1-9 POLITICS - State House Control
HARRISBURG
Ike was president and Elvis was doing the Sullivan show the last time state House Democrats had fewer members.
It was 1957. The Pennsylvania House had 83 Democrats. The Republicans had a 126-member majority.
Today, there are 91 Democrats and 112 Republicans. The last time the state House actually had 91 members was 1949, the year Harry Truman was inaugurated for a second term and Joe DiMaggio became the first $100,000-a-year ballplayer.
The only good news for Democrats is that in the 1957-58 session, they came back from being down 126-83 to recapture control of the House for the next session.
Control is everything in statehouse politics. The party with a majority sets the agenda. Its members are the top leaders and chair committees. In a state with nearly a million more Democrats than Republicans, it is ironic that voters in districts with Democrat representatives are, in some ways, disenfranchised. Their state rep typically has little input into the final decisions about spending and laws.
House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, an Oakmont Democrat, is trying to compete with one hand tied behind his back.
Don't get me wrong -- this is what voters chose. Few, however, actually go to the polls thinking about control of the House. It's about the individual incumbent or challenger and how well he's served (or disserved) the district.
So within that context, it's important to know the Democrats are in the hands of a capable leader. Dermody, 60, was an assistant district attorney for six years in Allegheny County, where most of the time he prosecuted sex offenders.
He also served briefly as a district justice, was elected to the state House in 1990 and has represented Oakmont and portions of the Allegheny Valley for 22 years.
Because of his prosecutory experience, Dermody was chosen in 1994 as lead House prosecutor to handle the impeachment trial in the Senate of then-Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen, who was accused of conspiring to have court employees get his prescription anti-anxiety medication, supposedly to hide his depression. In retrospect that seems sad. But it was illegal.
Behind the scenes, Dermody was part of a group that, at various times, bucked the authority of former Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese and questioned DeWeese's role in Bonusgate. DeWeese was never charged in that scandal. But illegal use of tax money for bonuses to staffers who campaigned took place on his watch and DeWeese later was indicted and stands trial this month on corruption charges for allegedly using his district office staff for campaigns.
A valid criticism is that Dermody wasn't public enough opposing DeWeese; he had become an inside player.
Last November, Dermody was elected minority leader. If Democrats take control in November, he would be in line for House speaker.
Dermody also took some hits for voting for the Republican-engineered legislative redistricting map as a member of a five-member special commission. He did so to avoid what he saw as a disaster for Democrats under an earlier GOP plan.
Dermody says former Superior Court Judge Stephen McEwen, a Republican and the fifth member appointed by the Legislature, was instrumental in helping to negotiate a fairer plan for Democrats.
Ike was president and Elvis was doing the Sullivan show the last time state House Democrats had fewer members.
It was 1957. The Pennsylvania House had 83 Democrats. The Republicans had a 126-member majority.
Today, there are 91 Democrats and 112 Republicans. The last time the state House actually had 91 members was 1949, the year Harry Truman was inaugurated for a second term and Joe DiMaggio became the first $100,000-a-year ballplayer.
The only good news for Democrats is that in the 1957-58 session, they came back from being down 126-83 to recapture control of the House for the next session.
Control is everything in statehouse politics. The party with a majority sets the agenda. Its members are the top leaders and chair committees. In a state with nearly a million more Democrats than Republicans, it is ironic that voters in districts with Democrat representatives are, in some ways, disenfranchised. Their state rep typically has little input into the final decisions about spending and laws.
House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, an Oakmont Democrat, is trying to compete with one hand tied behind his back.
Don't get me wrong -- this is what voters chose. Few, however, actually go to the polls thinking about control of the House. It's about the individual incumbent or challenger and how well he's served (or disserved) the district.
So within that context, it's important to know the Democrats are in the hands of a capable leader. Dermody, 60, was an assistant district attorney for six years in Allegheny County, where most of the time he prosecuted sex offenders.
He also served briefly as a district justice, was elected to the state House in 1990 and has represented Oakmont and portions of the Allegheny Valley for 22 years.
Because of his prosecutory experience, Dermody was chosen in 1994 as lead House prosecutor to handle the impeachment trial in the Senate of then-Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen, who was accused of conspiring to have court employees get his prescription anti-anxiety medication, supposedly to hide his depression. In retrospect that seems sad. But it was illegal.
Behind the scenes, Dermody was part of a group that, at various times, bucked the authority of former Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese and questioned DeWeese's role in Bonusgate. DeWeese was never charged in that scandal. But illegal use of tax money for bonuses to staffers who campaigned took place on his watch and DeWeese later was indicted and stands trial this month on corruption charges for allegedly using his district office staff for campaigns.
A valid criticism is that Dermody wasn't public enough opposing DeWeese; he had become an inside player.
Last November, Dermody was elected minority leader. If Democrats take control in November, he would be in line for House speaker.
Dermody also took some hits for voting for the Republican-engineered legislative redistricting map as a member of a five-member special commission. He did so to avoid what he saw as a disaster for Democrats under an earlier GOP plan.
Dermody says former Superior Court Judge Stephen McEwen, a Republican and the fifth member appointed by the Legislature, was instrumental in helping to negotiate a fairer plan for Democrats.