Eugene Paul Stilp (born July 1, 1950) is the 2014 Pennsylvania 104th district House of Representatives candidate, running on the Democratic ticket. Stilp is well known for opposing the
2005 Pennsylvania General Assembly pay raise and his combined use of targeted legal action and creative media-generating props to achieve political change in Pennsylvania. He was born in Wilkes-Barre.
Political advocacy
He is a non-practicing attorney who has filed many public advocacy suits against the government of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. He is best known as an opponent of the
2005 Pennsylvania General Assembly pay raise controversy
In the early morning hours of July 7, 2005, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed pay increases for state lawmakers, judges, and top executive-branch officials. The vote took place at 2 am without public review or commentary and Governor Ed ...
.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
named Stilp one of the three "Citizens of the Year" in 2005.
![PinkPiginHarrisburg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/PinkPiginHarrisburg.jpg)
The ''
Pennsylvania Report
The ''Pennsylvania Report'' is an independent bi-weekly subscription-based political newspaper published in Pennsylvania. It is "widely read by the state's political junkies." It was founded in 1985 by David Buffington, a former public relations ...
'' named him to the 2009 "The Pennsylvania Report 100" list of influential figures in Pennsylvania politics.
Stilp designed the Flight 93 Memorial Flag.
He was praised by
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes.
The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...
for his use of props for political activism.
Known for ribbing former Pennsylvania governor
Ed Rendell
Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philade ...
about his weight, Stilp passed out bumper stickers in
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
Punxsutawney (; Unami language, Lenape: '
)
is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in southern Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Punxsutawney is known globally for its annual Groundhog Day celebration held each February 2, during which thousands of ...
on February 2 during Rendell's term as governor which read, "PLEASE, GOV. RENDELL - DON'T EAT THE
GROUNDHOG
The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as a woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.
The groundhog is a lowland creature of North America; it is found through mu ...
!"
Statue of Liberty replica
Stilp built and installed a replica of the
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...
on a pier of the late
Marysville Bridge in the Dauphin Narrows of
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...
north of
Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
. It was made of venetian blinds and stood 18 feet (5.5 m) tall. Six years later, after it was destroyed in a windstorm, it was rebuilt by Stilp and other local citizens, of wood, metal, glass and fiberglass, to a height of 25 feet (7.6 m).
2012 congressional campaign
Stilp announced in January 2012 that he would seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican incumbent
Lou Barletta
Louis John Barletta (born January 28, 1956) is an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, from 2000 to 2010. ...
in
Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district
Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district is located in the southeast-central part of the state. It includes all of Lancaster County and portions of York County south and east of but not including the city of York. Republican Lloyd Smucker re ...
. In the April 2012 primary, Stilp won 54.6% of the vote defeating Wilkes-Barre attorney Bill Vinsko. Vinsko's campaign spending far outpaced Stilp's; Vinsko spent $102,463 to Stilp's $13,814.
On October 31, 2012, Gene Stilp was endorsed by the greater Harrisburg, PA area by the Patriot News. This article is titled "Give Gene Stilp a chance: Activist makes sense for 11th District." In the article, Gene is heralded for protesting against government excess and acting upon it. For example, after Pennsylvania lawmakers enacted a late-night pay raise in 2005, Stilp was the one who, acting alone on principles of injustice and exploitation, filed the lawsuit and won part of the state Supreme Court case against the method used to award the pay increases. While there are many examples of Gene's candor and resolve, he continues to champion higher education and job creation, a vitally important and current issue in Pennsylvania.
On November 3, 2012, right on the heels of the endorsement by the Harrisburg Patriot-News, Gene Stilp was endorsed by the Citizens' Voice, one of the largest and influential newspapers in the 11th Congressional District.
The major points the article goes on to say in its endorsement for Gene as a candidate representative of the 11th Congressional District are as follows: Gene "has proven to be an effective taxpayer advocate and his positions on the issues," he "
ill ILL may refer to:
* ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom
* Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland
* Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility
* Interlibrar ...
protect Medicare benefits, supporting fairer taxes, implementing Obamacare", and he "
ill ILL may refer to:
* ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom
* Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland
* Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility
* Interlibrar ...
better reflect the interests of residents of the 11th Congressional District, which, after redistricting, now stretches from Wyoming County in the north to Cumberland County in the south."
See also
*
2005 Pennsylvania General Assembly pay raise controversy
In the early morning hours of July 7, 2005, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed pay increases for state lawmakers, judges, and top executive-branch officials. The vote took place at 2 am without public review or commentary and Governor Ed ...
References
External links
Gene Stilp's Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stilp, Gene
1950 births
Living people
Political activists from Pennsylvania
People from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Democrats