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
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
, he served as
mayor of
Hazleton,
Pennsylvania, from 2000 to 2010.
As mayor, he came to prominence due to a high-profile immigration ordinance. During his tenure, he challenged longtime
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
incumbent
Paul Kanjorski of the 11th congressional district three times, eventually defeating him in
2010
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. Barletta was re-elected three times to serve in Congress.
In
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
, Barletta was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for the
U.S. Senate, losing to
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
incumbent
Bob Casey Jr. by a 13-point margin. He also ran unsuccessfully in the
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
Republican primary for
governor of Pennsylvania
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, losing to
Doug Mastriano
Douglas Vincent Mastriano (born January 2, 1964) is an American far-right politician and retired military officer who has served in the Pennsylvania Senate since 2019, representing the 33rd district. A member of the Republican Party, he was ...
.
Early life
Barletta was born on January 28, 1956, in
Hazleton,
Pennsylvania, the son of Angeline (née DeAngelo) and Rocco Barletta, who married on September 6, 1943, and were both of
Italian ancestry.
Rocco Barletta helped manage several of the family's businesses, including
Angela Park, which operated in nearby
Drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
until it closed in 1988, and served on the executive committee of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
of Hazleton.
Rocco and Angeline passed away in 1994 and 1999, respectively.
At 18-months-old, Barletta was involved in a
car crash, suffering a minor bruise to his left ear and to the right side of his head. After high school, he attended
Luzerne County Community College and
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. He graduated with a major in
elementary education and made an unsuccessful tryout for the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
baseball team, having been cut after failing to hit a
curveball
In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...
.
Barletta then went to work for his family's construction and heating oil business.
In 1984, Barletta founded a pavement marking company, Interstate Road Marking Corporation, which he sold in 2000. At the time of the sale, his firm had grown to become the largest of its kind in Pennsylvania.
Mayor of Hazleton
Republican Barletta was defeated for a seat on the Hazleton City Council in 1995, but won two years later.
In 1999, the incumbent
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
mayor, Michael Marsicano, was beleaguered by the city's growing
deficit
A deficit is the amount by which a sum falls short of some reference amount.
Economics
* Balance of payments deficit, when the balance of payments is negative
* Government budget deficit
* Deficit spending, the amount by which spending exceeds ...
, topping off at $855,000, and was primaried in an
upset by Jack Mundie.
Barletta would defeat Mundie in the general election, overcoming a Democratic voter registration edge in the city (estimated at 5,771 to 3,509 in 2007).
Barletta took office January 3, 2000.
Barletta was reelected in 2003, defeating Democrat Jack Craig and
Socialist Tim Mailhot, who campaigned on
opposition to the
Iraq War.
In 2007, Barletta received 1,007 votes as a
write-in candidate in the Democratic mayoral primary, enough to defeat former Mayor Marsicano, and be listed under both the Republican and Democratic parties in the general election.
During Barletta's first term, Hazleton received the Governor's Award for Fiscal Accountability and Best Management Practices. In 2004, Barletta was appointed to the
United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities
United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities (UNACLA) is a committee of local authorities that serves as an advisory
body to United Nations System for the purpose of strengthening the dialogue with local authorities from all over the
wor ...
by President
George W. Bush.
Crime statistics
Crime statistics refer to systematic, quantitative results about crime, as opposed to crime news or anecdotes. Notably, crime statistics can be the result of two rather different processes:
* scientific research, such as criminological studies, vi ...
in Hazleton showed a drop in crime every year between the years 2006 and 2011.
Immigration ordinance
During Barletta's tenure, the Hispanic population of Hazleton climbed from 5 percent in 2000 to 30 percent in 2006. That year, Barletta made headlines for his efforts opposing illegal immigration in Hazleton, vowing to make the city "one of the toughest places in the United States" for illegal immigrants.
Barletta introduced and the city council approved the Illegal Immigration Relief Act. The ordinance allowed the city to deny a business permit to employers who hired illegal immigrants and gave the city authority to fine landlords up to $1,000 for leasing to illegal immigrants.
The act also made
English the official language of Hazleton, prohibiting city employees from translating documents into any language without official authorization.
The widespread publicity saw support for Barletta emerge from Republican politicians like former
mayor of New York City
The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...
