Keith J. Gillespie | |
|---|---|
| Member of the PennsylvaniaHouseofRepresentatives from the 47th district | |
| In office January 7, 2003 [1] –November 30, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Leo Joseph Trich,Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Joe D'Orsie |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 18,1952 |
| Political party | Republican |
Keith J. Gillespie [2] (born September 18,1952) is an American politician who represented the 47th district in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as a Republican from 2003 to 2022.
Gillespie was born on September 18,1952 in Wilmington,Delaware. He graduated from Solanco High School in 1970 and attended Keystone Junior College and Franklin &Marshall College. [2]
Gillespie worked as a paramedic in the 1970s and was director of safety,security,and pre-hospital systems at York Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania from 1980 to 2003. He was deputy coroner of York County,Pennsylvania from 1997 to 1998. [2]
From 1998 to 2002,Gillespie was on the council of Hellam Township,Pennsylvania. In 2002,he was elected as a Republican to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives,representing the 47th district. He was re-elected to nine subsequent terms. [2] Gillespie was made chair of House Game and Fisheries Committee in 2016. [3] He was also designated as Pennsylvania's chairperson on the Chesapeake Bay Commission in 2022. [4] In 2022,Gillespie was defeated in the primary election by Joe D'Orsie. [3] His defeat came after earning the ire of rightwing Republicans who contended that he did not adequately oppose lockdown measures put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] [6] During the pandemic,Gillespie supported following CDC guidelines and stood by the response of Governor Tom Wolf's administration,though he later became critical of what businesses the governor deemed essential versus non-essential and the failure of the state's unemployment compensation system. [7]