Dahlkemper, Kathy, 1957-

<p>Kathleen Ann Dahlkemper (née Steenberge; born December 10, 1957) is an American politician. She was elected the county executive of Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 2013 and served as U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district from 2009 to 2011.</p>

<p>Dahlkemper was born Kathleen Ann Steenberge in Erie, one of seven children of Carl W. and M. Janet Clarke Steenberge. She graduated in 1982 from Edinboro State College (now Edinboro University of Pennsylvania) with a degree in dietetics.</p>

<p>After graduating, she worked for more than 20 years as a clinical dietician, first briefly in Houston, Texas and later in the Erie area. Since 1997, she has been part-owner, human resources manager and special projects director of Dahlkemper Landscape Architects and Contractors, a major landscaping firm in the area. She is a co-founder/director of the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park.</p>

<p>During her one term in Congress, Kathleen A. (Kathy) Dahlkemper worked to keep the needs of her entire district in mind. “I made a promise to the people of Western Pennsylvania not to work for a political party, but to advocate for their interests and find practical, common sense solutions to the challenges facing our region. I take that promise very seriously and work every day to keep it.”</p>

<p>Kathy Dahlkemper was born Kathleen A. Steenberge on December 10, 1957, to Carl W. and M. Janet Clarke Steenberge in Erie, Pennsylvania. She was raised in Erie, where she attended Edinboro State College and received her BS in dietetics in 1982. She briefly worked in Houston, Texas, as a dietician before moving back to Erie in 1986 to open her own office. While in college, she became pregnant and got married. She and her husband divorced soon after, and Dahlkemper raised her son, Aron, as a single mother on food stamps and without health care. She later married Dan Dahlkemper, and together they had four children: Gretchen, Linden, Tricia, and Nathan. She worked at a landscaping company owned by her father-in-law, and in 1997 Dahlkemper and her husband took over the business. Dahlkemper served as the director of the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park, Pennsylvania, from 2000 to 2008.</p>

<p>Dahlkemper was persuaded to run for Congress by friends and family in 2007. “Honestly, it was not something I was thinking about before I was asked,” she recalled. In her first attempt for political office, she campaigned as a concerned citizen looking to effect change, using her experience as a single mother and a small business owner to connect with voters. After winning a four-way contest for the Democratic nomination, she faced seven-term Republican incumbent Philip Sheridan English in the 2008 general election. Dahlkemper pointed to growing discontent with President George W. Bush and challenged English for supporting the administration. Dahlkemper campaigned on the economy and job creation, issues that northwest Pennsylvania, once an industrial hub, had struggled with for many years. She defeated English 51 percent to 49 percent. When she was sworn in on January 6, 2009, Dahlkemper became the first woman to represent the northwestern region of Pennsylvania in Congres.</p>