Charlie Dent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charlie Dent

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 15th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2005–
Preceded by	Pat Toomey
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	May 24, 1960 (age 46) Allentown, Pennsylvania
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Pamela Jane Serfass
Religion	Presbyterian

Charles "Charlie" Dent (born May 24, 1960 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is a Republican Member of Congress, representing Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district (map), including the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania.

1 Biography
2 Politically important district
3 Political stances
4 Election results
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Dent was born and raised and still resides in Allentown. He is married to Pamela Dent and has three children.

Dent was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2004, succeeding Pat Toomey, who gave up his seat to challenge Arlen Specter for the U.S. Senate. He was re-elected in 2006.

Before being elected to the United States Congress, Dent was a member of the State Legislature for 14 years. He represented Pennsylvania's 132nd house district from 1991 - 1999 after unseating Democratic incumbent Jack Pressman in a heavily Democratic district in 1990. In 1998, Dent won an open 16th District Senate seat when Democrat Roy C. Afflerbach (Mayor of Allentown 2002-2006) retired in an unsuccessful bid for Congress.

He has also worked as a college fundraiser, an electronics salesman, a hotel clerk and a congressional aide.

Dent is a 1978 graduate of Allentown's William Allen High School. He received a Bachelor's in International Politics from Penn State University in 1982 and a Masters in Public Administration from Lehigh University in 1993. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity.

[edit] Politically important district

Dent represents a Pennsylvania Congressional district, consisting principally of Lehigh County and Northampton County, that is considered politically important nationally, since it is usually heavily contested, with neither Republicans nor Democrats having been able to win the district consistently. Since at least the Second World War, the District's voters have chosen the presidential candidate that goes on to win Pennsylvania (and until 2000, Pennsylvania chose the eventual national winner). In the 2004 election, both President George W. Bush and his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, visited the district with regularity in an effort to win its swing voters. The result in the district was 148,679 votes for Kerry over 148,576 votes for Bush, a 103-vote margin of victory.

The 2006 election marked the fourth consecutive federal/statewide election in which 15th District voters gave Democrats victories at the top of the ticket (president, governor) but also decisively elected a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Despite these factors, it should be noted that 15th District Congressional elections rarely are close, regardless of which party wins or holds the seat. For example, among the 18 so-called "Kerry Republicans" - Republican Congressmen whose district voted for Kerry in 2004 - Dent had the second-largest margin of victory in the nation at ten percent.

[edit] Political stances

Dent is a proponent of alternative energy sources and is one of the four founding members of the House Hydrogen Fuel Cell Caucus. In 2006 he proposed legislation aimed at promoting the rollout of commercial hydrogen fueling stations. Dent envisions the development of a "Hydrogen Highway East," similar to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's plans for a Hydrogen Highway on the West Coast.

Dent is pro-choice and a member of The Republican Main Street Partnership (a group that strongly supports stem cell research). Dent is a co-sponsor of legislation to expand federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

In 2007 he was elected to co-chair the Republican "Tuesday Group," a centrist organization of Congressional Republicans.

He voted against Federal intervention in the case of Terri Schiavo. Dent replied afterwards that he opposed government intervention in a personal matter and would have voted the same way had courts sided with Schiavo's parents.

Dent is a proponent of recommendations of the Iraq Study Group report and is co-sponsor of legislation to adopt portions of it as policy.

On Feb. 22, 2007, Dent endorsed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

[edit] Election results

2004 - United States House of Representatives

Charlie Dent (R)- 170,634 - 58.6%
Joe Driscoll (D)- 114,646 - 39.4%
Richard Piotrowski (Lib) - 3,660 - 1.3%
Greta Browne (Grn) - 2,194 - 0.7%

2006 - United States House of Representatives

Charlie Dent (R)- 106,261 - 53.6%
Charles Dertinger (D)- 86,186 - 43.5%
Greta Browne (Grn) - 5,803 - 2.9%

[edit] External links

Political offices
Preceded by Patrick J. Toomey	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district 2005 – present	Incumbent