| Tom Corbett | |
|---|---|
| 46th Governor of Pennsylvania | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 18, 2011 |
|
| Lieutenant | Jim Cawley |
| Preceded by | Ed Rendell |
| 46th Attorney General of Pennsylvania | |
| In office January 18, 2005[1] – January 18, 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Jerry Pappert |
| Succeeded by | Linda Kelly[a] |
| In office October 3, 1995[2] – January 22, 1997 |
|
| Preceded by | Ernie Preate |
| Succeeded by | Mike Fisher |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 17, 1949 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Susan Manbeck |
| Residence | Governor's Residence (Harrisburg) (official) Shaler Township (private) |
| Alma mater | Lebanon Valley College St. Mary's University, Texas |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Signature | |
| Website | Official state site |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | United States Army Pennsylvania Army National Guard |
| Years of service | 1971–1984 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | 28th Infantry Division |
| a. ^ From January 18 until May 27, William Ryan served as acting Attorney General. Corbett nominated Kelly to be his permanent successor in March; she was confirmed by the State Senate on May 24, and took the oath of office three days later. | |
Thomas W. Corbett (born June 17, 1949) is the 46th and current Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. He is a former Attorney General of Pennsylvania and was elected to that office in 2004 and reelected in 2008.[3] He is a member of the Republican Party. Corbett also served as the Pennsylvania Attorney General from 1995 until 1997 when he was appointed by Governor Tom Ridge to fill the unexpired term of Ernie Preate, following Preate's indictment.
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Corbett received his Bachelor's degree from Lebanon Valley College and was employed as a 9th grade teacher for one year.[4] Corbett then earned his J.D. from St. Mary's University Law School. He served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard 28th Infantry Division from 1971 to 1984, rising to the rank of Captain.
Corbett's career has been split between private practice and civil service. He began his legal career as an assistant district attorney in Pittsburgh's Allegheny County. After three and a half years, he was hired in 1980 as assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
In 1983, Corbett went into private practice for several years. During this period, Corbett won his first election as a township commissioner in the Pittsburgh suburb of Shaler Township.
In 1988 when a judge appointed him to monitor the Allegheny County jail while it was under the court's supervision. Not long afterwards, President George H. W. Bush appointed him to serve as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, a role in which he served until August 1993.
Following his resignation as US Attorney, Corbett returned to private practice, also serving as an adviser to the gubernatorial campaign of Tom Ridge. Following Ridge's victory, Corbett served on a number of state commissions including the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, which he served as chairman.
Corbett left office in 1997 and again went into the private sector, first as general counsel for Waste Management, Inc., then opening his own practice.
In 1995, Corbett was appointed to the position of State Attorney General by Governor Ridge to fill the remainder of the term left by the conviction of Ernest Preate. As a condition of his Senate confirmation, Senate Democrats required him to pledge that he would not run for re-election in 1996. This is a common practice in Pennsylvania for appointments to elected offices. Jerry Pappert made the same pledge in 2003 when he succeeded Mike Fisher as State Attorney General.
The race began with Corbett, Montgomery County district attorney Bruce Castor, and Joe Peters fighting for the Republican party endorsement. With Corbett from western Pennsylvania, Castor from the southeast, and Peters from the northeast, it was initially expected that endorsement votes would follow geographic lines. However, four of the five southeastern county chairmen came out in support of Corbett with Castor taking only Montgomery County.
Furious that he had lost party endorsements, Castor lashed out at the county chairman with accusations of backroom deals with Bob Asher, the state's national GOP committeeman and a convicted felon connected to Budd Dwyer. During the campaign, Castor launched attack ads against Corbett for his prior employment at Waste Management Inc, and the financial support he received from Asher. Corbett's campaign responded with advertisements critical of Castor's acceptance of $625,000 in contributions from Drew Lewis after Lewis was convicted of DUI but permitted to serve his sentence at an upscale rehab facility in New England.
Corbett held on to large majorities in Western Pennsylvania including 82% in his base of Allegheny County,[5] while Castor prevailed in the Southeast with almost a similar margin. Ultimately, Corbett won the race with 52.8% of the vote.[6] Castor subsequently announced his support of Corbett in the general election against Democrat Jim Eisenhower.
