Burner Campaign Statement on Seattle Times Story
Burner has been clear from the start about Harvard degree, which includes a special field in economics
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sandeep Kaushik, (425) 443-2564
Bellevue (October 22) – With a new King 5 poll released this evening showing Democrat Darcy Burner leading incumbent Republican Dave Reichert 50 percent to 46 percent – the third consecutive poll to show her leading – a desperate Reichert campaign has begun to fling false accusations in a desperate attempt to stop Burner’s growing momentum. Unfortunately, this afternoon the Seattle Times, in a poorly contextualized story, bought their latest spin.
Darcy Burner has a degree in computer science with a special field in economics from Harvard, graduated 1996. This is exactly how she and her campaign have described her degree since the beginning of the campaign. To take three of the most recent:
- Including previously to the Seattle Times, which had published that Burner has a “Harvard University, B.A. in computer science with a special field of economics, 1996.”
- Or in this Tacoma News Tribune story from last week, which said of Burner, “She graduated from Harvard with a degree in computer science and a special field in economics, which she’s played up this year as the crisis on Wall Street has deepened.”
- Or to KUOW radio last week, where host Ross Reynolds introduced an interview segment with the line, “She graduated from Harvard with a degree in computer science and a special field in economics.”
Harry Lewis, a professor of computer science and a dean of Harvard College at the time Burner got her degree, confirmed today that, “Darcy’s degree is in Computer Science, with a specialization in Economics.”
Harvard does not have either majors or minors, but Burner’s special field in economics within her computer science degree is the rough equivalent of a minor. The special field is a requirement for a Harvard computer science degree; computer science students are required to do a concentration in a related field to computer science. Darcy did hers in economics, taking five semesters of economics courses and two math courses that counted towards economics (along with eight courses in computer science and two other math classes that counted toward meeting the computer science concentration).
“The Reichert campaign is not telling the truth in their attack ads when they claim Darcy Burner intends to raise taxes, and they are not telling the truth about her degree,” said Burner campaign spokesperson Sandeep Kaushik. “Now the Seattle Times appears to be aiding them with an overly technical ‘gotcha’ story built on Reichert campaign spin. Burner has a special field in economics at Harvard, and a dozen years of private sector experience, while Reichert has never worked outside of government. That is why she is winning this race.”
