Elections for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives were held on November 5, 2002, with all districts being contested.[1] State Representatives are elected for two-year terms, with the entire House of Representatives up for a vote every two years.[2] The term of office for those elected in 2002 ran from January 7, 2003[3] until November 30, 2004.[4] Necessary primary elections were held on May 21, 2002.[5]
Special election for the 100th legislative district
A special election for the 100th legislative district was held on 2056, following the April resignation of Republican John Barley, who had been the third highest ranking Republican in the House and Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.[9] He had first announced his intention to retire in early 2002, only to change his mind in March when he unexpectedly showed up at a local party committee meeting, where he received the Republican Party endorsement.[9]
Special election for the 2nd legislative district
A special election for the 2nd legislative district was held on August 14, 2001, following the May 2001 death of Italo Cappabianca. The local Democratic committee controversially endorsed Gayle Wright over Cappabianca's widow, Linda.[10] Cappabianca decided against mounting a formal write-in campaign, citing time constraints, but encouraged voters to write her in as an independent candidate.[11] Wright won the August 14 contest with 48.2% of the vote, with Cappabianca placing a strong second with 39.1%.[12]
Special election for the 149th legislative district
In the primary election held on May 21, 2002, four incumbent legislators (two Republicans and two Democrats) lost their party's nomination. In the 19th legislative district, Democratic incumbent William Russell Robinson was defeated by Jake Wheatley, a staffer for Pittsburgh City Councilman Sala Udin, a Robinson rival.[19][20] The Robinson campaign was criticized for a weak effort, finishing the election with cash left over.[21]
In the 62nd legislative district, incumbent Democrat Sara Steelman was upset by Dave L. Reed, a 24-year-old Republican.[26] Both candidates made improving the local economic climate part of their platforms.[27] Steelman had become a GOP target after " alienating" some in her home district.[28] As a challenger, Reed followed the campaign blueprint established in 2000 by when young Jeff Coleman defeated Tim Pesci in nearby Armstrong County.[29] Reed raised $120,000 for the campaign and knocked on 11,000 doors in the district.[30] During the campaign, Steelman "erupted" on the district's airwaves with taxpayer-funded "public service announcements" for the first time in a decade.[31] With the 57-43 victory, Reed became the youngest member of the House.[26]
149th legislative district
In the 149th legislative district, Republican incumbent Wallis Brooks, who had been elected in February, lost to Democrat Daylin Leach in a rematch of their February special election. The Brooks campaign sent dozens of direct mail advertisements, including one accusing Leach of defending child molesters as an attorney.[32] On the Saturday before the election, one was sent to voters accusing Leach, a practicing Orthodox Jew who lost family in the Holocaust, of being anti-Semitic.[32] The mailer carried a bold headline of "Anti-Semitism, Neo-Nazism, Holocaust Denial. They are not 'a big joke.'"[32] The incendiary charges stemmed from Leach's 1999 defense of an in absentia client from Texas who was sued in Allentown, Pennsylvania for comments allegedly made in an Internet chat room.[32][33] Following the dismissal, the plaintiff took to the internet and posted diatribes denouncing Leach and the Texas man as anti-Semites that were unearthed by a Brooks researcher and used in the mailer.[32] "She had to know I was Jewish, because it had come up in a debate. But since I have a non-Jewish surname, she apparently thought she could get away with this," Leach said.[32] The campaign immediately convinced a local Jewish newspaper to denounce the mailer and reproduced the article on a flyer with a profile of Leach, emphasizing his Jewish roots and activism, on the reverse.[32] By election day, 70 volunteers had hand-delivered the literature to most district households.[32] Leach won the election by over 1,000 votes.
150th legislative district
In the 150th legislative district, Republican-turned Democrat John A. Lawless was defeated by Republican Jacqueline Crahalla by 62 votes. Both candidates easily won their respective party's nomination in the primary election.[20] The district was designed to be disadvantageous to Lawless, who had run afoul of the Republican Caucus leadership.[15] In September, Lawless caused a controversy when he was pulled over for a minor traffic violation by a Lower Providence Township, Pennsylvania police officer. Lawless used vulgar language to berated the officer and threatened the police department with a loss of state funds.[34] Following the loss, Lawless destroyed many constituent-related documents, rather than surrender them to Crahalla.[35]
^"2002 General Election". Commonwealth of PA - Elections Information. Pennsylvania Department of State. 2004. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
^ abShannon, Joyce (November 6, 2002). "Reed upsets Steelman". Pittsburgh Tribune Review. The Tribune-Review Publishing Co. Archived from the original on January 4, 2013.
^Neri, Al (September 2002). "The Insider/September 2002". The Insider. Neri & Associates. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Guy Travaglio of Butler County and Sara Steelman of Indiana County are in danger after alienating some in their home bases.
^Neri, Al (September 2002). "The Insider/November 2002". The Insider. Neri & Associates. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. The new representative is 25-year-old Republican Dave Reed, who used the blueprint that was established two years ago when young Jeff Coleman defeated Tim Pesci in nearby Armstrong County
^Roddy, Dennis (December 21, 2003). "Mine! Mine! Mine!". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. PG Publishing Company. Incumbent Democrat Sara Steelman, who went a decade without doing such broadcast spots, suddenly erupted on her district's airwaves promoting state programs as if she had invented them, in the months leading up to election. Reed defeated her, anyway.
^"Report: Lawless rebuked officer after stop, The lawmaker says he swore at the patrolman, but denies a threat to stop helping Lower Providence police get Pa. aid". Philadelphia Inquirer. September 18, 2002. "State Rep. John Lawless (D., Montgomery) berated a Lower Providence police officer who stopped him for a minor traffic violation and later threatened the police chief with a loss of state funds for the department, according to an internal police document. According to the five-page document detailing the incident, Lawless used vulgar language, suggested to Officer Mark Wells that he "should be out looking for real criminals," and later made a veiled threat about..."
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