’ In 2008, I would walk away from things like that just nuts and now I’m walking away smiling, just heading to the next door. I think I’ve been able to calm down a little bit and let things like that roll off me.”
As a Democrat in a district that’s elected a Republican for nearly two decades, Kaufman said she also struggles to break down the barriers and preconceptions voters hold because of her party affiliation.
“Yes, I’m a Democrat, but I’m a fiscal conservative and a social progressive, and that’s when I usually see the eyebrow go up,” she said. “So I explain it. You can be both these things, you can be a moderate. We’re so big on attaching labels to people that they have this predetermination of who you are before you even knock on their door. But ultimately, people just want to be heard. And I’ll stand there and listen and engage them in a conversation, no matter their views.”
Kaufman noted that same openness is needed in legislative conversations about issues affecting the LGBT community.
She said she’s experienced LGBT discrimination in numerous instances, such as when she was prevented from seeing her partner during a hospitalization and in what she believes to be anti-LGBT bias that led her to lose her job last year.
She noted, however, that in order to further measures like the LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination bill currently in the state legislature, she’d work with allies in Harrisburg to take a realistic approach to heightening awareness among both legislators and their constituents.
“The thought would be, quick, let’s go for gay marriage right away, and I’d love to say absolutely, let’s get it through. But the reality is that we don’t know who our governor’s going to be and we have a Republican-controlled Senate,” she said. “We need to work with the folks who believe our issues are important and try to open some doors that way. We can achieve progress though education and conversation. If you go in there and say that you’re going to do all of these things overnight, of course you’re going to fail. It has to be a process.”
Kaufman said her own process of winning this fall’s election can be facilitated through the involvement of the LGBT community. Her campaign is seeking donations to strengthen her advertising capabilities, but is also looking for volunteers to help with her grassroots, door-to-door efforts.
“The way you beat an incumbent is through voter contact, so we need people to volunteer even one or two days a month to come canvas with us,” she said.
Kaufman said the tangible support of the LGBT community could not only fuel her own bid for office, but also can help to open some of her constituents’ eyes to the challenges the community faces.
“I’m willing to do my part, to go in there and fight that fight. I’ve got a big mouth, so I’m cool with that, but I need other people to help me with that fight and that conversation,” she said. “After my conservation with the woman last week about these issues, she may have still thought I was an abomination, but maybe not as much. She even offered me some water. That’s progress.”
For more information, visit www.fern4pa.com.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].