House – Chris Deluzio - PA-17

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Democrat running for election in Pittsburgh suburbs
Video clip: Chris Deluzio for Congress

Chris Deluzio is a Pittsburgh-area native, Iraq War veteran and voting rights attorney. He is an advocate for better jobs, greater opportunity, and defending union, worker, and women’s rights. Chris said: “What my campaign is about is putting our common good first, fighting for our shared prosperity, our dignity, our civil rights, our democracy – that's what I'm about.”

Voting rights & democracy

Chris commented: “With the radical right trying to strip away voting rights – it's time to send a voting rights attorney to Congress.” Chris has worked at two leading institutions to protect voting rights and election integrity:

As Policy Director at Pitt Cyber (the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security), he focuses on the intersection of technology and civil rights – especially voting rights, elections, and government algorithms.
At the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, he worked on the Voting Rights team and Election Security team. The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that strives to uphold the values of democracy, equal justice and the rule of law.

Chris said: “Our democracy here is under attack…As someone who’s dedicated a lot of my life to protecting our right to vote and securing our elections in our democracy, I don’t view it as an option to sit back, [as] our politicians on the right are attacking our rights and threatening the health of our democracy.”

Chris’s background

After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy, Chris served as an officer in the Navy and deployed overseas multiple times. After returning from Iraq, Chris received his law degree magna cum laude from Georgetown Law, and clerked for a federal judge. He was part of the Pitt (University of Pittsburgh) Faculty Organizing Committee with the United Steelworkers, fighting successfully for the Pitt faculty to join the union.

Chris’s volunteer initiatives have included work with the Veterans Leadership Program of Western Pennsylvania, pro bono legal assistance with the Veterans Consortium and for indigent tenants in Allegheny County, and service as a Naval Academy Blue and Gold Officer (mentoring and interviewing applicants to the Academy).

Chris’s opponent

Chris’s Republican opponent is Jeremy Shaffer, a former Ross Township commissioner. Shaffer ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2018; in that campaign Shaffer’s team was accused of dirty tricks after fake campaign signs were put up, matching and made to appear that they were the signs of his Democratic opponent, saying that she was running as a “Socialist”. Shaffer has reportedly raised doubts about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. Shaffer has openly supported overturning Roe v. Wade and signaled support for a constitutional amendment to restrict abortion access nationwide. On the environment, Shaffer argues that the EPA’s regulations need to be “reigned in”, to be able to allow for more projects like pipelines. Shaffer has a 92% rating by the National Rifle Association.

Chris’s positions

Here are some of Chris’s key policy positions – the quotes are taken from his campaign website and other published statements.

Defending democracy: “Our democracy is in peril. From limitless corporate money running through our political system, to the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, to Republican voter suppression efforts in Harrisburg and across the country, and gerrymandered maps that serve politicians instead of the people – we need bold action to protect and strengthen our democracy.”

Reproductive freedom: “Chris believes in a simple idea that women deserve to control their own bodies and reproductive choices: a basic human right.” Responding to the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, Chris tweeted: “The Senate needs to wake up and act swiftly to codify Roe. And if they don’t, after I hold #PA17, you better believe that I’ll fight in Washington to protect abortion rights to get it done.”

Gun violence:“If you want absolutely nothing to change with our gun laws, I'm not your candidate. I've carried guns in uniform in dangerous places and know as well as anybody we need some common-sense reforms.”

The climate crisis: “We are facing an existential threat in climate change, and we need bold and swift action.”

Health care: “In the richest country in the history of the planet, it is obscene that some Americans cannot afford health care – or are stuck paying way too much for lousy care. Health care is a human right.”

“No More Forever Wars”: “During Chris’s deployment to Iraq, he saw firsthand – like too many of his fellow veterans – the consequences of a war that we never should have fought. The forever wars have cost trillions of dollars and even more in American lives. If Chris is lucky enough to serve in Congress, he will never vote to send Americans to war unless absolutely critical to our national security, and he won’t be afraid to ask the tough questions and to demand answers from those beating the drumbeat of war. And Chris will never break faith with his fellow veterans, to whom we have a sacred obligation to care for through a fully funded and staffed VA.”

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When summing up what motivated him to run for Congress, Chris said: “I was shaped profoundly by my time in uniform, what it meant to serve others, and learn pretty quickly the power of solidarity. We don’t leave people behind, regardless of race, or class, or who they love, what they look like, where they’re from, it doesn’t matter. I look around, though, and I see way too many people being left behind.” This race will be very close. Chris needs our help now. And the more voters who turn out to vote for Chris in the 17thcongressional district of Pennsylvania, the better the chances that Democrat John Fetterman will beat Trump’s ally Dr. Oz in the crucial senate race.