,
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
, and conservative figures such as
Tucker Carlson and
Neil Cavuto. In response to the law, the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the
Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund
LatinoJustice PRLDEF, long known by its former name the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, is a New York-based national civil rights organization with the goal of changing discriminatory practices via advocacy and litigation. Privatel ...
sued in
federal district court to block the ordinance.
In July 2007, Judge
James Martin Munley
James Martin Munley (June 28, 1936 – March 22, 2020) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Education and career
Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Munley received a Bachelo ...
ruled that the act was unconstitutional, claiming it interfered with federal immigration laws and violated the due process of individuals, employers, and landlords.
The ruling was upheld on appeal to the
United States court of appeals on September 9, 2010. In a public statement shortly after the decision, Barletta vowed to appeal once more. The
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
declined to hear the case.
In 2014, four years after Barletta had left office, the town of Hazleton received a court order to reimburse the ACLU $1.4 million in legal fees, and the town, which was already $6 million in debt due to
tax anticipation notes Tax anticipation notes are notes issued by states or municipalities to finance current operations before tax revenues
Tax revenue is the income that is collected by governments through taxation. Taxation is the primary source of government reven ...
it had secured in 2010 and 2011, had to take additional loans to pay the fees.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2002
In 2002, Barletta ran as the Republican candidate in the
11th congressional district against nine-term
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
incumbent
Paul Kanjorski. The 11th had long been considered the most Democratic district in Pennsylvania outside of
Philadelphia and
Pittsburgh.
However, Barletta was viewed as a very strong candidate—the first credible Republican challenger Kanjorski had faced since his 1986 reelection bid—since he was a very popular Republican mayor from a heavily Democratic city. Barletta lost, taking 42 percent of the vote, losing the district's share of
Lackawanna County, home to
Scranton, by 32 points.
2008
Barletta faced Kanjorski again in 2008. He denounced the endorsement of
David Duke in this race. Despite Kanjorski being easily reelected with 72 percent of the vote
two years earlier,
multiple polls had shown Barletta leading Kanjorski by as much as 5 percentage points, and the race was pegged as one of the nation's most competitive leading into the November elections. It was also one of very few nationwide where a Republican challenger had a credible chance at unseating a Democratic incumbent.
Barletta lost to Kanjorski 48-52 percent, largely due to losing Lackawanna County by 12,800 votes and the downballot coattail advantage bestowed to Kanjorski thanks to the presence of
Barack Obama on the mainline ticket.
Barletta won the territory that had been in the district prior to the 2000s round of redistricting by almost 4,000 votes.
2010
Barletta announced on December 9, 2009, that he would once again challenge Kanjorski in 2010. He won his party's nomination on May 18, 2010. Kanjorski was again seen as one of the country's most vulnerable incumbents, with forecasters rating it a toss-up or a possible Republican pick-up.
Barletta won the general election on November 2, 2010, beating Kanjorski by a 55-45 percentage margin. City Council President Joe Yannuzzi succeeded Barletta as mayor of Hazleton on December 15, 2010.
2012
In the
2008 presidential election,
Barack Obama carried the 11th congressional district with 57 percent of the vote. However, after a
gerrymander by a Republican-led delegation, the 11th was redrawn into a district Obama would've only received 47 percent of the vote in.
Barletta won reelection with 58 percent of the vote.
2014
Barletta was easily reelected, winning with 66 percent of the vote.
2016
Michael Marsicano, a fellow former Hazleton mayor, ran against Barletta in the general election. Barletta was again reelected with a 63-36 percentage margin.
Tenure
Barletta proposed five bills that later became law during his time in the House.
He proposed the Mobilizing Against
Sanctuary Cities
Sanctuary city (; ) refers to municipal jurisdictions, typically in North America, that limit their cooperation with the national government's effort to enforce immigration law. Leaders of sanctuary cities say they want to reduce fear of deport ...
Act of 2011 that would have denied federal funding to cities or municipalities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, it was referred to some committees and subcommittees but was never voted on. He introduced the 1986 Amnesty Transparency Act and the Visa Overstay Enforcement Act of 2013, which sought to reexamine the
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and prevent visa fraud by increasing prison terms and fines, respectively.
In 2014, Barletta introduced a bill to repeal a provision in the
Affordable Care Act which required that volunteer emergency responders be offered healthcare by the organization they volunteer with.
Barletta argued that the bill was necessary because it would be prohibitively expensive for some of organizations to provide insurance.
