Political career
Rothman was chair of the Bush-Cheney 2004 re-election campaign in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. [3] He was a volunteer aide on the Rick Santorum's 2012 presidential campaign, often appearing in Santorum's entourage. [4]
In August 2015, Rothman was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in a special election to fill a vacancy in the 87th House district. [5] [6] The vacancy arose from the resignation of Glen Grell, who stepped down to become executive director of the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System. [3] The district included Camp Hill, East Pennsboro Township, and Hampden Township, as well as a part of Silver Spring Township; Rothman lives in Silver Spring Township. He was reelected in 2016, 2018, and 2020. [6] [7]
In 2016, Rothman was the chair of the Cumberland County Republican Party. [8] He supported Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, [9] and was on Trump's team at the 2016 Republican National Convention arranging convention operations. [10] He defended Republican senator Pat Toomey from intra-party critics who asserted that Toomey was insufficiently pro-Trump. [8]
In 2019, Rothman sponsored legislation to shorten the time period for evictions in Pennsylvania. The bill was supported by landlords' organizations and opposed by tenant and low-income housing advocacy organizations. [11] He supports a reduction in Pennsylvania's corporate net income tax and abolition of the state's inheritance tax. Rothman was the leading supporter of legislation, signed into law in 2019, that established 21 as the minimum age to purchase tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, except for active-duty military personnel and honorably discharged veterans, for which the minimum age remained 18. [6] The exemption was criticized by tobacco control groups. [12]
In 2020, Rothman was chair of the House Republican Campaign Committee, leading the campaign efforts for the Pennsylvania House Republicans. [13] [14] [15]
In 2021, as part of Republican efforts to enhance voting credibility following the 2020 presidential election, Rothman supported a bill to rewrite Pennsylvania's election laws by requiring voter ID. [16] governor Tom Wolf vetoed the bill. [17]
In 2022, Rothman was elected to represent the 34th district in the Pennsylvania State Senate. [18]
In December 2024, Lawrence Tabas, chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, announced he would not seek reelection. Rothman declared his candidacy for the chairmanship. He gained support from U.S. Senator Dave McCormick and Congressman Dan Meuser. [19] In February 2025, Rothman was elected chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party. [20]
Committee assignments
For the 2025-2026 Session, Rothman sits on the following committees in the State Senate: [21]
- Agriculture & Rural Affairs
- Banking & Insurance
- Education
- Finance
- Game & Fisheries (chair)
- Rules & Executive Nominations
- Transportation
Personal life
Rothman has spent several decades in the real estate business. [6] He was a real estate agent and then CEO of RSR Realtors, a real estate company based in Lemoyne. Rothman was also part owner of the Harrisburg Senators, a Minor League Baseball team, and played a key role in moving the team to the state’s capital. [22]
In 1991, Rothman pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to commit forgery. The conviction was later expunged by governor Ed Rendell, who issued Rothman a pardon in January 2011. In 2015, Rothman said that he had learned from his mistake and took responsibility for it. [3]
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