- Dennis M. O'Brien
-
For other people of the same name, see Dennis O'Brien (disambiguation).
Dennis O'Brien Member-Elect of the
Philadelphia City Council
from the At-Large DistrictTaking office
January 2, 2012Succeeding Frank Rizzo, Jr. 137th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives In office
January 2, 2007 – November 30, 2008Preceded by John Perzel Succeeded by Keith McCall Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 169th districtIncumbent Assumed office
January 5, 1983Preceded by John Swaim In office
January 4, 1977[1] – November 30, 1980Preceded by Stephen Wodjak Succeeded by John Swaim Personal details Born June 22, 1952
Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaSpouse(s) Bernadette M. Benson - O'Brien Children Dennis, Jr.; Brendan; Joseph Residence Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Occupation Legislator Religion Roman Catholic Website http://www.RepOBrien.com Dennis Michael "Denny" O'Brien is the representative from the 169th Legislative District and was the 137th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He is the majority chairman of the House Committee on Children & Youth. O'Brien is currently a City Councilman-Elect having won one of the top 7 spots in the November 8, 2011 general election.
O'Brien's district is located in Northeast Philadelphia. Born in Philadelphia in 1952, he is a graduate of Archbishop Ryan High School and La Salle University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration. He is married to the former Bernadette M. Benson and they have three sons, Dennis Jr., Brendan and Joseph.
Contents
Political career
O'Brien was first elected in 1976 and served two terms before giving up his house seat in 1980 to run the congressional seat of Charles Dougherty[2] O'Brien lost by 480 votes in the Republican primary and, in 1982, ran for his old seat in the Pennsylvania House. O'Brien has been re-elected in every succeeding election.
Prior to his elevation to the Speakership, he served as chairman of the House Committees on Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness, Health and Human Services, Consumer Affairs and most recently, Judiciary. Currently, he serves as the majority chairman of the Committee on Children and Youth and continues to chair the Autism Caucus.
Autism
Inspired by his late nephew Christopher's diagnosis, O'Brien has been an advocate for autism issues and founded the Pennsylvania Legislative Autism Caucus.[3] Over 20 years, he has proposed a number of bills requiring mandatory school and health care funding for patients.[4] In addition, he worked with Governor Ed Rendell to organize a Bureau of Autism Services within the state's Office of Developmental Programs. In 2008, one of his bills, requiring insurance companies to cover autism treatment, was passed and signed into law.[5]
2007 Speaker Election
O'Brien became the Speaker of the House following deals between Republicans and Democrats. Despite a one-seat Democratic majority, the Democratic leader, Bill DeWeese, was unable to gather the votes necessary to win back the Speakership due to some dissatisfaction within his own caucus because of his handling of matters as leader, and notably due to the decision by one member in his caucus to vote for John Perzel, the incumbent Speaker. DeWeese nominated O'Brien, a Republican and a Perzel rival, in a surprise move. O'Brien went on to defeat Perzel 105-97.[6] O'Brien was the first minority-party Speaker in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.[7]
2008 Primary Election
O'Brien defeated what was described as an “underground write-in campaign” in the 2008 Democratic primary election. With no Democrat on the ballot a write-in candidate emerged in an attempt to secure a position on the November ballot as a Democrat. O'Brien organized his own campaign and defeated his opponent 1,372 – 416 meaning that O'Brien was listed on both parties' ballots in the general election.[8][dead link]
Post-Speakership
Upon the election of 2008, the Democrats saw the opportunity to put their own in the Speaker's office. Representative Keith McCall of Carbon County was elected Speaker with O'Brien opting out of the race. He was named the minority chairman of the House Committee on Children and Youth. In addition to those responsibilities, O'Brien is working with the Department of Public Welfare to ensure implimation of Act 62 (mandating Autism insurance in Pennsylvania) which he wrote and passed while he was the Speaker. O'Brien easily went back to his old role as a behind-the-scenes player in the Pennsylvania General Assembly where he continues his representation of the 169th Legislative District.
2011 City Council Election
O'Brien announced his intention to run for one of the minority seats on Philadelphia's City Council in 2011. He, attorney David Oh, and incumbent Frank Rizzo were considered the clear favorites among the Republican contenders. On May 17, 2011, in spite of not being supported by any of the party organizations, O'Brien won one of the five GOP nominations for the City Council's at-large seats, with 17.32% of the vote. Oh won 18.50% of the vote, good for first among the field of candidates, while Rizzo was soundly defeated, coming in 7th out of nine candidates running—-a result some have attributed to his involvement in DROP, the Deferred Retirement Option Plan. O'Brien went onto be the top finisher among the minority party candidates with an approximately 10,000 vote lead. He will be sworn into Council on Jan. 2, 2012. [9]
Ward leader
O'Brien is the Ward Leader of the 57th Ward Republican Executive Committee.[10]
References
- ^ "Session of 1977 - 16lst of the General Assembly - Vol. 1, No. 1". Legislative Journal. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 1977-01-04. http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/HJ/1977/0/19770104.pdf.
