Paul Costa (born October 11, 1959) is an American accountant and politician who served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives representing the 34th District from 1999 to 2018. He was defeated in the 2018 Democratic primary by progressive challenger Summer Lee.

Early life and education

Costa was born on October 11, 1959 to Jay Sr. (once Allegheny County

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

) and Louise Costa. One of six children, he has a brother, Jay Jr., who was state senator for the 43rd district. He graduated from

Taylor Allderdice High School Taylor Allderdice High School is a public high school in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It opened in 1927 and is part of the Pittsburgh Public Schools district. It was named for industrialist and Squir ...

in 1978 in the same class as

Gary Graff Gary Graff (born 1960) is an American music journalist and author. Biography Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Graff attended Taylor Allderdice High School where he wrote for school newspaper ''The Taylor Allderdice Foreword''. He recei ...

and Maxine Lapiduss. He then studied at

Community College of Allegheny County Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) is a public community college in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. With four campuses and four centers, the college offers associate degrees, certificates, and diplomas. History The Pennsylvania legis ...

, where he obtained an Associate degree in 1988, and at Point Park College, earning a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Accounting in 1994.

Career

He served on the Wilkins Township

board of commissioners A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

for three years, including one year as board

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

, and worked in the Allegheny County

prothonotary The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...

's office for over two decades. Vice-chairman of the Wilkins Township Democratic Committee since 1992, Costa served as an alternate delegate to that year's Democratic National Convention, which nominated

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. He is also a member of the parish council of St. Colman Catholic Church in Turtle Creek.

References

External links

Pennsylvania House of Representatives - Paul Costa
official PA House website
Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus - Rep. Frank Dermody
official Party website {{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Paul Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 1959 births Living people Politicians from Pittsburgh Point Park University alumni 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians