Lawrence M. Farnese Jr. (born June 1, 1968) is an American attorney and politician. He was a Democratic member of the

Pennsylvania Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ...

where he represented the 1st District from 2009 until November 30, 2020. Farnese is the Democratic ward leader of the 8th ward in Philadelphia.

Early life and education

Farnese was born in Drexel Hill,

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, ...

. His grandfather, Andrew M. Farnese, served as president of the Philadelphia Board of Education and chairman of the Philadelphia Gas Commission. After graduating from

Malvern Preparatory School , motto_translation = Truth, Unity, Love , address = 418 South Warren Avenue , location = , region = , city = Malvern , county = , state ...

, he attended

Villanova University Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Penns ...

, where he earned 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 year ...

degree in political science in 1990. He received a Juris Doctor 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 ...

in 1994, and was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania (1999) and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

(1994).

Politics

In 2006, Farnese challenged 10-term incumbent

Babette Josephs Babette Josephs (August 4, 1940 – August 27, 2021) was a Democratic politician and attorney, who served 28 years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Josephs was first elected in 1984, representing the 182nd Legislative District, which ...

in the Democratic primary for the 182nd District in the State House. He was narrowly defeated, losing by a margin of 237 votes. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, following the retirement of embattled incumbent Vince Fumo, Farnese ran for the

in the 1st District. In the Democratic primary, he faced

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

leader

Johnny Dougherty John J. "Johnny Doc" Dougherty is a prominent labor leader in Philadelphia. As a leader within the Philadelphia organized labor scene, Dougherty is a prominent political figure who helps Democratic candidates get elected by directing donations and ...

and community activist Anne Dicker; he ultimately won the election with 43%, receiving 30,879 votes. In the general election, he easily defeated

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 ...

businessman Jack Morley with 81% of the vote. Farnese was indicted in 2016 by the federal government for allegedly buying the vote of a committeewoman to keep his seat as the Democratic Ward Leader for Philadelphia's Eighth Ward. The indictment was taken to trial in January 2017, with allegations that Farnese paid $6,000 in campaign funds towards the education of committee person Ellen Chapman's daughter to secure her vote, and thus his seat as Ward Leader. Farnese and his legal team denied the charges against him in court, asserting that what the government describes as a clear case of bribery is within the realm of state campaign finance laws. On February 1, 2017 Farnese was acquitted of all thirteen charges against him. Farnese made a bid for re-election in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, but was defeated by a member of the

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Democratic Socialists of America#Tendencies within the DSA, multi-tendency Socialism, socialist and Labour movement, labor-oriented political organization. Its roots ...

, journalist

Nikil Saval Nikil Saval (born December 27, 1982) is an Indian-American magazine editor, writer, organizer, activist, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represents the 1st district in the Pennsylvania State Senate. Early life and educati ...

. In 2023, Farnese briefly ran for election to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, before suspending his campaign.

References

External links

Larry Farnese For Judge
current official campaign website
Larry Farnese - Democrat for State Senate
prior official campaign website
State Senator Larry Farnese
official PA Senate website
Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus - Larry Farnese

Follow the Money: Larry Farnese 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farnese, Larry American people of Italian descent Living people Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators 1968 births Malvern Preparatory School alumni 21st-century American politicians People from Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania Lawyers from Philadelphia