In 2016, Barletta joined 18 Republicans in co-sponsoring legislation that would block
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients from enlisting in the military. Barletta proposed the Disaster Recovery Reform Act in 2017, intended to amend the 1988
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to use federal disaster assistance to directly administer both permanent and temporary housing for disaster victims, increase assistance to victims with disabilities and provide incentives for preventive preparedness of future natural disasters. It was merged into the
FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which passed 398 to 23 in the House and 90 to 7 in the Senate. President
Donald Trump would sign it into law on October 5, 2018.
Committee assignments
*
Committee on Homeland Security
**
Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security
**
Subcommittee on Transportation Security
*
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
**
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management (Chairman)
**
Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
**
Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
*
Committee on Education and the Workforce
**
Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training
**
Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions The House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions is a standing subcommittee within the United States House Committee on Education and Labor. It was formerly known as the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.
Jurisdiction
Fro ...
Caucus memberships
*
Afterschool Caucuses
2018 Senate race
On July 31, 2017, the Associated Press reported that Barletta was preparing to run for the
U.S. Senate, seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent
Bob Casey Jr. for his seat in the
2018 midterm elections
The 2018 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. These midterm elections occurred during Republican Donald Trump's term. Democrats made a net gain of 41 seats in the United States House of Representatives, gaining a majo ...
. He officially announced on August 29. Barletta had been a staunch supporter of
Donald Trump.
Barletta endorsed Trump for president in March 2016. According to NBC News, "Barletta is a favorite of Trump. ... Trump asked Barletta to run for Senate."
Barletta was reportedly considered for a position in the
Trump administration. In his 2018 Senate campaign, Barletta pledged to "give President Trump the help he needs".
He later secured the Republican nomination, but ultimately lost to Casey in the general election on November 6, 2018. Barletta's campaign had been consistently outraised throughout the election, which he attributed to his loss, alongside Casey's recognizable name advantage.
Post congressional career
Private consulting
Barletta declined to return to Congress following his
U.S. Senate bid, instead focusing on his newly formed consulting firm, Pioneer Strategies. He joined the board of directors of World for Brexit, an organization seeking to see
Brexit passed in the
United Kingdom,
2020 US Presidential election
Barletta was named chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation to the
2020 Republican National Convention
The 2020 Republican National Convention in which delegates of the United States Republican Party selected the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election, was held from August 24 to 27, 202 ...
. Barletta participated in the 2020-2021
Trump fake electors plot, in which Pennsylvania's role involved twenty Republicans who met in
Harrisburg and pretended to cast votes for President
Donald Trump as though they were Pennsylvania's lawful delegates to the 2020
Electoral College, even though the lawful delegates
voted
Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect hold ...
for President-elect
Joe Biden. According to the group, their vote was a "procedural vote to preserve
any legal claims that may be presented going forward," even though multiple lawsuits had already failed, due to a lack of evidence of electoral fraud.
2022 Gubernatorial primary run
Following an announcement that Senator
Pat Toomey would not be seeking reelection in
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
, Barletta declined to launch a second bid in pursuit of replacing him, however he did express interest in succeeding term-limited Governor
Tom Wolf in
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
.
On May 17, 2021, Barletta officially announced his candidacy for governor. He cited Wolf's lockdowns enacted in light of the
COVID-19 pandemic and concern over
expanded mail-in ballots as his reasons for running. On the campaign trail, Barletta touted his political record as both Mayor of Hazleton and a U.S. Representative, labeling himself as being a predictable potential governor.
He also made special mention of how he had run and won races in primarily
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
areas.
Barletta lost the Republican primary election to Pennsylvania State Senator
Doug Mastriano
Douglas Vincent Mastriano (born January 2, 1964) is an American far-right politician and retired military officer who has served in the Pennsylvania Senate since 2019, representing the 33rd district. A member of the Republican Party, he was ...
garnering 20% percent of the vote compared to Mastriano's 44%. Following his loss, Barletta said that his run for governor will be his last campaign and that he wished to spend time with his family. He also said he would support Mastriano in the general election against Democrat
Josh Shapiro. Barletta credited there being too many candidates in the primary election, lack of support for him in central and western Pennsylvania, and advertisements from Shapiro's campaign labeling Mastriano as the candidate of former President
Donald Trump (Shapiro's ads were published before Trump endorsed Mastriano) for his defeat. The last reason for Barletta's self-described loss is disputed, as Mastriano was already leading in the primary when the ads were published.
