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Jake Corman

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Jake Corman
President pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate
In office
November 12, 2020 – November 30, 2022
Preceded byJoe Scarnati
Succeeded byKim Ward
Majority Leader of the Pennsylvania Senate
In office
January 6, 2015 – November 12, 2020
Preceded byDominic Pileggi
Succeeded byKim Ward
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 34th district
In office
January 7, 1999 – November 30, 2022
Preceded byDoyle Corman
Succeeded byGreg Rothman
Personal details
Born
Jacob Doyle Corman III

(1964-09-09) September 9, 1964 (age 60)
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, U.S.[1]
Political partyRepublican
SpouseKelli Lopsonzski
Children3
EducationPennsylvania College of Technology
Pennsylvania State University (BA)
WebsiteOfficial website

Jacob Doyle Corman III (born September 9, 1964) is an American politician who served as the president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate from 2020 to 2022.[2]

He was a member of the Pennsylvania Senate 1999 to 2022, holding the same seat his father, Doyle Corman, previously held. A member of the Republican Party, he was majority leader from 2015 to 2020, and president pro tempore from 2020 to 2022. Corman represented the 34th Senate District, which includes all of Centre, Mifflin and Juniata Counties and portions of Huntingdon County, and includes State College.

In the lead-up to the 2020 elections, Corman and other Republicans in the state legislature refused to implement changes that would allow Pennsylvania officials to process mail-in ballots before election day. As a result of the inaction, counting of ballots in Philadelphia took several days, leaving it unclear for days who had won the 2020 presidential election. After Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump refused to concede while making false claims of fraud, Corman called for an audit of the election in Pennsylvania and called on Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar to resign. He supported Republican efforts to obtain a wide range of data and personal information on voters to pursue claims of fraud.

In November 2021, Corman announced he would be seeking the 2022 Republican nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania. He withdrew from the race on April 12, 2022, but then re-entered the same day. He dropped out again on May 12, endorsing Lou Barletta.

From May 17, 2022 to May 23, 2022, Corman served as acting lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania while Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman recovered from the implantation of a pacemaker.

Personal

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Corman was State Director for Central Pennsylvania for United States senator Rick Santorum from 1994 through 1998.[3] He was Field Service Director for the Pennsylvania Builders Association from 1993 through 1994.[3][better source needed]

Career

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In 1998, Corman's father, Doyle Corman, a Pennsylvania state senator for 21 years, announced his retirement from the Senate. Corman announced that he would run for his father's seat. During the three-way GOP primary, Corman was attacked by the other candidates for a 1995 drunk driving conviction, as well as his admission to experimenting with marijuana in the 1980s.[4]

In 2002, Corman was re-elected with over 92% of the vote, facing only minimal opposition from a Libertarian Party candidate.[5] In 2006, Corman defeated Democrat Jon Eich, Robert J. Cash, and Libertarian Thomas Martin with 56% of the vote.[6] After the leadership shakeup following the 2006 elections, Corman bid for the position of Senate Majority Leader, but was edged out by Dominic Pileggi[7] and was ultimately elected as the Majority Policy Chairman, succeeding Joe Scarnati.[citation needed] After the 2008 election, Corman became Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.[citation needed]

The Pennsylvania Report named him to the 2009 "The Pennsylvania Report 100" list of influential figures in Pennsylvania politics and called him one of the state's "rising stars."[8]

In 2010, Corman again defeated Democrat Jon Eich for re-election garnering 69.4% of the vote.[9] In 2014 and 2016, Corman was unopposed for re-election.[10] In 2018, he again won re-election after defeating Democrat Ezra Nanes by more than 10,500 votes.[11] After the 2014 election, Corman became Senate Majority Leader.[12]

2020 elections

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Prior to the 2020 election, Corman and other Republicans in the state legislature refused to implement changes that would allow Pennsylvania officials to process mail-in ballots before election day. As a result, counting of ballots in Philadelphia took several days, leaving it unclear for days who had won the 2020 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania.[13] On the night of the election, Corman called for the resignation of Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar for allowing county boards to give voters an opportunity to "cure" their ballots if they were rejected.[14]

In January 2021, Corman and other Republicans in the Pennsylvania Senate refused to seat incumbent Jim Brewster who won a close reelection against his opponent who refused to concede the race. Even though Brewster's election victory had been certified by state officials. The Republican majority then had Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman removed from presiding over the Senate and installed Corman in Fetterman's place.[15]

Even though there were no indications of fraud in the 2020 election, Corman called for a "full forensic investigation" into the 2020 election.[16] Corman supported Republican efforts to obtain a wide range of data and personal information on voters to pursue baseless claims of fraud.[17]

Gubernatorial run

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Main article: 2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

