Joseph B. Scarnati

Joseph B. Scarnati
31st Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
In office
December 3, 2008 – January 18, 2011
Governor Ed Rendell
Preceded by Catherine Baker Knoll
Succeeded by Jim Cawley
President pro tempore
of the Pennsylvania Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 2, 2007
Preceded by Robert Jubelirer
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 25th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 2, 2001
Preceded by Bill Slocum
Personal details
Born January 2, 1962 (1962-01-02) (age 50)
Brockway, Pennsylvania
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Unmarried
Children Lisa, Kelly, Michael
Residence Brockway, Pennsylvania
Occupation Businessman, politician
Religion Roman Catholic
Website Pennsylvania State Senator Joe Scarnati

Joseph B. Scarnati (born January 2, 1962) is an American politician from the U.S. State of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Republican Party and is currently the President pro tempore of the Pennsylvania State Senate. Scarnati is in his third term as Senator from the 25th District.

As President Pro Tempore, he assumed the role of Lieutenant Governor upon the death of Catherine Baker Knoll on November 12, 2008.[1] He was officially sworn in on December 3, 2008.[2] He did not seek election to the post in 2010, and was succeeded as Lieutenant Governor by Jim Cawley.

Contents

Personal

Scarnati was born and raised in Brockway, Pennsylvania, a borough located in Jefferson County. He graduated from Penn State DuBois with a A.A. in Business Administration in 1982.

Political career

Prior to his senate election, Scarnati served on both the Brockway Borough Council (1986–1994) and the Jefferson County Development Council.

State Senate service

In 2000, State Sen. William Slocum was convicted of illegal dumping and resigned his seat.[3] Scarnati ran for the seat as an independent against Slocum, who was attempting a comeback in the special election to replace him. Scarnati prevailed in a three-way race and switched to the Republican party after his election.[4]

Scarnati ran with no Democratic opposition in his first re-election campaign, taking 89.5% of the vote over a candidate from the Constitution Party. He won re-election to a third term in 2008.

For two years Scarnati served as Chairman of the Labor and Industry Committee, Majority Deputy Whip, and in February 2006 was appointed Chairman of the Senate Majority Policy Committee.

In May 2006, Robert Jubelirer and David Brightbill, the Republicans' two top leaders were defeated in the primary election, victims of the legislative pay raise fallout. Scarnati narrowly won the race to replace Jubelirer against veteran lawmakers Stewart Greenleaf and Jeffrey Piccola.[5]

Upon the death of Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll on November 12, 2008, Scarnati assumed the position of Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. He served as acting Lieutenant Governor until he was officially sworn into office on Wednesday, December 3, 2008.[6] He did not seek election to the post in 2010, and was succeeded as Lieutenant Governor by Jim Cawley.

Scarnati played a lead role in representing Republicans during Pennsylvania's 2009 budget impasse, and harshly criticized Governor Rendell's leadership style and priorities[7] He was seen as "the de-facto opposition leader to Rendell."[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Scarnati to be Next Lieutenant Governor". Pasenategop.com. http://www.pasenategop.com/news/archived/2008/1108/scarnati-111308.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-04. 
  2. ^ "Scarnati Sworn In as Lieutenant Governor". Pasenategop.com. http://www.pasenategop.com/news/archived/2008/1208/scarnati-120308.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-04. 
  3. ^ Don Hopey, Senator gets jail time for dumping sewage, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5/10/2000
  4. ^ GOP concedes to Gore; Santorum keeps seat, Associated Press, reprinted in USA Today. 11/8/2000
  5. ^ Tom Barnes, GOP taps Scarnati as state senate president pro tem, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11/29/06
  6. ^ Levy, Marc (2008-12-03). "Scarnati sworn in as lieutenant governor". Allentown Morning Call. http://www.mcall.com/news/local/ap-ltgov-1203cn,0,457500.story. Retrieved 2008-12-09. 
  7. ^ .Scarnati tells Gov. Ed Rendell to pay state workers
  8. ^ "PA Report 100" (PDF). Pennsylvania Report. Capital Growth, Inc.. January 23, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-08-14. http://www.webcitation.org/5j0zKOG5a. 

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Catherine Baker Knoll		 Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
2008–2011		 Succeeded by
Jim Cawley
Preceded by
Robert Jubelirer		 President pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate
2007–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Pennsylvania State Senate
Preceded by
Bill Slocum		 Member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 25th District
2001–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by
Jim Cawley
as Lieutenant Governor		 Pennsylvania gubernatorial line of succession
2nd in line
as President pro tempore of the Senate		 Succeeded by
Sam Smith
as Speaker of the State House of Representatives
Current statewide political officials of Pennsylvania
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Current Presidents of the U.S. state Senates
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NE Flood (R)' 1
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NM Jennings (D)
NY Skelos (R)
NC Berger (R)
ND Wardner (R)
OH Niehaus (R)
OK Bingman (R)
OR Burdick (D)
PA Scarnati (R)
RI Paiva-Weed (D)
SC McConnell (R)
SD Gray (R)
TN Ramsey (R)
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DC

Territories:
AS
GU
MP
PR Rivera-Schatz (R)
VI
1 Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature.
In cases of states where the Lt. Governor is ex-officio President, Presidents pro tempore are listed.
Members of the Pennsylvania State Senate
President of the Senate: Jim Cawley (R) • President pro tempore: Joseph Scarnati (R) • Majority Leader: Dominic Pileggi (R) • Minority Leader: Jay Costa (D)
   
  1.    Larry Farnese (D)
  2.    Tina Tartaglione (D)
  3.    Shirley Kitchen (D)
  4.    LeAnna Washington (D)
  5.    Mike Stack (D)
  6.    Tommy Tomlinson (R)
  7.    Vincent Hughes (D)
  8.    Anthony Williams (D)
  9.    Dominic Pileggi (R)
  10.    Chuck McIlhinney (R)
  1.    Judy Schwank (D)
  2.    Stewart Greenleaf (R)
  3.    Lloyd Smucker (R)
  4.    John Yudichak (D)
  5.    Jeffrey Piccola (R)
  6.    Pat Browne (R)
  7.    Daylin Leach (D)
  8.    Lisa Boscola (D)
  9.    Andy Dinniman (D)
  10.    Lisa Baker (R)
  1.    Mary Jo White (R)
  2.    John Blake (D)
  3.    Gene Yaw (R)
  4.    Bob Mensch (R)
  5.    Joseph Scarnati (R)
  6.    Ted Erickson (R)
  7.    John Gordner (R)
  8.    Mike Waugh (R)
  9.    Dave Argall (R)
  10.    John Eichelberger (R)
  1.    Pat Vance (R)
  2.    Rich Kasunic (D)
  3.    Rich Alloway (R)
  4.    Jake Corman (R)
  5.    John Wozniak (D)
  6.    Mike Brubaker (R)
  7.    John Pippy (R)
  8.    Jim Ferlo (D)
  9.    Kim Ward (R)
  10.    Jane Orie (R)
  1.    Don White (R)
  2.    Wayne Fontana (D)
  3.    Jay Costa (D)
  4.    John Rafferty (R)
  5.    Jim Brewster (D)
  6.    Tim Solobay (D)
  7.    Elder Vogel (R)
  8.    Mike Folmer (R)
  9.    Jane Earll (R)
  10.    Bob Robbins (R)