Lou Barletta

Lou Barletta
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 11th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2011
Preceded by Paul Kanjorski
Mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania
In office
January 3, 2000[1] – December 14, 2010
Preceded by Mike Marsicano
Succeeded by Joseph Yannuzzi
Personal details
Born January 28, 1956 (1956-01-28) (age 56)[2]
Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Mary Grace Malloy Barletta
Children 4 daughters
Residence Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Religion Roman Catholic[2]

Louis J. Barletta (born January 28, 1956) is the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is the former Mayor of Hazleton, known for his vocal opposition to illegal immigration and his efforts to keep illegal immigrants out of the city.

Contents

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Early life, education, and business career

Barletta was born in Hazleton, Pennsylvania to Rocky and Angeline Barletta. After graduating from high school, he attended Luzerne County Community College and Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. After an unsuccessful tryout for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team,[3] Barletta went to work for his family's construction and heating oil business.

In 1984, Barletta founded a pavement marking company, Interstate Road Marking Corporation, which he sold in 2000. At the time of the sale, his firm had grown to become the largest of its kind in Pennsylvania.

Mayor of Hazleton

He was defeated for a seat on the Hazleton City Council in 1996, but won two years later. In 1999, he defeated Jack Mundie for mayor, taking 66% of the vote[4] and overcoming a Democratic registration edge in the city.[5]

Barletta was reelected as mayor in 2003 and 2007. In 2007, Barletta was nominated in both the Republican and Democratic primary elections. Barletta defeated the Democratic candidate, former Mayor Michael Marsicano, on the Democratic ballot as a write-in.[6]

In 2006, Barletta made headlines for his efforts opposing illegal immigration in Hazleton vowing to make the city “one of the toughest places in the United States” for illegal immigrants.[7] Barletta introduced and the city council approved the Illegal Immigration Relief Act.[8] The ordinance allowed the city to deny a business permit to employers who hired illegal immigrants and gave the city authority to fine landlords up to $1,000 for leasing to illegal immigrants.[7][9] The act also made English the official language of Hazleton, prohibiting city employees from translating documents into any language without official authorization.[10] In response, the ACLU and Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund sued in Federal District Court to block the ordinance.[10] In July 2007, District Court Judge James M. Munley ruled that the act was unconstitutional for interfering with Federal immigration laws and violating the due process of individuals, employers and landlords.[7] The ruling was upheld on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals on September 9, 2010.[11] In a public statement shortly after the decision, Barletta vowed to appeal.[12]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2002

In 2002, Barletta ran as the Republican candidate in the 11th District against nine-term Democratic incumbent Paul Kanjorski. The 11th had long been considered a Democratic stronghold, but Barletta was viewed as a very strong candidate--indeed, the first credible Republican challenger Kanjorski had faced since his 1986 reelection bid--since he was a very popular Republican mayor from a heavily Democratic city. Barletta lost, taking 42.4% of the vote. The race might have been much closer had the state legislature not decided to move heavily Democratic Scranton, previously the heart of the 10th District, to the 11th. Barletta lost the district's share of Lackawanna County, home to Scranton, by 32 points; he only trailed in the old 11th by 9,000 votes.[13]

2008

Barletta faced Kanjorski for a second congressional race in 2008.[14] Multiple polls had shown Barletta leading Kanjorski by as many as 5 percentage points,[15] and the race has been pegged as one of the nation's most competitive leading into the November elections. That race was one of very few nationwide where a Republican challenger had a credible chance at unseating an incumbent Democrat. Barletta lost to Kanjorski 48%-52%,[16] largely due to losing Lackawanna County by 12,800 votes. Barletta won the territory that had been in the district prior to the 2000s round of redistricting by almost 4,000 votes.[17]

2010

Barletta announced on December 9, 2009, that he would once again run for Congress in 2010. He won his party's nomination on Tuesday, May 18, 2010. Barletta won the General Election on November 2, 2010 against Kanjorski by a 54.7%-45.3% margin. City Council President Joe Yannuzzi succeeded Barletta as Mayor of Hazleton on December 15, 2010.[18]

Tenure

On April 15, 2011, Barletta voted with the Republican majority for Paul Ryan's budget.