Political positions
According to ''
Vox'' in 2018, Barletta is "considered to be generally more moderate than other House Republicans, though he almost always toes the party line on major votes."
While in Congress, Barletta was a loyal ally of President
Donald Trump, but in late 2022, Barletta broke with Trump saying, "I was one of his most loyal supporters in Congress. But loyalty was only a one-way street." He also refused to support Trump's
2024
Predicted and scheduled events
* January 1
** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law.
***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...
presidential campaign.
Abortion
Barletta voted for
Micah's law,
which prohibits abortion of fetuses starting with the twentieth week of pregnancy, when advocates of government regulation of abortion care contend that fetuses can be born prematurely with medical assistance and feel pain, with exceptions for victims of rape and incest who have undergone counseling and for cases of danger to the life of the mother.
Barletta has said he believes that life begins at conception.
Economy and budget
On April 15, 2011, Barletta voted with the Republican majority for
Paul Ryan
Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member o ...
's budget. Barletta has characterized a
balanced budget amendment
A balanced budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring that a state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government.
Balanced-budget provisions have been added t ...
as a gimmick and said he will not vote to raise the debt ceiling.
In 2017, Barletta voted for the
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Republican Party's tax reform legislation.
In supporting the legislation, Barletta tweeted, "Our #TaxReform package doubles standard deduction, brings $$$ back home, and reduces rates for ALL taxpayers. We will #MAGA."
According to
PolitiFact
PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times'' ...
, Barletta's claim is "mostly false", as the tax plan in 2018 cuts taxes for approximately 75 percent of Americans, while increasing them on 7 percent; by 2027, after the tax plan expires it will raise taxes for more than 25 percent of Americans.
In his run for Pennsylvania governor, Barletta said he does not see Pennsylvania as "business friendly" and said he would have used the office to promote business friendly policies.
Healthcare
Barletta opposed the
Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and voted to repeal it.
Barletta had threatened not to support its attempted repeal because he wanted the repeal legislation to prohibit undocumented immigrants from applying for health insurance tax credits. After meeting with President
Donald Trump and House Speaker
Paul Ryan
Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member o ...
, Barletta said that they had promised to bring up separate legislation to prohibit undocumented immigrants from accessing health insurance tax credits. In 2018, Barletta said that the repeal of Obamacare would not have weakened protections for individuals with preexisting conditions; experts said that the repeal would have given states the option to seek waivers whereby insurers would be allowed to raise prices for individuals with preexisting conditions who did not have continuous coverage.
Immigration
Barletta supported President
Donald Trump's 2017
executive order imposing a ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, saying: "I commend President Trump for suspending the refugee program, and in particular for Syria and the six other countries, because they are unquestionably terrorist havens and hotspots."
In 2007, Barletta opposed
comprehensive immigration reform.
In January 2018,
CNN reported that Barletta had frequently given interviews with a number of fringe anti-immigration groups and organizations.
Barletta spokesperson Jon Anzur responded that Barletta had "always condemned 'hate, bigotry, and racial supremacy,'" adding, "'
course Lou was not aware of these individuals’ background
..
the mayor of a small city, Lou didn't have the resources or staff to screen everyone who asked him questions... Lou did 27 interviews
ne day"
Elections
Barletta has described Pennsylvania's no-excuse mail voting law as "a mistake". In an interview Barletta said his position was to "make sure we have free and fair elections."
Personal life
Barletta is a
Roman Catholic. He is married to Mary Grace Malloy Barletta and together they have four daughters. Mary works as an elementary school teacher, as do two of their daughters.
Barletta enjoys baseball, having wanted to become a major league ballplayer during his youth, and would often participate in the annual
Congressional Baseball Game during his time as a U.S. Representative.
Barletta descends from
Italian immigrants, and after his term in Congress, he helmed the American Italian Food Coalition and sought to protect Italian-produced food products from U.S. tariffs.
Barletta has a cousin, Allison Barletta, who serves on the Hazleton City Council as a Republican. She primaried incumbent Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat in May 2019, but was unsuccessful.
Electoral history
Primary elections
References
External links
*
*
*
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barletta, Lou
1956 births
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American politicians
American politicians of Italian descent
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania alumni
Candidates in the 2018 United States Senate elections
Candidates in the 2022 United States elections
Living people
Mayors of places in Pennsylvania
Politicians from Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania