List of speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Seal of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Incumbent Joanna McClinton since February 28, 2023
Style	The Honorable
Status	Presiding officer
Seat	Pennsylvania State Capitol, Harrisburg
Appointer	Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Inaugural holder	William Bingham
Formation	1791

The speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Since its first session under the Frame of Government in 1682, presided over by William Penn, over 130 House members have been elevated to the speaker's chair. The house cannot hold an official session in the absence of the speaker or their designated speaker pro tempore.

The current speaker Joanna McClinton, who is the first female and first female African-American speaker.

List of speakers of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly (1682–1775)

Name	Elected	Notes	Citations
Thomas Wynne	1682/1683		[1]
Nicholas More	1684		[1]
John White	1685		[1]
unknown (probably Wynne or More)	1687/1688		[1]
John White	1688		[1]
Arthur Cook	1689		[1]
Joseph Growdon	1690/91		[1]
unknown	1691		[1]
William Clark	1692		[1]
Joseph Growdon	1693		[1]
David Lloyd	1694		[1]
Edward Shippen	1695		[1]
John Simcock	1696		[1]
John Blunston	1697		[1]
Phineas Pemberton	1698		[1]
John Blunston	1699		[1]
Joseph Growdon	1700		[1]
David Lloyd	1703		[1]
Joseph Growden	1705		[1]
David Lloyd	1706		[1]
Richard Hill	1710		[1]
Isaac Norris	1712		[1]
Joseph Growdon	1713		[1]
David Lloyd	1714		[1]
Joseph Growdon	1715		[1]
Richard Hill	1716		[1]
William Trent	1717		[1]
Jonathan Dickinson	1718		[1]
William Trent	1719		[1]
Isaac Norris	1720		[1]
Jeremiah Langhorne	1721		[1]
Joseph Growdon	1722		[1]
David Lloyd	1723		[1]
William Biles Jr.	1724		[1]
David Lloyd	1725		[1]
Andrew Hamilton	1729		[1]
Jeremiah Langhorne	1733		[1]
Andrew Hamilton	1734		[1]
John Kinsey	1739		[1]
John Wright	1745		[1]
John Kinsey	1745/1746		[1]
Isaac Norris II	1750		[1]
Thomas Leech	1758		[1]
Isaac Norris II	1758		[1]
Thomas Leech	1759		[1]
Isaac Norris II	1759		[1]
Benjamin Franklin	1764		[1]
Isaac Norris II	1764		[1]
Joseph Fox	1764		[1]
Joseph Galloway	1766		[1]
Joseph Fox	1769		[1]
Joseph Galloway	1769		[1]
Edward Biddle	1774		[1]
John Morton	1775		[1]

List of speakers of the Pennsylvania General Assembly (1776–1790)

Name	Elected	Notes	Citations
John Jacobs	1776	under the 1776 Constitution	[1]
John Bayard	1777		[1]
Frederick Muhlenberg	1780		[1]
George Gray	1783		[1]
John Bayard	1784		[1]
Thomas Mifflin	1785		[1]
Gerardus Wynkoop II	1786 (four days)		[1] [2] [3]
Richard Peters	1788		[1]
William Bingham	1790	under the 1790 constitution	[1]

List of speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1791–present)

