Sen. Kim Ward talks chaos in Harrisburg, beating breast cancer, and becoming the first female Senate president

Sen. Kim Ward made history when the GOP-controlled state Senate elected her to serve as interim Senate president pro tempore last month. She’s the first woman to hold the position, which is expected to become permanent when she’s appointed Jan. 3 to the new two-year session.

Ward replaced retiring Senate President Jake Corman (R., Centre) in the role, the third most powerful in state government. It involves leading the Senate, presiding over the chamber in the absence of the lieutenant governor, and appointing committee chairpersons. She talked to The Inquirer from her dining room in Greensburg as two of her grandchildren played nearby about “chaos” in Harrisburg, her rise to one of the most powerful positions in state leadership, and how women have upped their ranks there in recent years.

This conversation has been edited lightly for clarity.

You are the first woman ever to preside over the Senate in its history. What does that mean to you?

I got here because I worked hard, not because I’m a woman, but I do hope it shows young women, including my grandchildren … there’s nothing beyond their reach, and I’m hoping I’m an example of that because my reach is not that high.

Ward is 5 feet tall.

I read that one of your colleagues gave you an inscribed foot stool as a gift when you became majority leader.

Four senators got together and made a stool that said, ‘Breaking glass ceilings: First female majority leader,’ and I used it. … I’m not gonna be using it anymore. The cool thing about the dais where the lieutenant governor stands is, it goes up and down because of [former Lt. Gov.] Catherine Baker Knoll, because she was so short there’s a button that raises it.

But this, this is as big as it goes. I’m not 20, right? This is it. I’m really honored to be able to do that, that my colleagues voted me to do that. … It’s an honor.

Describe to me the landscape you’re walking into. With Democrat Josh Shapiro governor, a Republican-controlled Senate, and a likely narrow Democratic majority in the House, is Harrisburg going to be able to get things done?

I have spoken to Josh and some representatives in the House and, you know, I think you’re not gonna see a lot of issues that are off to the right or off to the left. I think we can get things done that help people. And most of the things that are helping people are not to the right or the left, when you look at the economy, health care … changes that help businesses employ people. I think every vote we make we should say, ‘How is this helping the people we represent?’ And I think we can do that. We just have to stay off of … the edges of both parties’ ideology, and I think there are things that we can get done.

What’s your opinion on the House Democrats’ move to swear in Rep. Joanna McClinton as speaker, currently being challenged by Republicans in the House? Do you see her as the legitimately appointed speaker?

One thing to remember is nobody — except the 25 senators [who weren’t up for reelection] — nobody else is sworn in, so you can’t have a bunch of people who aren’t sworn in voting for someone. She’s not even sworn in. They’ll go to court — I understand that they did go to court [Thursday], and we’ll see how that turns out, but it’s probably not kosher.

It seems pretty chaotic from the outside.

I think it’s chaotic on the inside, and either way any of that turns out, if it’s [a] 102 to 101 [majority] … that is going to be a hard management issue. That’s tough. I hope we can get some things done this year.

What’s your leadership approach to try to ensure you get things done?

I’ll do what I can to help every person that needs it. And this position is over the entire Senate, not just my caucus, so my leadership style is not to fight but to try to do whatever I can to get to the goal of what someone wants to get to and do so without acting like Washington, D.C. Nobody wants us to act like that. We do not want to act like that.

You were diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks before you became majority leader. How did that fight impact you?

I got diagnosed and a couple weeks after, I was announced, and I didn’t tell anybody. I didn’t even tell my mom. I took chemo, I was stage one and it was small, it was even too small to test. … I was afraid to tell people because, No. 1, I was fine. I didn’t want pity. But No. 2, I didn’t want people to think I couldn’t do my job, so I just did my job. I never missed anything. When I did come out, I think it was after my last chemo treatment in April, some reporter said to me, “How can you continue to do your job?” And I looked at him and said: “I’ve been doing my job.”

Did it change your outlook or priorities in the Senate?

When you get cancer, it’s like a punch in the stomach — boom. I think little things didn’t bother me. If people were gonna give me a hard time on something, I just let it go. But during the battle, I got turned down for insurance for procedures … like a BRCA test [a blood test that’s done to determine if a person has DNA mutations that increase the risk of breast cancer] … and even though my BRCA test was just a few hundred dollars, a lot of people don’t have a few hundred dollars. So we have to change the law. We’re working on it.

Female representation in Harrisburg has increased in the time you’ve been there, but women are still only about a third of the legislative body. Why do you think that is?

I do think things have changed, but for the most part — when I ran for the Senate; I’ve been here 14 years — I was 52. My kids were grown. They were out of the house, and I could focus on it. And I think it does make women hesitant, and I think it’s changing. There are a lot of women [serving in Harrisburg] that have children at home, and I think that is a great role model for those kids. … We should all be able to work from home. I think if you did something like that, you’d get a whole bunch of different people running.