Emerge Maine, an organization which recruits, trains and inspires Democratic women to seek public office, will honor Congresswoman Chellie Pingree as its Woman of the Year.

This award recognizes Pingree’s long career in public service which began as a local tax assessor and school board member on North Haven. Currently she is seeking a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Maine’s 1st Congressional District.

“In between those bookends of a distinguished career, Rep. Pingree served four terms in the Maine Senate where she was elected majority leader in 1996 and sponsored one of the nation’s first prescription drug pricing bills. She took on the powerful prescription drug lobby to get this piece of legislation passed and in Congress Rep. Pingree has continued to consistently push for progressive ideas that Democrats value,” said Katie Mae Simpson, executive director of Emerge Maine. “As we see more and more women run for public office it may be easy to forget that Rep. Pingree was the first woman elected to Congress in the 1st Congressional district and that was just four years ago.

“I am honored to be Emerge Maine’s Woman of the Year”, said Rep. Chellie Pingree. “Coming from an organization which empowers women to run for office makes this award quite special for me. The work Emerge Maine does is critical in providing a strong back bench of Democratic women who will enter the public arena and make a difference in the way this state and country are governed. Emerge Maine provides the support and training they need to be successful and to be singled out by this organization in this way is a privilege.”

In addition to Rep. Pingree’s work as an elected official, she served as national president and CEO of Common Cause, a non-partisan citizens activist group with nearly 300,000 members and 35 state chapters.

Rep. Pingree will receive the Woman of the Year award Friday June 8th. This is the third time
Emerge Maine has bestowed it. Libby Mitchell, former Maine House speaker and Maine Senate president, was Emerge Maine’s 2011 Woman of the Year. Millie MacFarland, former clerk of the Maine House received the award in 2010.
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