Tommy Sankey
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Thomas R. Sankey III (born September 21, 1980) is 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 ...
former 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 ...
. Originally, he represented the 74th District from 2013 to 2014. Following
redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...
, Sankey represented the 73rd District from 2015 until 2022.


Early life and education

Sankey attended the
Clearfield Area School District The Clearfield Area School District is a midsized, rural, public school district. The district is one of the 500 public school districts of Pennsylvania. It is located within the central and northern portion of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. C ...
and received a bachelor's degree in accounting from
St. Francis University Saint Francis University (SFU) is a private Catholic university in Loretto, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1847 and conducted under the tradition of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular. The university is situated on in the fore ...
. Sankey played on the Clearfield High School undefeated 1998 football team and briefly for the St. Francis football team in college. After college, he worked as an accountant before returning to the family business, R&G Fabrication.


Political career


2012 election

Thomas Sankey announced his candidacy for State Representative for the 74th State Representative district that was being vacated by long time serving member
Bud George Camille "Bud" George (December 23, 1927 – September 1, 2017) was an American politician. Biography Born in Houtzdale, Pennsylvania on December 23, 1927, George graduated from Houtzdale High School in 1944, and then served in the United States N ...
. He defeated the Democratic nominee and
Clearfield County Clearfield County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,562. The county seat is Clearfield, and the largest city is DuBois. The county was created in 1804 and later organized in 1822. C ...
Commissioner Mark McCracken 60%-39%. This was the first time the district was held by a Republican since 1975, and was Sankey's closest election.


2016 election

Sankey was only formally challenged for his position on one occasion, which was during the 2016 election. This was the Representative's reelection campaign to his third term to the
General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
. He was challenged by Clearfield County Democratic Committee Treasurer Fred Weaver. He won a third term by a margin of 71%-29%. Sankey ran unopposed in his 2014, 2018, and 2020 campaigns.


Tenure

Sankey strongly opposed green energy initiatives proposed by Governor
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 ...
. He was a critic of Governor Wolf's administration, accusing the Governor of partisan rhetoric during the 2016 budget proposal process. In June 2020, Sankey and 34 other Republican lawmakers signed articles of impeachment against Governor Wolf. In February 2021, he again signed articles of impeachment against Wolf, this time with 30 Republican lawmakers. Both articles of impeachment were in relation to the Governor's response to
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and his emergency declaration. The Republican lawmakers accused the Governor of overreach and circumventing the legislative branch. Both articles of impeachment failed to advance out of the Republican-controlled judiciary committee. Sankey was a strong advocate for the energy sector (primarily coal and gas), advocating for a reduced and balanced budget, opposing tax increases, and supporting the elimination of the
inheritance tax An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
, going as far as to equate inheritance tax to "stealing from children". He was endorsed by the
NRA The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while conti ...
and received a 0% rating from
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
. Over the course of five campaigns, he received over $5.5 million dollars from the energy sector and $4.2 million from the banking and finance sector in campaign donations. In 2018, he supported State Senator
Scott Wagner Scott R. Wagner (born September 21, 1955) is an American businessman and politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He represented the 28th district in the Pennsylvania State Senate. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Pennsy ...
in his unsuccessful attempt to defeat Governor Tom Wolf in the 2018 election cycle. Sankey was a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump's administration and played a central role in the section within the Republican Party who attempted to overturn Pennsylvania's election results based upon the false narrative from the Trump administration that the election was stolen after Trump's defeat by then-candidate Joe Biden. This included a motion to the
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania is one of Pennsylvania's two intermediate appellate courts. The Commonwealth Court's headquarters is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with jurisdiction over administrative and civil public law. The Superior ...
that urged the court to void Pennsylvania's election results, which Sankey signed along with other conservative lawmakers in the state house. There was strong consensus amongst voting experts and government agencies that there was no widespread fraud, and all thirteen lawsuits alleging electoral fraud in Pennsylvania would be dismissed. Sankey endorsed Jeff Bartos in the
2022 Pennsylvania Senate election Elections for the Pennsylvania State Senate were held on November 8, 2022, with 25 of 50 districts being contested. The term of office for those elected in 2022 will begin when the Senate convenes in January 2023. Pennsylvania State Senators ar ...
. Sankey formerly sat on the Consumer Affairs, Subcommittee on Public Utilities, Environmental Resources & Energy Subcommittee on Mining, Finance, and Rules committees. Sankey was appointed as Deputy Chairman of House Majority Policy Committee in 2019 and then appointed Deputy
Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...
in 2020 by Majority Whip
Donna Oberlander Donna Oberlander is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, she was elected to her first term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in November 2008. She serves as the majority whip. Sh ...
. On February 1, 2022, Sankey announced that he would not seek reelection and attorney Dallas Kephart would be elected as his successor.


References


External links


State Representative Tommy Sankey
Campaign site biography
Representative Tommy Sankey
PA House member info , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sankey, Tommy Living people Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 1980 births 21st-century American politicians