Joan Specter | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Philadelphia City Council from the At-Large District | |
| In office January 7, 1980 –January 8, 1996 | |
| Preceded by | Ethel D. Allen |
| Succeeded by | Frank Rizzo Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joan Levy January 1,1934 Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Alma mater | Southern Connecticut College Drexel University |
Joan Levy Specter (born March 5, 1934) is an American businesswoman and politician. She is a former member of the Philadelphia City Council, and the widow of former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter.
Specter holds a BA from Southern Connecticut College and an MA in food and design from Drexel University. Upon her graduation from Drexel, she founded several cooking schools in the Philadelphia-area. [1] In the 1970s, she hosted a consumer advice and food-related program on a local radio station, and wrote a weekly column for the Philadelphia Bulletin . Specter also began selling her pies to local restaurants. Eventually, the business grew into a wholesale distribution company which operated in several dozen states. Specter's pies were billed as "America's first gourmet frozen pies which require no baking, decorating or special preparations". [2]
Specter left the business world in 1979, when she was elected to one of the two allotted minority Republican Party at-large seats on the Philadelphia City Council. She was re-elected three more times, though she finished third in the 1991 primary, behind her colleague on Council, W. Thacher Longstreth and Joseph Egan Jr. However, prior to the general election, former Democratic Mayor Frank Rizzo, who had switched to the Republican Party and was its nominee in that year's Mayoral election, died. Egan was subsequently selected to take Rizzo's spot on the ballot (and lost to former District Attorney Ed Rendell), and Longstreth and Specter were both re-elected. [1]
In 1995, she and Longstreth were challenged by two high-profile Republicans–Rizzo's son, Frank Jr. and former Congressman Charles Dougherty. [3]
 | This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification .(May 2019) |
Specter was married to her husband, Arlen, from 1953 until his death in 2012. The couple has two sons, Shanin and Dr. Stephen E. Specter of West Hollywood, CA. She currently resides in Haverford, Pennsylvania.
Arlen Specter was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican from 1965 until 2009, when he switched back to the Democratic Party. First elected in 1980, he was the longest-serving senator from Pennsylvania, having represented the state for 30 years.
Francis Lazarro Rizzo was an American police officer and politician. He served as Philadelphia police commissioner from 1968 to 1971 and mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 to 1980. He was a member of the Democratic Party throughout the entirety of his career in public office. He switched to the Republican Party in 1986 and campaigned as a Republican for the final five years of his life.
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Francis Silvestri Rizzo, commonly known as Frank Rizzo Jr., is an American politician. He is the son of former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo and served as a Republican and an Independent member of the Philadelphia City Council for sixteen years.
William Thacher Longstreth was a Republican member of the Philadelphia City Council who was perhaps best known for his long tenure and unique image.
The 2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania took place on November 2, 2010, during the 2010 midterm elections. Incumbent Republican-turned-Democrat U.S. Senator Arlen Specter ran for reelection to a sixth term, but lost in the Democratic primary to Joe Sestak. Republican nominee Pat Toomey then won the seat.
Electoral history of Arlen Specter, former United States Senator from Pennsylvania (1981–2011), Chairman of the Senate Committees on Intelligence (1995–1997), Veterans' Affairs and Judiciary (2005–2007), as well as a candidate for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination.
Woodrow Wilson Goode Sr. is a former Mayor of Philadelphia and the first African American to hold that office. He served from 1984 to 1992, a period which included the controversial MOVE police action and house bombing in 1985. Goode was also a community activist, chair of the state Public Utility Commission, and managing director for the City of Philadelphia.
Joan L. Krajewski was a Democratic politician and former member of the Philadelphia City Council who represented the Sixth District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for almost thirty years.
The 1978 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1978 between Republican Dick Thornburgh and Democrat Pete Flaherty.
The 1992 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Arlen Specter narrowly won re-election to a third term, garnering just fifty-one percent of the vote in what was described by The Philadelphia Inquirer as a "massive turnout for Bill Clinton."
The 1980 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 4, 1980. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Richard Schweiker decided to retire, instead of seeking a third term.
The 1951 Philadelphia municipal election, was held on tuesday November 8,, involved contests for mayor, district attorney, all seventeen city council seats, among other offices. Citywide, the Democrats took majorities of over 130,000 votes, continuing their success from the elections four years earlier. Richardson Dilworth, who had been elected district attorney in 1951, was elected mayor. Victor H. Blanc, a city councilman, was elected district attorney. The Democrats also kept fourteen of seventeen city council seats, losing one district seat while gaining another, and kept control of the other citywide offices. The election represented a further consolidation of control by the Democrats after their citywide victories of four years earlier.
The 1991 Philadelphia mayoral election saw the election of Democrat Ed Rendell.
The 1987 Philadelphia mayoral election saw the reelection of Wilson Goode over former mayor Frank Rizzo, who had switched to the Republican Party.
The 1983 Philadelphia mayoral election saw the election of Wilson Goode.
The 1971 Philadelphia mayoral election took place on November 2, 1971 to fill the 182nd mayoral term in Philadelphia, with Democratic nominee Frank Rizzo defeating Republican Thacher Longstreth. While Longstreth received many split ticket votes from Democrats, Rizzo found support among unions and the white working-class electorate.
The 1967 Philadelphia mayoral election saw the reelection of James Hugh Joseph Tate, who narrowly defeated Republican challenger Arlen Specter in the general election. Specter would later be elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980, where he served until 2011.
Beatrice Kravistsky Chernock was an American educator and politician. She was a member of the Republican Party and served on the Philadelphia City Council from 1972 to 1984.
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