Robert W. O'Donnell (born September 25,1943) is an American Democratic Party politician who is a former Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
O'Donnell was first elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1974.[3] He was the majority leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1989–90,and was the speaker from 1990–92.[4] He was elected in January 1990 following the death of James Manderino.[5]
O'Donnell is a graduate of Temple University[6] and earned a juris doctor.[3][7]
In 1995,he formed O’Donnell Associates,a lobbying and governmental relations firm to represent business and governmental clients before state and local governments in Pennsylvania.[7]
O’Donnell has had a distinguished career in law,government and politics before founding the firm. He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for twenty years,having served as Speaker of the House,Majority Leader,Whip and Caucus Chairman. He is the author or prime sponsor of a number of significant and complex legislative proposals that have been enacted into law,including the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority Act (PICA) which was the vehicle for the financial recovery of the City of Philadelphia;the Municipal Pension Reform Act,which provided for the financial soundness of public pensions in Pennsylvania and legislation reforming insurance underwriting procedures. Speaker O’Donnell also introduced the first charter schools legislation in the Commonwealth,a version of which was passed later during Governor Tom Ridge's tenure.[7]
A practicing attorney for thirty five years,O’Donnell’s area of specialization has been public finance and he has served as counsel to the firms of Saul Ewing in Philadelphia and Thorp,Reed and Armstrong,LLC in Pittsburgh.[7]
O’Donnell has also been actively involved in all levels of politics and enjoys positive personal and professional relationships with the leadership of both political parties. He has served as President of the Electoral College of Pennsylvania and on the boards of directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania 2000,the University of Pittsburgh,National Conference of State Legislatures,Chesapeake Bay Commission,Commonwealth General State Authority,Joint State Government Commission,Philadelphia Port Corporation and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Facilities Authority.[7]
In addition to its research and administrative employees,the firm enjoys strategic partnerships with firms and individuals based in Harrisburg whose specific expertise is used by the firm according to the client’s needs. The firm’s clients have included the School District of Philadelphia,the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association,Keystone Mercy Health Plan,MBIA Insurance Corporation,The Pittsburgh Municipal Trust and PA Early Stage Partners. The firm’s principal office is located in Philadelphia.[7]
Melissa Ann Hart is an American lawyer and politician. She was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007, representing western Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district. She was the first Republican woman to represent Pennsylvania at the federal level. Prior to her service in Congress, Hart served in the Pennsylvania Senate, where she chaired the finance committee. She was the first Republican woman elected to serve a full term in the Pennsylvania Senate in 1990 when she was 28 years old. In her first run for office, Hart defeated an incumbent in a senate district that included parts of Allegheny, Westmoreland and Armstrong counties. In the 2006 midterm elections, Hart lost her bid for re-election to Democrat Jason Altmire. She challenged Altmire again in the 2008 election, but was defeated again.
Paul Edmund Kanjorski is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district from 1985 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
H. William DeWeese is an American politician who is a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, DeWeese served as the 135th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House from 1993 to 1994. After five years of investigation by Republican State Attorney General Tom Corbett, he was indicted in December 2009 on six charges of conflict of interest, theft and criminal conspiracy on accusations that two members of his staff used state resources to campaign for political office. The trial began January 23, 2010. He was re-elected in 2010 despite the charges, but was convicted of five of the six felony charges on February 6, 2012.
John Michael Perzel is an American politician and member of the Republican Party. Perzel represented 172nd Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1978 until 2010. From April 2003 to January 2007, he served as House Speaker. He lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Kevin Boyle in 2010. Perzel was convicted in August 2011 of a variety of corruption related charges and, in March 2012, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
William Singer Moorhead was an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Jack E. Wagner is an American Democratic politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He served as Pennsylvania Auditor General, and previously served in the State Senate and Pittsburgh City Council.
Allen Kukovich is a former member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, where he represented the 39th senatorial district from 1996 through 2004. He was also a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1977 through 1996. He served as the Pennsylvania Democratic State Chairman from June 2002 through March 2003.
Mark B. Cohen is a Democratic politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented District 202 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from June 10, 1974, until his defeat for reelection in the Democratic primary in 2016.
Matthew J. Ryan was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for Delaware County from 1963 to 1968 and from the 168th district from 1969 to 2003 including as Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1981 to 1983 and again from 1995 to 2003.
Joshua David Shapiro is an American politician and attorney who has served as the 48th governor of Pennsylvania since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 50th Pennsylvania attorney general from 2017 to 2023.
Michael F. "Mike" Gerber is a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 148th Legislative District from 2005 to 2012. Gerber is currently a partner and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at FS Investments. President Joe Biden has designated Michael F. Gerber chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, Washington.
Michael Coyne Turzai is an American politician and former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives who served as Speaker of the House. He is from Allegheny County and represented the 28th legislative district between 2001 and 2020. His district included the municipalities of Pine Township, Marshall Township, Bradford Woods, Franklin Park, and McCandless. Turzai served as the House Majority Leader from 2011 until 2015, and was elected Speaker in January 2015. He was a candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2018 until he suspended his campaign in February 2018. He resigned from his House seat in 2020; after leaving office, he became general counsel for Peoples Gas, a subsidiary of Essential Utilities.
John A. Maher is a Republican former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 40th District. He was originally elected to the House in a special election on September 9, 1997. He was the Republican nominee for State Auditor General in the 2012 election.
The 1994 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994. The incumbent governor, Bob Casey, Sr. (Democrat), was barred from seeking a third term by the state constitution. The Republican Party nominated Congressman Tom Ridge, while the Democrats nominated Mark Singel, Casey's lieutenant governor. Ridge went on to win the race with 45% of the vote. Singel finished with 39%, and Constitution Party candidate Peg Luksik finished third, garnering 12% of the vote.
Stephen Richard Wojdak was an American politician who was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and a prominent lobbyist in Pennsylvania, where he was the President and CEO of S. R. Wojdak & Associates.
Brian Preski is a Pennsylvania Republican former legislative staffer and government relations professional. He was a long-term legislative aide working as Chief of Staff for former Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives John Perzel.
Herbert Arlene was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 3rd district from 1967 until 1980. He was the first African-American elected to the Pennsylvania Senate. He also served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the Philadelphia County district from 1959 to 1966.
Patricia Ann Carone, also known as Patricia Ann Carone Krebs or Patricia Carone Krebs, is an American high school teacher who became a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives during the 1990s.
John F. White Jr. is an American executive and former public servant and politician. White is a former Pennsylvania State Secretary of Welfare, Federal Housing Director, Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Philadelphia City Councilman.
Kathryn Boockvar is an American attorney and politician who served as the secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from January 5, 2019 to February 5, 2021. She was appointed to the position by Governor Tom Wolf. Boockvar has previously served as Senior Advisor to the Governor on Election Modernization, beginning in March 2018. In August 2019, she was named co-chair of the Elections Committee of the National Association of Secretaries of State.
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