No.	Name	Term	Party	County	Notes	Citations
1	William Bingham	1791–1792	Federalist	Philadelphia		[4]
2	Gerardus Wynkoop II	1793	Federalist	Philadelphia		[4]
3	George Latimer	1794–1798	Federalist	Philadelphia		[4]
4	Cadwalader Evans	1799	Federalist	Montgomery		[4]
5	Isaac Weaver Jr.	1800–1803	Democratic-Republican	Greene		[4]
6	Simon Snyder	1804–1805	Democratic-Republican	Northumberland		[4]
7	Charles Porter	1806–1807	Independent	Fayette		[4]
8	Simon Snyder	1807	Democratic-Republican	Northumberland		[4]
9	Nathaniel Boileau	1808	Democratic-Republican	Montgomery		[4]
10	James Engle	1809	Democratic-Republican	Philadelphia		[4]
11	John Weber	1810	Democratic-Republican	Montgomery		[4]
12	John Tod	1812	Democratic-Republican	Bedford		[4]
13	Robert Smith	1813	Democratic-Republican	Franklin	resigned February 14, 1813	[4]
14	John St. Clair	1814	Democratic-Republican	Fayette		[4]
15	Jacob Holgate	1815	Democratic-Republican	Philadelphia		[4]
16	Rees Hill	1816	Democratic-Republican	Greene		[4]
17	William Davidson	1818	Independent	Montgomery		[4]
18	Rees Hill	1819	Democratic-Republican	Greene		[4]
19	Joseph Lawrence	1820	Democratic-Republican	Washington		[4]
20	John Gilmore	1821	Democratic-Republican	Allegheny/Butler		[4]
21	Joseph Lawrence	1822	Democratic-Republican	Washington		[4]
22	Joel B. Sutherland	1825	Democratic	Philadelphia		[4]
23	Joseph Ritner	1826	Democratic-Republican	Washington		[4]
24	Ner Middleswarth	1828	Whig	Union		[4]
25	Frederick Smith	1830	Democratic-Republican	Franklin		[4]
26	John Laporte	1831–1832	Jacksonian	Bradford/Tioga		[4]
27	James Findley	1833	Democratic	Westmoreland		[4]
28	Samuel Anderson	1833	Democratic	Delaware		[4]
29	William Patterson	1834	Democratic	Washington		[4]
30	James Thompson	1834	Democratic	Venango/Warren		[4]
31	Ner Middleswarth	1836	Whig	Union		[4]
32	Lewis Dewart	1837	Democratic	Northumberland		[4]
33	William Hopkins	1839	Democratic	Washington		[4]
34	William A. Crabb	1841	Whig	Northumberland		[4]
35	James Ross Snowden	1842	Democratic	Venango/Clarion		[4]
36	Hendrick Bradley Wright	1843	Democratic	Luzerne/Wyoming		[4]
37	James Ross Snowden	1844	Democratic	Venango, Clarion		[4]
38	Findley Patterson	1845–1846	Democratic	Washington		[4]
39	James Cooper	1847	Whig	Adams		[4]
40	William F. Packer	1848–1849	Democratic	Lycoming/Clinton		[4]
41	John S. McCalmont	1850	Democratic-Republican	Venango		[4]
42	John Cessna	1851	Democratic-Republican	Bedford		[4]
43	John S. Rhey	1852	Democratic	Armstrong/Cambria		[4]
44	William P. Schell	1853	Democratic	Bedford		[4]
45	E.B. Chase	1854	Democratic	Susquehanna/Wyoming		[4]
46	Henry K. Strong	1855	Whig	Philadelphia		[4]
47	Richard L. Wright	1856	Whig	Philadelphia		[4]
48	J. Lawrence Getz	1857	Democratic	Berks		[4]
49	A.B. Longaker	1858	Democratic	Montgomery		[4]
50	William Lawrence	1859–1860	Republican	Dauphin		[4]
51	Elisha W. Davis	1861	Republican	Mercer/Venango		[4]
52	William Kinsey	1862	Democratic	Bradford/Tioga		[4]
53	John Cessna	1863	Republican	Bedford		[4]
54	Henry C. Johnson	1864	Republican	Crawford		[4]
55	Arthur G. Olmsted	1865	Republican	Potter		[4]
56	James R. Kelley	1866	Republican	Fulton		[4]
57	John P. Glass	1867	Republican	Allegheny		[4]
58	Elisha W. Davis	1868	Republican	Philadelphia		[4]
59	John Clark	1869	Republican	Washington		[4]
60	Butler B. Strang	1870	Republican	Tioga		[4]
61	James H. Webb	1871	Republican	Bradford		[4]
62	William Elliott	1872	Republican	Philadelphia		[4]
63	H. H. McCormick	1874	Republican	Allegheny		[4]
64	Samuel D. Patterson	1875	Republican	Allegheny		[4] [5]
65	E. Reed Myer	1877	Republican	Bradford		[4]
66	Henry M. Long	1879	Republican	Allegheny		[4]
67	Benjamin L. Hewit	1881	Republican	Blair		[4]
68	John E. Faunce	1883	Democratic	Philadelphia		[4]
69	James L. Graham	1885	Republican	Allegheny		[4]
70	Henry K. Boyer	1887	Republican	Philadelphia		[4]
71	Henry K. Boyer	1889	Republican	Philadelphia		[4]
72	Caleb C. Thompson	1891	Republican	Warren		[4]
73	Henry F. Walton	1895	Republican	Philadelphia		[4]
74	Henry K. Boyer	1897	Republican	Philadelphia	resigned January 17, 1898	[4]
75	John R. Farr	1899	Republican	Lackawanna		[4]