In November 2021, Corman announced he would be running in the Republican primary race for Pennsylvania governor.[18] He campaigned as the "conservative who stood up to" Democratic governor Tom Wolf, citing his legal efforts to overturn Wolf's mask mandate in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, successful opposition to Wolf's proposed taxes, and his support for a partisan investigation into 2020 presidential election.[19] On April 12, 2022, Corman filed a petition in state court to remove his name from the primary ballot, he however reversed that decision later that day saying that former president Donald Trump encouraged him to stay in the race.[19][20][21] Still, Corman remained low in the polls.[19] He announced on May 12 that he would be dropping out of the race again and endorsed former congressman Lou Barletta for governor. Corman's name still appeared on the ballot though and received 26,000 votes .[22][23]

Acting lieutenant governor

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On May 17, 2022, Governor Wolf announced that Corman would temporarily assume the duties of acting lieutenant governor while Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman had a pacemaker implanted and recovered. Corman served in this capacity until May 23, 2022.[24][25]

Political positions

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In 2017, Corman sponsored Senate Bill 1, a pension reform legislation that was enacted.[26]

Corman, as well as former Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord, sued the NCAA, seeking to reverse sanctions that the athletic association imposed against Penn State after the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.[27] In a settlement, the NCAA lifted the sanctions against the university. The lawsuit initially aimed to require Penn State's $60 million fine to be spent on child abuse prevention in Pennsylvania, rather than across the U.S., but the suit later morphed to challenge the legality of the sanctions themselves.[27][28] Corman accused the NCAA of unfairly singling out Penn State[27][28] and said that the sanctions were "extremely damaging to my community";[28] the NCAA responded that Corman was seeking to politicize the NCAA's safety efforts.[27]

While Corman voted for Pennsylvania's medical cannabis program, he is against both the decriminalization and legalization of cannabis in Pennsylvania. He believes cannabis is a gateway drug.[29][30] He stated that: "I will do everything in my power to prevent legalization of recreational marijuana."[31]

In 2018, Corman was the prime sponsor of an anti-hazing bill (Senate Bill 1090), which was signed into law later that year as Timothy J. Piazza Anti-Hazing Law (Act 80). The law, which passed the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously, strengthened anti-hazing laws.[32]

As part of the 2018–19 budget process, Corman identified school safety funding as a priority.[33]

In June 2019, Corman made national headlines for aggressively yelling over Democratic state senator Katie Muth, as she read into record a letter from formerly homeless resident John Boyd, who encouraged representatives to not take away monthly General Assistance funds from him and other vulnerable citizens.[34]

Electoral history

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1998 Pennsylvania Senate Republican primary election, District 34[35]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jake Corman 8,295 44.12
Republican Connie Lucas 6,814 36.24
Republican Vicki Bumbarger Wedler 3,694 19.65
Total votes 18,803 100.00
1998 Pennsylvania Senate election, District 34[36]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jake Corman 30,129 52.08
Democratic H. Scott Conklin 27,724 47.92
Total votes 57,853 100.00
2002 Pennsylvania Senate election, District 34[37]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jake Corman 57,472 92.56
Libertarian Daniel W. Tuel 4,620 7.44
Total votes 62,092 100.00
2006 Pennsylvania Senate Republican primary election, District 34[38]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jake Corman 13,011 63.70
Republican Penny W. Staver 7,414 36.30
Total votes 20,425 100.00
2006 Pennsylvania Senate election, District 34[39]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jake Corman 43,028 56.04
Democratic Jon Eich 30,025 39.10
Libertarian Thomas A. Martin 2,140 2.78
Independent Robert J. Cash 1,590 2.07
Total votes 76,783 100.00
2010 Pennsylvania Senate election, District 34[40]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jake Corman 53,822 69.43
Democratic Jon Eich 23,697 30.57
Total votes 77,519 100.00
2014 Pennsylvania Senate election, District 34[41]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jake Corman Unopposed
Total votes 46,391 100.00
2018 Pennsylvania Senate election, District 34[42]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jake Corman 46,259 52.37
Democratic Ezra J. Nanes 39,075 44.24
Total votes 88,334 100.00

