After law school, Dean returned to the Philadelphia area and practiced law with the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers, going on to serve as executive director. She then opened a small, three-woman law practice in Glenside, and served as in-house counsel for her husband's growing bicycle business. While raising three young sons, Dean changed career paths and turned to teaching. She served 11 years as an assistant professor of English at her alma mater, La Salle University, in Philadelphia, where she taught composition, persuasive writing and rhetoric, business writing, legal writing, and ethics. In her private and professional life she has continued to write and is a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, The Patriot-News and other publications.
Earlier political career
Dean got her start in politics soon after graduating from high school, when, at 18 she was elected to serve as a local committee-person. She volunteered on her first campaign for Joe Hoeffel's re-election to the state legislature, for the same district seat she would later hold herself. It was on that campaign that she met her future husband, PJ Cunnane, himself a 19-year-old elected committee-person.
Having worked and volunteered in the political world for decades, and her children grown, Dean was asked to become a public servant herself, serving as Abington Township commissioner and soon thereafter ran for state representative in 2012. Since Dean was elected to the State House, she has prioritized social issues such as addiction, equal rights, access to healthcare, ethics, criminal justice reform, and gun violence. Following the shooting at Sandy Hook, Dean co-founded the gun violence prevention caucus, PA SAFE Caucus, with Rep. Dan Frankel. PA SAFE Caucus is self-described as an active coalition of legislators and advocates dedicated to curbing the problem of illegal guns. In 2015, Dean was appointed to the Governor's Commission for Women. A commission designed to advise the governor on policies and legislation that promote equality issues ranging from sexual assault to business initiatives. In 2017, Dean was elected to serve as chair of the Southeast Delegation of the Pennsylvania House Democrats, composed of 22 House Democrats representing nine counties.
Positions
Education
Dean stated in 2014: "We know that the number one issue with voters is education and how we fund our public schools". Regarding the Pennsylvania education budget for 2013, the then-state Representative said: "How we educate our kids tells us how our economy will be." In that same instance, she highlighted the issue of public school funding.
In February 2018, after a significant change in Pennsylvania's congressional districts mandated by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Dean announced she would end her campaign for Lieutenant Governor and instead run for Congress in the 4th District. The district had previously been the 13th, represented by two-term fellow Democrat Brendan Boyle. However, Boyle had his home in Philadelphia, along with all of the 13th's share of the city, drawn into the 2nd District, and opted to run for reelection there. On May 15, 2018, Dean defeated two challengers - Shira Goodman and former Congressman Joe Hoeffel - in the Democratic Primary. She went on to defeat Republican Dan David with 63.45% of the vote to his 36.55%. She was one of four Democratic women elected to Congress from Pennsylvania in 2018. The others were Mary Gay Scanlon, Chrissy Houlahan and Susan Wild. The state's delegation had previously been all male.
In November 2017, Dean announced her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, facing, among others, incumbent Mike Stack in the Democratic primary. She dropped out to run for Congress.
Personal life
She lives in Abington Township, with her husband P.J. Cunnane; they have three grown sons and three grandchildren. Her son, Pat, was senior writer and deputy director of messaging in the Obama White House.
