Greg Rothman

Greg Rothman
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 34th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2023
Preceded byJake Corman
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 87th district
In office
August 25, 2015[1] – November 30, 2022
Preceded byGlen Grell
Succeeded byThomas Kutz
Personal details
Born (1966-12-10) December 10, 1966 (age 58)
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Residence(s)Silver Spring Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Massachusetts, Amherst
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Marine Corps
Years of service1991-2001
RankStaff Sergeant
Battles/warsOperation Desert Storm
Source: [[2]]

William Gregory Rothman (born December 10, 1966) is an American politician. A Republican, he is currently the state senator for Pennsylvania's 34th District, and previously a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 2015 to 2022, representing the 87th District.[3]

Early life, education, and real estate career

Rothman was born on December 10, 1966, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.[2] He graduated from Cumberland Valley High School in 1985, received a B.S. in political science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1989, and an M.S. in real estate from Johns Hopkins University in 2005.[2] He served in the Marine Corps Reserves.[4]

In 1991, Rothman pled guilty to the misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to commit forgery. The conviction was later expunged, and Governor Ed Rendell issued Rothman a pardon in January 2011. In 2015, Rothman said that he had learned from his mistake and took responsibility for it.[4]

Rothman spent several decades in the real estate business.[5] He was a real estate agent and then CEO of RSR Realtors, a real estate company based in Lemoyne.[6] Rothman was also part owner of the Harrisburg Senators minor league baseball team.[6]

Political career

Rothman was chair of the Bush-Cheney 2004 re-election campaign in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.[4] He was a volunteer aide on the Rick Santorum's 2012 presidential campaign, often appearing in Santorum's entourage.[7]

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

In August 2015, Rothman was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in a special election to fill a vacancy in the 87th House district.[5] The vacancy arose from the resignation of Glen Grell, who stepped down to become executive director of the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System.[4] The district included Camp Hill, East Pennsboro Township, and Hampden Township, as well as a part of Silver Spring Township; Rothman lives in Silver Spring Township.[5] He was reelected in 2016, 2018,[5] and 2020.[8]

In 2016, Rothman was the chair of the Cumberland County Republican Party.[9] He supported Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign,[10] and was on Trump's team at the 2016 Republican National Convention arranging convention operations.[11] He defended Republican Senator Pat Toomey from intra-party critics who asserted that Toomey was insufficiently pro-Trump.[9]

In 2020, Rothman was chair of the House Republican Campaign Committee, leading the campaign efforts for the Pennsylvania House Republicans.[12][13][14]

In 2019, Rothman sponsored legislation to shorten the time period for evictions in Pennsylvania. The bill was supported by landlords' organizations and opposed by tenant and low-income housing advocacy organizations.[15] He supports a reduction in Pennsylvania's corporate net income tax and abolition of the state's inheritance tax.[5] Rothman was the leading supporter of legislation, signed into law in 2019, that established 21 as the minimum age to purchase tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, except for active-duty military personnel and honorably discharged veterans, for which the minimum age remained 18.[5] The exemption was criticized by tobacco control groups.[16]

After Donald Trump was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, Rothman was one of 26 Pennsylvania House Republicans who wrote a letter calling for the election to be overturned by withdrawing Pennsylvania's certification of its presidential electors, despite the fact that Biden won by over 80,000 votes in Pennsylvania. The group of Republicans erroneously claimed that the election was marred by fraud. The letter came after Trump's campaign lost multiple court cases due to lack of evidence.[17][18]

In 2021, as part of Republican efforts to restrict voting following the 2020 presidential election, Rothman supported a bill to rewrite Pennsylvania's election laws by requiring voter ID.[19] Governor Tom Wolf vetoed the bill.[20]

Pennsylvania State Senate

In 2022, Rothman was elected to represent the 34th District in the Pennsylvania State Senate.[21]

After Lawrence Tabas, the chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, announced he would retire, Rothman announced his intent to seek the position. He has gained the support of Senator-elect David McCormick and Congressman Dan Meuser.[22]

References

  1. ^ "SESSION OF 2015 - 199TH OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - No. 61" (PDF). Legislative Journal. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. August 25, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Greg Rothman". Pennsylvania House of Representatives Archives. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  3. ^ "Senator Greg Rothman". Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Marroni, Steve (July 8, 2015). "'I did something stupid': GOP candidate in Pa. House race on decades-old charge". The Patriot-News. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Murphy, Jan (November 29, 2019). "Rep. Greg Rothman to seek re-election to the state House of Representatives". The Patriot-News. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Robert J. Vickers, Election 2012: Sticking close to Rick Santorum is Senators co-owner and Harrisburg-area Realtor Greg Rothman, PennLive (April 8, 2012).
  7. ^ Jacobs, Samuel (February 24, 2012). "Now a front-runner, Santorum is still winging it". Reuters. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  8. ^ Benscoter, Jana (November 6, 2020). "Rep. Greg Rothman earns third term in Pa.'s 87th House District". The Patriot-News. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Levy, Marc (September 26, 2016). "Toomey tries to use disagreements with Trump to advantage". Associated Press. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  10. ^ Veronikis, Eric (November 9, 2016). "Trump supporters celebrate: 'I hope he really does stick to building the wall'". The Patriot-News. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  11. ^ Tamari, Jonathan (July 19, 2016). "Meet Pa.'s David Urban, Trump tactician and 'traffic controller' at RNC". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  12. ^ Scolforo, Mark (May 18, 2020). "Mail voting, new machines feature in Pennsylvania primary". Associated Press. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  13. ^ Scolforo, Mark (April 21, 2021). "Lawmakers take record before voters under new election rules". Associated Press. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  14. ^ Caruso, Stephen (May 29, 2019). "GOP targets House Democrats in Trump districts using viral video of Philly lawmaker harassing anti-abortion protesters". Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  15. ^ Kate Giammarise, Bill would shorten eviction process in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (May 14, 2019).
  16. ^ Meyer, Katie (December 3, 2019). "Pennsylvania restricted tobacco sales. Some tobacco control groups are still uneasy". WHYY. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  17. ^ Murphy, Jan (November 27, 2020). "26 Pa. House Republicans call for withdrawing certification of presidential electors". The Patriot-News. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  18. ^ "WITF is connecting these lawmakers to their actions on the election-fraud lie. Here's why". WITF. January 28, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  19. ^ Scolforo, Mark (June 22, 2021). "GOP voting law bill clears state House amid Wolf veto threat". Associated Press. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  20. ^ Scolforo, Mark (June 30, 2021). "Wolf vetoes GOP bill with voter ID, other elections changes". Associated Press. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  21. ^ Urie, Daniel (November 9, 2022). "After election win, state representative to move to Pa. Senate". PennLIVE Patriot-News. Advance Local Media LLC. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  22. ^ Terruso, Julia; McGoldrick, Gillian (December 13, 2024). "Pennsylvania's GOP chairman is not running for reelection, and top Republicans are pushing for a state senator to succeed him". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 15, 2024.