- John Pippy
Infobox State Senator
imagesize = 150px
name = John R. Pippy
image_size = 250px
state = Pennsylvania
state_senate = Pennsylvania
district = 37th
term_start = December 9, 2003
term_end =
predecessor = Tim Murphy
successor =
state_house2 = Pennsylvania
district2 = 44th
predecessor2 =
successor2 =
term_start2 = January 2, 1996
term_end2 = March 24, 2003
birth_date = birth date and age|1970|12|12
birth_place = Ubon,Thailand
residence = Moon Township,Pennsylvania
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = American
party = Republican
spouse = Katherine Pippy
relations =
children = Katelyn and Sean Pippy
residence =
alma_mater =West Point
occupation =
profession =Environmental Engineer
net worth =
religion =Christian
website = http://www.senatorpippy.com/
footnotes =John Pippy (born December 12, 1970 in Ubon,
Thailand ) is an American politician from the U.S. State ofPennsylvania . He is a member of the Republican Party and currently serves in thePennsylvania State Senate .Personal
Pippy was born in Thailand to Jack and Pensri Pippy and first entered the United States at the age of one. His father was in the
United States Air Force and his mother is from Thailand. Initially after returning, the family lived in public housing in Boston. [ [http://www.ncsl.org/programs/pubs/702pot.htm, Dianna Gordon, "Legislative Melting Pot", State Legislatures Magazine, July/August 2002] ]Pippy is a graduate of the
United States Military Academy at West Point,New York with aBachelor of Science degree in environmental engineeringAfter graduation, he served on active duty, assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood,
Texas . After leaving active duty, he joined thePennsylvania National Guard where he holds the rank of Major. He returned to active duty in 2003-2004 after his unit was called up to serve during the Iraq War.He lives in
Moon Township, Pennsylvania with his wife, Kathy, a political operative and lobbyist. [ [http://www.insiderpa.com/archive/insider6-2004b.htm Al Neri, The Insider, June/July 2004] ]Political career
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Pippy was elected to the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1996, defeating Democrat Andrew McGraw.Prior to the 1998 elections, Democrats threatened to challenge his residency in an effort to prevent his candidacy for re-election. Their challenge was based on a clause in the
Pennsylvania Constitution requiring candidates for the General Assembly to swear that they have been residents of the state for at least four years. Democrats claimed that Pippy was ineligible as he had been on active duty in Texas, was registered to vote in Texas and held a Texas drivers license. Pippy countered that because he was on active duty service, his absence fell under the "public business" exemption under the state constitution. The challenge was defused when the Assembly passed a bill which GovernorTom Ridge signed into law deleting the residency provisions from the candidate affidavit. [http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/1998/02/23/smallb3.html "Residency affidavit pitched by GOP in a typical Harrisburg political ploy", Pittsburgh Business Times, February 20, 1998] ]Despite the controversy, Pippy won re-election in 1998 and was unopposed in 2000 and 2002. [ [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=7443 Ourcampaigns.com, Candidate Detail Page] ]
Pennsylvania State Senate
In 2003, State Senator Tim Murphy resigned to take a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and Pippy announced his candidacy for the seat. However, shortly after announcing his candidacy, Pippy's unit was called to active duty. This could have potentially derailed his candidacy due to military rules that do not allow active duty soldiers to actively engage in politics. [http://www.post-gazette.com/election/20030215pippy403elect3p3.asp James O'Toole, "Army says Pippy can stay in race", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 15, 2003] ]
Pippy initially received a ruling from the Army Reserve headquarters which barred his candidacy. However, after intervention from Rep. Murphy, Assistant Secretary of Defense
Paul Wolfowitz issued a waiver allowing Pippy to remain on the ballot. He was, however, stilled barred from campaigning for himself or exercising any duties of his office, should he win.Pippy did win the race with 67% of the vote over Democrat Paul Gitnik, but was in
Aberdeen, Maryland with his unit preparing for deployment. Pippy was able to return to Harrisburg on a one-day pass in order to take his oath of office, but was required to return to active duty immediately afterward. [ [http://research.cs.vt.edu/ns/data/2.00/www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/04/04/sprj.irq.lawmaker.soldier.ap/index.html "Some soldiers leave behind constituents", CNN.com, cached at University of Vermont, April 4, 2003] ]Pippy returned home from Iraq in January, 2004 and resumed his service in the Senate. That fall, he ran for re-election, prevailing over Gianni Floro with 67% of the vote.
Pippy is Chairman of the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee; Chairman of the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee; Vice Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee; and a member of the Appropriations, Banking and Insurance, Transportation and Game and Fisheries committees. He is also a member of the Advisory Boards for
Penn State Beaver , theUniversity of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, the Board of Directors for the Greater Pittsburgh Council/Boy Scouts of America , and the Board of Directors for theHeinz History Center . He was formerly the chairman of the American Legislative Exchange Council’sHomeland Security Task Force.He considered a race for Lieutenant Governor in 2005, but eventually stayed out of the race. [ [http://www.yoursewickley.com/sewickleyherald/article/pippy-wont-run-lt-gov-seat "Pippy won't run for Lt. Gov. seat", Sewickley Herald, December 21, 2005] ]
Electoral History
2004 General Election,
Pennsylvania Senate, District 37
*John Pippy - 88,306, 67.8%
*Gianni Floro - 41,954, 32.2%2003 Special Election,
Pennsylvania Senate, District 37
*John Pippy - 24,798, 67.6%
*Paul Gitnik - 11,892 32.4%2002 General Election,
Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 44
*John Pippy - 13,431, 100.0%2000 General Election,
Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 44
*John Pippy - 25,494 100.0%1998 General Election,
Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 44
*John Pippy - 10,216, 61.96%
*Thomas J. Fullard III - 6,273, 38.04%1996 General Election,
Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 44
*John Pippy - 12,961, 57.12%
*Andrew J. McGraw - 9,730, 42.88%References
External links
* [http://www.senatorpippy.com/ Senator Pippy Official Wesbite]
* [http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/senate_bio.cfm?id=59 Senate of Pennsylvania, John Pippy]Persondata
NAME=Pippy, John R.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=United States Senator from Pennsylvania
DATE OF BIRTH=December 12, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH=Ubon Ratchathani ,Thailand
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
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