Jeff Coleman (born July 4, 1975) is a former

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

Background

Coleman was born to a

Filipino American Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New S ...

family at Whidbey Island Naval Base in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

in 1975. In the 1980s his family returned to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

to serve as

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

. It was during that time that the Philippines experienced the

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

, which Coleman credits for inspiring his "passion for public service." He graduated from Orchard Hills Christian Academy in 1994. He attended

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

, earning his degree in Government in 2001. Prior to elective office, Coleman worked in a grocery store, waited tables, and was as radio news anchor in college. He also worked as an intern for Pennsylvania Senator

Rick Santorum Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's thir ...

and was elected to Apollo Borough Council.

Political career

In the 2000 election for the 60th legislative district, the 25-year-old Coleman defeated long-time Democratic incumbent

Tim Pesci Timothy L. Pesci (June 26, 1944 – September 28, 2016) was a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he represented the 60th legislative district from 1989 to 2000. Pesci graduated from Freeport Area Senior ...

in spite of the district being 70% Democratic. Coleman's under-funded campaign relied on an aggressive "door-to-door" campaign with hundreds of campaign volunteers.

Bill DeWeese H. William DeWeese (born April 18, 1950) is an American politician who is a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, DeWeese served as the 135th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House from 1993 to ...

, the House Democratic Leader, said that Pesci had run a "condescending" race against Coleman, calling his opponent "Jeffy" and describing Coleman's campaign volunteers as "the Children from the Corn," referring to the horror

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

. He ran unopposed for reelection in 2002. In a 2002

PoliticsPA PoliticsPA.com is a website centered on the politics of Pennsylvania. Content The website reports on political and campaign news in Pennsylvania, from the state legislature up to federal races. The editors write occasional features, like the we ...

Feature story A feature story is a piece of non-fiction writing about news. A feature story is a type of soft news. The main sub-types are the ''news feature'' and the ''human-interest story''. A feature story is distinguished from other types of non-news ...

designating politicians with yearbook superlatives, he was named the "Most Ambitious" Coleman surprised political observers by retiring prior to the

2004 elections 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

to host a Harrisburg-based political radio program. In 2010, ''Politics Magazine'' named him one of the most influential Republicans in Pennsylvania, noting his success as a political consultant. Coleman unsuccessfully sought the 2022 Republican nomination for lieutenant governor,Karen Shuey
https://www.readingeagle.com/2022/04/25/jeff-coleman-candidate-pennsylvania-lt-governor/
''Reading Eagle'' (April 25, 2022). coming in fifth place in the May 2022

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

References

External links

Biography
from

Historical Biographies {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Jeff Living people Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives American politicians of Filipino descent Asian-American people in Pennsylvania politics American talk radio hosts Liberty University alumni 1975 births American radio news anchors Asian conservatism in the United States