Senate Dems Pick Leadership Team

Unanimously re-electing state Sen. Robert J. Mellow (D-Lackawanna/Luzerne/Monroe) to a new term as Democratic Caucus leader, Pennsylvania Senate Democrats today elected their new leadership team for the next session.

“We have outstanding leaders and are well-positioned to advance the Democratic agenda on crucial issues facing Pennsylvanians,” Mellow said. “Senate Democrats will continue our work to create good jobs during these challenging economic times, fight to give working families access to health care, and renew our efforts to cut consumer energy costs.”

First elected in 1970, Mellow has served longer than any current senator. He has been the Democratic leader since 1988. Mellow also served as Senate President Pro Tempore between 1992 and 1994.

Voting today, Democrats also re-elected Sen. Michael A. O'Pake (D-Berks) as Democratic Whip, elected Sen. Jay Costa Jr. (D-Allegheny) as Democratic Appropriations chairman, re-elected Sen. Richard A. Kasunic (D-Fayette/Somerset) as Democratic Policy Committee Chairman, elected Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-Phila.) as Caucus Chairman, and elected Sen. Sean Logan (D-Allegheny/Westmoreland) as Caucus Secretary.

Sen. Mike Stack (D-Phila.) was appointed Vice Democratic chairman of the Appropriations Committee and Sen. Christine Tartaglione (D-Phila.) was appointed Caucus Administrator.

O'Pake has been a member of the Senate since 1973. A former member of the state House of Representatives, he has also held the positions of Majority and Minority Caucus Chairman and Minority Caucus Secretary.

Costa was first elected to the Senate during a 1996 special election. He was re-elected to his fourth full term in November. Prior to his election to the Senate, he served five years as Register of Wills of Allegheny County.

Kasunic was elected to the Senate in 1994 following six terms in the state House of Representatives. He will be serving his sixth consecutive term as chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee.

Hughes served in the state House of Representatives from 1987 to 1994. He became a state senator on Nov. 21, 1994.

The former mayor of Monroeville, Allegheny County, Logan was first elected to the Senate in 2000.

Stack was first elected to the Senate in 2000. He also serves in the Pennsylvania National Guard with the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps.

Tartaglione was first elected to the Senate in 1994. She is the fifth woman in history to become a Pennsylvania state senator.

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