James Cawley (born June 22, 1969) is an American politician who served as the 32nd

Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania The lieutenant governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The lieutenant governor is elected for a four-year term in the same year as the governor. Each party picks a candidate for lieutenant governor independently o ...

from 2011 to 2015. A

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 ...

, he previously served on the Board of Commissioners of

Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the Englis ...

Early life, education, and early political career

He graduated from

Bishop Egan High School Conwell-Egan Catholic High School is a coeducational, Catholic high school in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Athletics The boys' basketball team won the PIAA Class ...

in Bristol Township,

. He then graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He received a J.D. degree from

Temple University School of Law The Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law is the law school of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and enrolls about 530 students. Student body Admission for fall 2019 entering class was highly comp ...

Career

Prior to being elected to the Bucks County Board of Commissioners, he was Chief of Staff to

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

Tommy Tomlinson Robert M. Tomlinson (born December 4, 1945) is an American politician serving as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, who represented the 6th District from 1995 to 2022. Biography Tomlinson was previously a member of the Pennsylvania H ...

. In 2000, he ran for a seat in 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 ...

in the 141st District. Incumbent Democrat State Representative

Anthony Melio Anthony Joseph Melio (May 13, 1932 – July 19, 2012) was a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 141st District. He was elected in 1986 and retired at the end of the legislative session on November 30, 2010. He ...

won re-election by defeating Cawley 56%–42%. He was also a former Pennsylvania state chairman and national co-chairman of the

College Republicans College Republicans are college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. Many members belong to the organization College Republican National Committee (CRNC), College Republicans United (CRU), or various in ...

and served as an elected member of the Bristol Township School Board. He served on the County Commissioner's Association of Pennsylvania's Energy, Environment, & Land Use Committee as Chairman. Jim is a former member of the board of directors for

Lower Bucks Hospital Lower Bucks Hospital is a hospital located in Bristol, Pennsylvania. The hospital focuses on behavioral health, cardiology, emergency medicine, orthopedics, radiology and general surgery. Lower Bucks has a Level IV Trauma Center and is affiliate ...

, a former trustee of Bucks County Community College and a Commonwealth trustee of Temple University.

Bucks County Commission

He was appointed to the

Bucks County Board of Commissioners The Bucks County Board of Commissioners is the legislative council and executive arm of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Currently, it has 3 members. Members of the Board of Commissioners are tasked with managing the county's budget, oversight of al ...

following the resignation of

Mike Fitzpatrick Michael Gerard Fitzpatrick (June 28, 1963 – January 6, 2020) was an American attorney and politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing from 2005 to 2007 and 2011 to 2017. He was fir ...

(who had been elected to Congress). In 2007, he won re-election with 26% of the vote. He became chairman of the board after he was re-elected. According to self-supplied biographical information, he helped expand the

Bucks County Community College Bucks County Community College (Bucks) is a public community college in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1964, Bucks has three campuses and online courses: a main campus in Newtown, an "Upper Bucks" campus in the town of Perkasie, and a " ...

, kept taxes low for four consecutive years, and helped increase the county's bond rating to its highest level ever.

Lieutenant Governor

In 2010, he ran for the state

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

and won the Republican primary in a crowded nine candidate field with just 26% of the vote. He only won 14 out of the state's 67 counties. He only won three counties with a majority: Bucks (70%), Montgomery (51%), and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

(56%) counties. He was on the ticket with Republican gubernatorial nominee

Tom Corbett Thomas Wingett Corbett Jr. (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 46th governor of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1995 ...

, the state's Attorney General. He defeated Democrat Lieutenant Gubernatorial nominee

Scott Conklin Harry Scott Conklin (born October 7, 1958) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 77th legislative district. He was first elected in 2006. Conklin is a Rush Township resident ...

, a State Representative, 54%–46%. He took office on January 18, 2011. Cawley briefly served as

Acting Governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or an ...

on February 27, 2014 while Governor Tom Corbett was anesthetized during surgery. The Pennsylvania Constitution states that when the Governor is incapacitated, the Lieutenant Governor shall serve as acting governor until the disability is removed. Corbett awoke after surgery and was cleared to resume power approximately 85 minutes after going under. Cawley was the third Lieutenant Governor in Pennsylvania history to assume power as Acting Governor. Cawley was unopposed in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor in May 2014. He was Governor Corbett's running mate again in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

on November 4, 2014, in which the Republican ticket was defeated by the Democrats

Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 guber ...

and

Mike Stack Michael Joseph Stack III (born June 5, 1963) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 33rd lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a member of the Pen ...

. Cawley was named a 2014

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

Rodel Fellow.

Later career

On February 9, 2015, Cawley became the new president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. On August 13, 2017, Temple announced the appointment of Cawley as a Vice President of Institutional Advancement. On June 3, 2022, the Board of Trustees of

Rosemont College , mottoeng = I will lift my eyes up to the hills , established = 1921 , type = Private college , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Society of the Holy Child Jesus) , president = J ...

Rosemont, Pennsylvania Rosemont is a neighborhood in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States, on the Philadelphia Main Line. It is located in Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County. It is best known as the home of Rosemont College. Ros ...

announced the appointment of Cawley as Interim President of the College. On October 28, 2022, the Board of Trustees of Rosemont College announced the appointment of Cawley as President of the College.

Personal life

Cawley, lives in Langhorne Manor Borough, Bucks County, Pennsylvania with his wife and son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cawley, Jim 1969 births Living people Lieutenant Governors of Pennsylvania People from Bristol, Pennsylvania County commissioners in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Republicans College Republicans Temple University alumni Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni School board members in Pennsylvania