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 District
Taking office January 2, 2012
Succeeding	Frank Rizzo, Jr.
137th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
In office January 2, 2007 – November 30, 2008
Preceded by	John Perzel
Succeeded by	Keith McCall
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 169th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 5, 1983
Preceded by	John Swaim
In office January 4, 1977[1] – November 30, 1980
Preceded by	Stephen Wodjak
Succeeded by	John Swaim
Personal details
Born	June 22, 1952 (1952-06-22) (age 59) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Spouse(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.

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

1. ^ "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. 
2. ^ 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. 
3. ^ "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. 
4. ^ 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. 
5. ^ Dave Pidgeon (2008-07-03). "Revised autism bill passes Legislature". Intelligencer Journal. http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/223938. Retrieved 2008-08-23. 
6. ^ 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. 
7. ^ 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. 
8. ^ 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. 
9. ^ [1]
10. ^ 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

• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart

Political offices
Preceded by John Perzel	Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 2007–2008	Succeeded by Keith McCall
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Preceded by Stephen Wodjak	Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 169th District 1977–1980	Succeeded by John Swaim
Preceded by John Swaim	Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 169th District 1983–present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Obrien, Dennis M.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1952-06-22
Place of birth	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date of death
Place of death