76	William T. Marshall	1901	Republican	Allegheny		[4]
77	Henry F. Walton	1903–1906	Republican	Philadelphia		[4]
78	Frank B. McClain	1907	Republican	Lancaster		[4]
79	John F. Cox	1909–1911	Republican	Allegheny	died in office November 6, 1911	[4]
80	Milton W. Shreve	1911	Republican	Erie		[4]
81	George E. Alter	1913–1914	Republican	Allegheny		[4]
82	Charles A. Ambler	1915	Republican	Montgomery		[4]
83	Richard J. Baldwin	1917	Republican	Delaware		[4]
84	Robert S. Spangler	1919–1921	Republican	York		[4]
85	Samuel A. Whitaker	1921	Republican	Chester	elected to fill unexpired term April 26, 1921	[4]
86	C.J. Goodnough	1923	Republican	Cameron		[4]
87	Thomas Bluett	1925–1927	Republican	Philadelphia	resigned to become a judge	[4]
88	James H. McClure	1927	Republican	Allegheny	elected to fill an unexpired term	[4]
89	Aaron B. Hess	1929	Republican	Lancaster		[4]
90	C.J. Goodnough	1931	Republican	Cameron		[4]
91	Grover C. Talbot	1933–1935	Republican	Delaware		[4]
92	Wilson G. Sarig	1935–1936	Democratic	Berks	died in office March 14, 1936	[4]
93	Roy E. Furman	1936–1938	Democratic	Greene		[4]
94	Ellwood J. Turner	1939–1941	Republican	Delaware		[4]
95	Elmer Kilroy	1941–1942	Democratic	Philadelphia		[4]
96	Ira T. Fiss	1943–1946	Republican	Snyder		[4]
97	Franklin H. Lichtenwalter	1947–1948	Republican	Lehigh		[4]
98	Herbert P. Sorg	1949–1952	Republican	Elk		[4]
99	Charles C. Smith	1953–1955	Republican	Philadelphia		[4]
100	Hiram G. Andrews	1955–1956	Democratic	Cambria		[4]
101	W. Stuart Helm	1957–1958	Republican	Armstrong		[4]
102	Hiram G. Andrews	1959–1962	Democratic	Cambria		[4]
103	W. Stuart Helm	1963–1964	Republican	Armstrong		[4]
104	Robert K. Hamilton	1965–1966	Democratic	Beaver		[4]
105	Kenneth B. Lee	1967–1968	Republican	Sullivan
106	Herbert Fineman	1969–1970	Democratic	Philadelphia
107	Kenneth B. Lee	1971–1974	Republican	Sullivan
108	Herbert Fineman	1975–1976	Democratic	Philadelphia
109	K. Leroy Irvis	1977–1979	Democratic	Allegheny	elected May 23, 1977
110	H. Jack Seltzer	1979–1981	Republican	Lebanon
111	Matthew J. Ryan	1981–1983	Republican	Delaware
112	K. Leroy Irvis	1983–1988	Democratic	Allegheny
113	James J. Manderino	1989	Democratic	Westmoreland	died in office December 26, 1989
114	Robert W. O'Donnell	1990–1993	Democratic	Philadelphia
115	H. William DeWeese	1993–1994	Democratic	Greene
116	Matthew J. Ryan	1995–2003	Republican	Delaware	died in office March 29, 2003
117	John Perzel	2003–2007	Republican	Philadelphia	elected to fill unexpired term April 15, 2003
118	Dennis M. O'Brien	2007–2008	Republican	Philadelphia	minority party speaker
119	Keith R. McCall	2009–2010	Democratic	Carbon
120	Samuel H. Smith	2011–2014	Republican	Jefferson
121	Michael C. Turzai	2015–2020	Republican	Allegheny	resigned June 15, 2020
122	Bryan Cutler	2020–2023	Republican	Lancaster
123	Mark Rozzi	2023	Democratic	Berks	resigned February 28, 2023	[6]
124	Joanna McClinton	2023–present	Democratic	Philadelphia

See also

• List of Pennsylvania state legislatures

References

1. "Speakers of the Provincial Assembly (1682-1790) (page 14/28)" (PDF). The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume 117 (2005-2006 General Assembly). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Bureau of Publications. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
2. "Philadelphia, December 27". Freeman's Journal. December 27, 1786. p. 2.
3. Hiltzheimer, Jacob; Parsons, Jacob Cox (1893). Extracts from the diary of Jacob Hiltzheimer: of Philadelphia. 1765-1798. Press of W. F. Fell & co.
4. "Speakers of the House of Representatives since 1791" (PDF). The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume 117 (2005-2006 General Assembly). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Bureau of Publications. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
5. "Samuel D. Patterson". legis.state.pa.us. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
6. Caruso, Stephen (February 28, 2023). "PA House Speaker Mark Rozzi steps down". Spotlight PA . Retrieved February 28, 2023.

External links

• Pennsylvania House of Representatives