Joanna McClinton has become Pennsylvania’s first elected female Speaker of the House and the second Black person to hold the position. She was elected Speaker in a historic vote after Mark Rozzi, a Democrat, stepped down.
“It was almost 250 years before a woman could stand at this desk, not just to give a prayer, but to get the gavel. That’s pretty incredible,” the Associated Press (AP) quoted McClinton as saying after being sworn in.
McClinton has represented Philadelphia in the state legislature for seven years and made a name for herself as an advocate for women’s health issues and criminal justice reforms.
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