References

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  1. ^ "Jacob Doyle Corman III". Library of the Senate of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  2. ^ Owens, Dennis; Montag, Madison (November 30, 2022). "Jake Corman Reflects on Long Pennsylvania Senate career". abc27 WHTM. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Project Vote Smart - Senator Jacob Doyle 'Jake' Corman, III (PA)". Project Vote Smart.
  4. ^ John Stabinger (1998-06-12). "Corman, Conklin left standing for 34th State Senatorial District race" (PDF). The Daily Collegian. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  5. ^ Pennsylvania Department of State, Election Returns, 11/5/2002 Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Pennsylvania Department of State, Election Returns, 11/7/2006 Archived 2008-05-29 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Neri, Al (November 2006). "One last thing". The Insider. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
  8. ^ "PA Report 100" (PDF). Pennsylvania Report. Capital Growth, Inc. January 23, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 27, 2020.
  9. ^ Pennsylvania Department of State, Election Returns, 11/2/2010
  10. ^ Pennsylvania Department of State, Election Returns, 11/4/2014
  11. ^ Rushton, Geoff (November 7, 2018). "Corman Re-elected to State Senate". StateCollege.com. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  12. ^ "Corman, Scarnati to lead Pa. Senate Republicans". PennLive.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  13. ^ Fernandez, Cynthia (2020). "The months-long political saga that guaranteed a long vote count in Pennsylvania". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  14. ^ CBS 21 News (November 4, 2020). "Pennsylvania Republican State Senators call for Secretary of State resignation". WHP-TV. Retrieved November 4, 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Couloumbis, Angela; Fernandez, Cynthia (January 5, 2021). "Pa. GOP senators refused to seat a Democrat and removed Lt. Gov. Fetterman from presiding". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  16. ^ Levy, Marc. "Will an election 'audit' happen in Pennsylvania?". mcall.com. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  17. ^ "Pennsylvania Republicans subpoena detailed voter info in 2020 election probe". Reuters. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  18. ^ "Jake Corman is in! Discusses race for governor with Dennis Owens". ABC27. 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  19. ^ a b c Seidman, Andrew (April 12, 2022). "Jake Corman is staying in the Republican race for Pennsylvania governor after moving to drop out". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  20. ^ Murphy, Jan (May 11, 2022). "Pa. GOP gubernatorial candidate Jake Corman to drop out of race, source says". PennLive Patriot-News. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  21. ^ Murphy, Jan (April 12, 2022). "Trump encourages Jake Corman to remain in the governor's race – and so he is". PennLive Patriot-News. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  22. ^ Smith, Katelyn (May 12, 2022). "Corman drops out of Pennsylvania governor race". WGAL News 8. Hearst Television, Inc. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Here are the key primary election results from Pennsylvania". NPR. May 17, 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  24. ^ "Lt. Gov. Fetterman Submits Written Declaration to General Assembly" (Press Release). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania • The Governor. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. May 17, 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  25. ^ Vigna, Paul (May 18, 2022). "Jake Corman to temporarily take over as acting lieutenant governor". PennLive Patriot-News. Advanced Local Media LLC. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  26. ^ Mennis, Greg (December 14, 2017). "Pennsylvania's Historic Pension Reforms". The Pew Charitable Trusts. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  27. ^ a b c d Marc Levy, Lawmaker: NCAA should fire chief over Penn State sanctions, Associated Press (February 11, 2015).
  28. ^ a b c Jan Murphy, Sen. Jake Corman declares victory over NCAA with repeal of its sanctions on Penn State, PennLive (January 16, 2020).
  29. ^ Levy, Marc (January 24, 2019). "Pennsylvania wants to hear from you on legalizing marijuana". The Morning Call. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  30. ^ Orso, Anna (March 25, 2015). "State GOP chief Jake Corman on a higher minimum wage, medical marijuana and why he loves Uber (Q&A)". Billy Penn. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  31. ^ Cole, John (December 21, 2018). "PA Senate Majority Leader Says He Will Do "Everything" In His Power To Prevent Legalized Recreational Use of Marijuana". Politics PA. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  32. ^ Mark Scolforo (October 15, 2018). "Anti-hazing law named for Penn State student heads to governor". Associated Press.
  33. ^ McGoldrick, Gillian (June 22, 2018). "Pa. approves $60 million for school safety". philly.com. Harrisburg. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  34. ^ Gstalter, Morgan (June 28, 2019). "GOP Pennsylvania lawmaker yells over Dem reading letter from former homeless man in viral video". The Hill. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  35. ^ "Section 7 - 9" (PDF). The Pennsylvania Manual Volume 114. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on June 12, 2001. Retrieved 30 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  36. ^ "Section 7 - 20" (PDF). The Pennsylvania Manual Volume 114. Archived from the original on June 12, 2001. Retrieved 30 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  37. ^ "Section 7 - 18" (PDF). The Pennsylvania Manual Volume 116. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. p. 756. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  38. ^ Trostle 2007, p. 763.
  39. ^ Trostle 2007, p. 773.
  40. ^ Trostle, Sharon, ed. (2011). The Pennsylvania Manual (PDF). Vol. 120. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Department of General Services. p. 789. ISBN 978-0-8182-0345-9. Archived from the original on June 1, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  41. ^ Bogden, Sharon, ed. (2016). The Pennsylvania Manual (PDF). Vol. 122. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Department of General Services. p. 788. ISBN 978-0-8182-0375-6. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  42. ^ Bogden, Sharon, ed. (2020). The Pennsylvania Manual (PDF). Vol. 124. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Department of General Services. p. 781. ISBN 978-0-8182-0391-6. Retrieved 6 August 2023.

Sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jake Corman.
Pennsylvania State Senate
Preceded by Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 34th district
1999–2022 		Incumbent
Preceded by Majority Leader of the Pennsylvania Senate
2015–2020 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate
2020–2022
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