The General election was not as contentious as it was close. After early returns were reported, the Associated Press called the race in Eisenhower's favor, only to retract that call later as the numbers closed. Corbett declared victory the following morning, having defeated Eisenhower by nearly 110,000 votes, winning 50.4% to 48.3%. Green party candidate Marakay Rogers captured 1.3% of the vote.[7]
| General Election Results, 2004 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Republican | Tom Corbett | 2,730,718 | 50.4% | |
| Democratic | Jim Eisenhower | 2,621,927 | 48.3% | |
| Green | Marakay J. Rogers | 70,624 | 1.3% | |
Corbett was re-elected in 2008. He won with the largest vote total of any Republican in the state's history.[4] He defeated Democrat John Morganelli, bucking the trend of Democratic success in Pennsylvania that year.
| General Election Results, 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Republican | Tom Corbett | 3,002,927 | 52.36% | |
| Democratic | John Morganelli | 2,619,791 | 45.84% | |
| Libertarian | Marakay J. Rogers | 109,856 | 1.89% | |
On March 23, 2010, Corbett, along with 13 other state attorneys general, filed a lawsuit against the mandates in the just-signed federal Healthcare Bill, claiming it is unconstitutional. As of January 2011, a total of 27 states have joined this lawsuit.[8]
On March 17, 2009, it was reported that Corbett had formed an exploratory committee and had begun filing the paperwork necessary to begin a run for Governor of Pennsylvania. On September 15, 2009 Corbett formally declared his candidacy[9] and, on May 18, 2010 won the GOP primary with nearly 70% of the vote.[10]
It was reported on May 18, 2010 that Tom Corbett filed a criminal subpoena against twitter ordering them to divulge "any and all subscriber information" of the person(s) behind two accounts – @bfbarbie and @CasaBlancaPA who had been criticizing the Republican candidate.[11]
In July 2010, Corbett garnered attention for suggesting that some of the unemployed are exploiting the extension of unemployment benefits prior to seeking employment, and later noting the prevalence of "help wanted" ads in the newspapers as evidence of the availability of employment.[12][13]
In September, 2010, at the first gubernatorial debate, Corbett again gained attention for seemingly violating his "no-tax pledge" in suggesting that he would consider raising the payroll contribution tax.[14]
On November 2, 2010, Corbett was elected governor of Pennsylvania, succeeding Democrat Ed Rendell. Corbett assumed the office of governor on January 18, 2011 at 12:29 PM.
Corbett became governor on January 18, 2011. One of his first actions was the proposal of a new state budget that would decrease spending by 3%. The proposed budget received significant criticism due to its cuts in state-supported higher education by 50%. Under the new budget, funding granted to the 14 universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and state-related universities Penn State, Pittsburgh, Temple, and Lincoln would be cut in half, totaling $625 million. Corbett has said, however, that he will not attempt to limit collective bargaining, as have Republican Governors John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin.[15]
As governor, Corbett maintains that Pennsylvania should not tax the natural gas industry.[16][17] In February 2011, Corbett repealed a four month old policy regulating natural gas drilling in park land, deeming it "unnecessary and redundant" according to a spokesperson. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party called the repeal a "payoff" to oil and gas interests which donated a million dollars to Corbett's campaign.[18] According to Corbett, "had they not given me a dime, I would still be in this position, saying we need to grow jobs in Pennsylvania.".[19]
Corbett is married; he and his wife Susan have two children, Tom and Katherine. Tom is an interactive gaming producer and Katherine is a prosecutor in the Philadelphia District Attorney's office.[20]
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ernie Preate |
Attorney General of Pennsylvania 1995–1997 |
Succeeded by Michael Fisher |
| Preceded by Jerry Pappert |
Attorney General of Pennsylvania 2005–2011 |
Succeeded by Linda Kelly1 |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Mike Fisher |
Republican nominee for Attorney General of Pennsylvania 2004 (won), 2008 (won) |
Most recent |
| Preceded by Lynn Swann |
Republican nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania 2010 (won) |
|
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Ed Rendell |
Governor of Pennsylvania 2011–present |
Incumbent |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Joe Biden as Vice President |
Order of Precedence of the United States Within Pennsylvania |
Succeeded by Mayor of city in which event is held |
| Succeeded by Otherwise John Boehner as Speaker of the House of Representatives |
||
| Preceded by Jack Markell as Governor of Delaware |
Order of Precedence of the United States Outside Pennsylvania |
Succeeded by Chris Christie as Governor of New Jersey |
| Notes and references | ||
| 1. William Ryan succeeded Corbett as acting Attorney General until Kelly, whom Corbett nominated to be his permanent successor, was confirmed by the State Senate and sworn-in. | ||
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