Jesse White (Pennsylvania politician)

Infobox State Representative

| imagesize = 150px
name = Jesse White
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state = Pennsylvania
state_house = Pennsylvania
district = 46th
term_start = 2007
term_end = present
predecessor =
successor = Incumbent
constituency =
majority =
party = Democrat
birth_date =
birth_place =Washington County, Pennsylvania
alma_mater =
occupation =
spouse =
children =
residence =Cecil Township, Pennsylvania
religion =

Jesse White (born June 24th, 1978) is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 46th House district since 2007. His district includes portions of Washington, Allegheny and Beaver Counties.

Personal

A native of Washington County, Pennsylvania, White graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania with a degree in political science. After college, White earned a law degree from Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh. He worked in private practice for a law firm in Uniontown, Pennsylvania and for the United Steelworkers of America in Pittsburgh. His current practice, White and Associates is located in Cecil, PA where he also resides.

Political career

White was appointed in 2003 to the Board of Supervisors in Cecil Township, Pennsylvania. He made a run at the State House in 2004 in the Democratic primary election against 26-year incumbent Victor Lescovitz. Lescovitz defeated White with 55% of the vote. After his defeat in the primary, White successfully ran for Auditor of Cecil Township in 2005.

Controversially, White had sued a local newspaper, The Weekly Recorder, for defamation and libel during the 2004 campaign. White claimed that a story about the incident accused him of setting fire to one of his own signs. After an arbitration board ruled in the publisher's favor, White chose not to pursue an appeal. [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06127/687516-58.stm Lynda Guydon Taylor, "Campaign 2006: Three seek Lescovitz's open House seat", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5/7/06] ]

In 2006, Lescovitz decided to retire from the House, creating an open seat. White ran again in the 2006 Democratic primary, facing off with Paul Walsh, a local attorney. [ [http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=13&ElectionID=20&OfficeID=13 2006 Primary Election Results, Pennsylvania Department of State, 5/16/06] ] With the fallout of the legislative pay raise lingering, White aligned with reform activist group PACleanSweep in the election. He defeated Walsh in the primary taking close to 54%. White went on to prevail in the general election by a similar margin over Republican Paul Snatchko. [ [http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=13&ElectionID=24&OfficeID=13, Pennsylvania Department of State, 11/7/06] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/house_bio.cfm?id=1093 Pennsylvania House of Representatives - Jesse White] official PA House website
* [http://votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=47366 Project Vote Smart - Representative Jesse J. White (PA)] profile
*"Follow the Money" - Jesse White
** [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=88643 2006] [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=65115 2004] campaign contributions
* [http://www.pahouse.com/White/ Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus - Rep. Jesse White] official Party website