- ^ Tom Waring (2007-01-04). "O’Brien’s new man of the House". Northeast Times. http://www.northeasttimes.com/2007/0104/denny.html. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
- ^ "PA Report 100" (PDF). Pennsylvania Report. Capital Growth, Inc.. January 23, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-08-14. http://www.webcitation.org/5j0zKOG5a.
- ^ Chris Buckley (2007-06-28). "O'Brien champion to autistic citizens". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/s_514887.html. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
- ^ Dave Pidgeon (2008-07-03). "Revised autism bill passes Legislature". Intelligencer Journal. http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/223938. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
- ^ Tracie Mauriello (2008-01-03). "New House speaker hailed as firm, fair, passionate". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07003/750779-85.stm. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
- ^ Amy Worden (2008-06-18). "O’Brien’s speaker deal upset GOP". Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/politics/pa/8046652.html. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
- ^ Jeff Shields (2008-05-05). "O'Brien effort thwarts challenge". Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080505_O_Brien_effort_thwarts_challenge.html. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Committee of Seventy (2009-12-21). "2009 Citizen's Guide" (PDF). 2009 Citizen's Guide. The Committee of Seventy, Philadelphia, PA 19103. http://www.seventy.org/Downloads/2009_Citizen's_Guide.pdf. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
External links
- State Representative Dennis O'Brien official PA House website
- Denny O'Brien for City Council official campaign website
Political offices Preceded by
John PerzelSpeaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
2007–2008Succeeded by
Keith McCallPennsylvania House of Representatives Preceded by
Stephen WodjakMember of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 169th District
1977–1980Succeeded by
John SwaimPreceded by
John SwaimMember of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 169th District
1983–presentSucceeded by
IncumbentMembers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Speaker of the House: Sam Smith (R) • Majority Leader: Mike Turzai (R) • Minority Leader: Frank Dermody (D) - Pat Harkins (D)
- Florindo Fabrizio (D)
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- RoseMarie Swanger (R)
- Ron Buxton (D)
- Sue Helm (R)
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- John D. Payne (R)
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- Lynda Schlegel-Culver (R)
- David R. Millard (R)
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- Dante Santoni (D)
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- Mark M. Gillen (R)
- Jim A. Cox (R)
- David M. Maloney (R)
- Justin Simmons (R)
- Jennifer Mann (D)
- Joseph F. Brennan (D)
- Doug Reichley (R)
- Steve Samuelson (D)
- Robert L. Freeman (D)
- Joe Emrick (R)
- Marcia Hahn (R)
- Michael Peifer (R)
- John Galloway (D)
- Tina M. Davis (D)
- Frank Farry (R)
- Marguerite Quinn (R)
- Kathy Watson (R)
- Paul Clymer (R)
- Tom Quigley (R)
- Marcy Toepel (R)
- Michael F. Gerber (D)
- Tim Briggs (D)
- Mike Vereb (R)
- Todd Stephens (R)
- Tom Murt (R)
- Josh Shapiro (D)
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- Curt Schroder (R)
- Dan Truitt (R)
- Warren Kampf (R)
- L. Chris Ross (R)
- Thaddeus Kirkland (D)
- Stephen Barrar (R)
- Joe Hackett (R)
- Nicholas Miccarelli III (R)
- Nicholas Micozzie (R)
- Margo L. Davidson (D)
- Bill Adolph (R)
- Greg Vitali (D)
- Duane Milne (R)
- Tom Killion (R)
- Dennis M. O'Brien (R)
- Brendan F. Boyle (D)
- Kerry Benninghoff (R)
- Kevin J. Boyle (D)
- Michael McGeehan (D)
- John Sabatina, Jr. (D)
- Michael H. O'Brien (D)
- Mario Scavello (R)
- John J. Taylor (R)
- Scott Petri (R)
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- Angel Cruz (D)
- Curtis Thomas (D)
- Babette Josephs (D)
- Julie Harhart (R)
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- Gary Day (R)
- James R. Roebuck, Jr. (D)
- Rosemary M. Brown (R)
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- Ronald Waters (D)
- Louise Bishop (D)
- Will Tallman (R)
- Pamela A. Delissio (D)
- Michelle F. Brownlee (D)
- Seth Grove (R)
- Jewell Williams (D)
- Rosita Youngblood (D)
- Stephen Bloom (R)
- Cherelle Parker (D)
- John L. Myers (D)
- Mark B. Cohen (D)
- Dwight E. Evans (D)
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