Dear Democratic Leader:

A number of area leaders and elected officials have contacted me in the past 48 hours to tell me
that MCDC Chair Joe Foster has been circulating a letter calling on me to resign from the
Senate. Several have indicated that they have refused to sign, while others have said that they
don't agree with doing this but feel pressured to comply. This was discussed at a meeting on
Tuesday night. Since I was not allowed to attend the meeting to speak on my behalf, I am taking
the liberty of writing a letter of my own. I hope you'll take a few moments to read this so that at
least you have some context.

I've been a legislator for 17 years, and active in the party for over 20. In that time, I've tried to be
what I, and others often say they want in a leader. I have never claimed to be perfect. But I have
attempted to be bold and courageous in the battles I take on, deliberately seeking out the most
politically difficult issues to champion, because those are the issues that needed a leader.
These include fighting for marriage equality when virtually nobody else would, pushing to
legalize marijuana when I was told it was political suicide, and even publicly changing my mind
on the very sensitive issue of the statute of limitations on sex abuse when doing so is virtually
unheard of in Harrisburg. You may disagree with me on these or a host of other issues. But
nobody can say that I acted in a way that put my self-preservation ahead of what is right.

As a result of these efforts, I have accomplished a great deal more than could have been
expected of a member of the minority party. I enacted important public policy on the
environment, women's rights, human trafficking, child-safety, and I would argue, I passed the
single most important piece of social legislation in the past 30 years with the medical marijuana
law. The Republicans once passed an awful law allowing the NRA to sue municipalities who
passed gun safety ordinances, and Governor Corbett signed it that same day. In response, I
sued House Speaker Turzai and won -- and we had that law struck down. I also was a plaintiff in
the lawsuit that struck down the Republican's attempt at a racist Voter ID law and led the fight
against gerrymandering here in PA.

Politically, I have helped the party in every way I could. I spent 4 years of my life as head of the
Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, traveling the state, raising money, recruiting
candidates, and bringing our Senate caucus up to 23 members, the largest it's been in a quarter
of a century. I donated to, door knocked for, and advised dozens of local candidates, some of
whom were asked to sign onto this letter. I spoke at literally scores of fundraisers I was invited
to, even if the candidate was running far outside of my district. And I tried to do all of it with
humor, and be what Hubert Humphrey used to call "a happy warrior." Recently, I have been
criticized by some for using humor. I really think that's a shame. Humor is a force for light in
what can be a very dark world. And nobody who has followed my legislative career can say that
I don't take my job, my legislation, my advocacy and my commitment to progressive change
very seriously.
Recently, I was the subject of false accusations of literally the worst kind. Those who have sat
down with me for 15 minutes (including some who say they feel pressured to sign the letter),
agree the allegations are not credible, not consistent, not logical, and in some ways not
physically possible. Further, there are several forums where due process is currently unfolding.
This will clarify what did and did not happen. Despite efforts to fairly and objectively judge the
credibility of these claims through a calm, measured investigation, there is an effort to bypass
that process by sending letters such as the one Chairman Foster is circulating ​before​ the
results of the various investigations and litigation are concluded. That doesn't seem fair.

Again, I'm an imperfect person, as many of us are. I would note that I've been subjected to
literally thousands of highly personal attacks and indignities over the past 18 months. My family
has been devastated, my children have been teased and attacked on social media. I have been
disinvited to events after people called the hosts and threatened to disrupt those events and had
my own events stormed by people chanting obscenities. I have remained quiet and stoic
through most of this. However, there were a handful of times some of my frustration has
bubbled to the surface.

Nobody is at their best when they feel attacked. And I am truly sorry for the occasions when I
reacted angrily. And while this is not an excuse, my anger was the result of deep personal hurt.
However, I would urge everyone to think about how they would handle falsely and publicly being
called a "rapist" or an "assaulter" day after day. There are surely people who would handle it
better than I have. But I am also sure that most people would get angry. That's because our
reputations are important to us. And I have worked very hard for many years to have a good
one.

I have made it clear publicly and repeatedly, as well as to Joe Foster personally, that I will not
resign, under any circumstances. I was elected to serve a 4 year term overwhelmingly by the
voters, and that's what I will do. While serving as a State Senator is a privilege, it is a privilege
bestowed on me by the voters of the 17th district, not by party leaders, colleagues, the
Governor, or other elected officials who do not even live in my district. It would be irresponsible
of me to ignore the wishes of the voters and vacate the seat to alleviate political pressure on
myself. And for the record, calls from my constituents have been overwhelmingly supportive.

I am fighting for principles that are extremely important to me. I am fighting for the right of
everyone to the presumption of innocence and the right to due process. I am fighting for the
choice of the voters as to who represents them to be respected. I am pushing back against the
propensity of the modern Democratic Party to eat its own, and attack its most progressive
leaders. And I am fighting for basic decency in how we treat each other.

Putting my situation aside, this sets a terrible precedent in so many ways. Among the
unfortunate things we are validating are:

= Making an accusation the equivalent of a finding of guilt

= Turning due process into something that people should be ashamed of insisting upon
= Allowing a small group of vocal people to turn the party against its own
= Conducting secret proceedings where people being accused or discussed are not even
allowed to participate
= Responding to mob rule over orderly and rational assessment of facts

We are the Democratic Party. We are supposed to be the party who believes in all the principles
I am talking about. We protest and picket when someone on death row is denied due process.
We write letters and repost angry Facebook memes about people who are not allowed to
defend themselves. We demand openness and transparency when there are hearings on
building a pipeline or a new mall. We are the party that condemns McCarthyism where people
were pressured into condemning others they didn't even know about allegations they weren't
even familiar with, and if being a liberal means anything, it has to mean rejecting pitchfork
justice. If we don't live these principles, it's going to be hard to convince others that we should
make them public policy.

I want to thank all those who have stuck by me. I promise you, while litigation takes a while,
clear vindication is coming, and your faith in me will be justified. For those who felt they couldn't,
I'm sorry you've had to deal with this at all. And regardless of what you do, if you are ever in the
same position, I will fight for you, the way I've tried to fight for what's right my entire career.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Daylin