Barletta has characterized a balanced budget amendment as a gimmick and said he will not vote to raise the debt ceiling.[19]

Committee assignments

References

  1. ^ "Councilmen Skeptical of Candidates". 2000-01-02. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WB&s_site=timesleader&p_multi=WB&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB71A947A7174C6&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2011-01-04. 
  2. ^ a b Palmer, Anna (November 3, 2010). "112th Congress: Lou Barletta, R-Pa. (11th District)". Congressional Quarterly. http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20101103/pl_cq_politics/politics000003758207_3. 
  3. ^ Vanessa Gezari (2006-07-02). "Hazelton mayor says enough, already!". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.sptimes.com/2006/07/02/Worldandnation/Hazelton_mayor_says_e.shtml. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
  4. ^ Andrew Tutino (1999-11-03). "Barletta Elected Hazelton Mayor". Wilkes Barre Times Leader. 
  5. ^ Bill O'Boyle (2007-11-11). "Beyond the city limits". Wilkes Barre Times Leader. 
  6. ^ Michael Rubincam (2007-05-15). "Mayor Who Targeted Illegals Wins _ Twice". Associated Press, Printed in the San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/15/national/a232225D09.DTL&type=politics. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
  7. ^ a b c Julia Preston (2007-07-27). "Judge Voids Ordinance on Illegal Immigrants". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/us/27hazelton.html. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
  8. ^ http://thehill.com/capital-living/new-member-of-the-week/167251-barletta-makes-pitch-on-immigration
  9. ^ Dwayne Parker (2008-10-30). "Hazleton Immigration Laws Head to Court". 69 News. http://wfmz.com/view/?id=567942. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
  10. ^ a b Michael Powell and Michelle García (2006-08-22). "Pa. City Puts Illegal Immigrants on Notice". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/21/AR2006082101484.html. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
  11. ^ Court Rejects a City’s Efforts to Restrict Immigrants, Julia Preston, The New York Times, September 9, 2010
  12. ^ http://www.timesleader.com/news/Federal-appeals-court-affirmsreverses-parts-of-Hazleton-immigration-ordinance.html
  13. ^ "2008 Pennsylvania General Election Results". Pennsylvania Secretary of State, Bureau of Elections, Commissions and Licensure. http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=13&ElectionID=7&OfficeID=11. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
  14. ^ The Citizens Voice - Kanjorski, Barletta throwing jabs
  15. ^ "Election 2008 - Latest Polls". RealClearPolitics. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/latestpolls/house.html. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
  16. ^ "Commonwealth of PA - Elections Information". Electionreturns.state.pa.us. 2008-11-04. http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=13&ElectionID=28&OfficeID=11#11. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
  17. ^ "Commonwealth of PA - Elections Information". Electionreturns.state.pa.us. 2008-11-04. http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=15&ElectionID=28&OfficeID=11&DistrictID=11. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
  18. ^ Zito, Salena (2010-03-28). "Rust Belt battlegrounds - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review". Pittsburghlive.com. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_673592.html. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
  19. ^ Tom Ragan (22 April 2011). "Barletta discusses stance on budget matters". The Standard Speaker. http://standardspeaker.com/news/barletta-discusses-stance-on-budget-matters-1.1135926?localLinksEnabled=false. Retrieved 25 April 2011. 

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Mike Marsicano
Mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania
2000 – 2010
Succeeded by
Joseph Yannuzzi
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Paul Kanjorski
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district

January 3, 2011 – present
Succeeded by
Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by
Justin Amash
R-Michigan
United States Representatives by seniority
344th
Succeeded by
Karen Bass
D-California