Sandy Pasch’s campaign slogan is “Fighting for the health of our community for over 20 years.”
And that was before Pasch, nursing instructor and mental health advocate, fractured the socket part of her hip from a fall while campaigning door to door for the 22nd Assembly District. She now has a metal plate in her hip and is in the midst of a three-month recovery process. But the Democratic candidate is still campaigning up to six hours a day, with the help of some dedicated volunteers who push her wheelchair and help her to doors on her crutches.
Pasch said the experience has renewed her dedication to work on health care issues if she’s elected to the state Assembly in November. The district’s current representative for the Assembly, Democrat Sheldon Wasserman, a medical doctor, is giving up the seat to run for state Senate.
“I heard so many stories when I was in the hospital about people’s health care bills and their lack of insurance,” Pasch said. “It also makes me realize how close any one of us is from financial disaster if we don’t have an adequate insurance and safety net. And so many of us don’t.”
Pasch said she also has a new appreciation for the physical barriers faced by those who are not able-bodied. “I am much, much more sensitive to these issues now,” she said.
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