- Pennsylvania Democratic Party
-
Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Jim Burn Senate leader Jay Costa
(Minority Leader)House leader Frank Dermody
(Minority Leader)Headquarters Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Ideology American Liberalism
ProgressivismNational affiliation Democratic Party Official colors Blue (unofficial) Seats in the Upper House 20 / 50Seats in the Lower House 91 / 203Website padems.com Politics of the United States
Political parties
ElectionsThe Pennsylvania Democratic Party is the local branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of Pennsylvania. The party has had strong support in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia area for a long time, having controlled the mayoral office in Philadelphia since 1952, and the Pittsburgh Mayoral office since 1933.
Contents
Founding
History
Party platforms and ideology
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party considers jobs to be its number one priority. It is dedicated to fixing the economy and providing stable jobs for all. It is also a strong supporter of the middle class. It is also very concerned with voting rights. The Pennsylvania Republican Party has recently introduced legislation to require a photo ID for voting, but Pennsylvania Democratic Party strongly opposes this. It believes it would discourage minorities, youth, and those with low-income from voting because they are less likely to possess a state-issued ID. Another important issue is protecting Social Security and Medicare. The Pennsylvania Democrats are committed to keeping these programs available and protecting their funding. Transparency is also another key issue because they believe all government should be transparent in order to prevent corruption in government.[1]
Recent events
The party held the governorship from 2003 to 2011 with the election of Ed Rendell in 2002 and his re-election in 2006. The party lost control of the governorship following the election of Republican state Attorney General Tom Corbett in 2010. The party picked up a Senate seat in 2006 with the election of Bob Casey, Jr. Pennsylvania Democrats also briefly held both of the state's U.S. Senate seats following Arlen Specter's party-switch. However, Congressman Joe Sestak defeated Specter in the May 2010 primary, before losing the fall general election to former Congressman Pat Toomey. On the state legislative level, the party won a majority in the State House in 2006 and again in 2008. The party lost its majority in that chamber in the 2010 election. The State Senate has been controlled by the Republicans for more than a decade, with the balance of power in that chamber presently standing at 30 Republicans, and 20 Democrats.
Democrats made significant gains in voter registration during the 2008 Presidential election, with registered Democrats now outnumbering registered Republicans almost by a 3-2 margin. [1] Democrats now outnumber Republicans in the state of Pennsylvania by 1.2 million voters.[2]
Current Democratic officeholders
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party holds two of the state's five statewide offices and is a minority in both the Pennsylvania State Senate and Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Democrats hold one of the state's U.S. Senate seats and 7 of the state's 19 U.S. House seats.
- State
- Auditor: Jack Wagner
- Treasurer: Robert McCord
- Federal
- U.S. Senate
- Robert Casey, Jr.
- U.S. House of Representatives
Leadership
- Chair, Jim Burn
- Vice Chair, Penny Gerber[3]
References
- ^ http://www.padems.com/issues
- ^ http://www.padems.com/about/history
- ^ "State Committee Information". Pennsylvania Democratic Party official web site. Pennsylvania Democratic Party. 2010-03-03. http://www.padems.com/About/StateCommittee/. Retrieved 2010-03-03.
External links
Categories:- United States political party stubs
- Organizations based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
- Democratic Party (United States) by state
- Politics of Pennsylvania
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