Author: Pennsylvania Press Club

Kathy Boockvar
Pennsylvania Secretary of State

Secretary Boockvar will discuss voting law changes and election security.

Kathy Boockvar was appointed Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth on January 5, 2019 and confirmed by the Senate on November 19, 2019.

The mission of the Department is to promote the integrity of the electoral process, to support economic development through corporate filings and transactions, and to protect the health and safety of the public through professional licensure. The department upholds the highest standards of ethics and competence in the areas of elections, campaign finance, notarization, professional and occupational licensure, charitable solicitation, and professional boxing, wrestling and mixed martial arts.

Boockvar is an attorney with an extensive background in public interest law and policy, election administration, and nonprofit healthcare administration, and has worked in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Most recently, she served as senior adviser to the governor on election modernization, leading and managing initiatives to improve security and technology in Pennsylvania’s elections and voting systems, in collaboration with federal, state, and county officials.

Prior to joining the Department of State in 2018, Boockvar served as executive director of Lifecycle WomanCare, one of the oldest continually operating birth centers in the U.S. She previously served as chief counsel for the Pennsylvania Auditor General, overseeing legal and interagency matters, and served as the Auditor General’s designee on the Board of Commissioners of the Delaware River Port Authority.

Boockvar is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the American University, Washington College of Law. She received a Performance Leadership Certificate from Cornell University in 2014, and is a member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court, Third Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. District Courts, and Pennsylvania, New York, and Washington, D.C. courts.

Guest Speaker TBA

Enjoy the Holidays!

Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman

John Fetterman grew up in York, PA, and attended Albright College, where he played offensive tackle for the Lions. He spent two years with AmeriCorps, where he served in Pittsburgh’s historic Hill District, helping to set up the first computer labs in the neighborhood and teaching GED classes to young mothers and fathers.

He went on to earn a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he focused on finding solutions in social work, business, and public policy to confront urban challenges and economic inequality.

In 2005 he ran for mayor of Braddock, PA and won the crowded primary by a single vote. He served 14 years in that role.

In 2016 he ran for U.S. Senate, losing in the Democratic primary, and in 2018 was elected Pennsylvania’s 34th Lieutenant Governor, after defeating the incumbent Lieutenant Governor in the Democratic primary.

When back home in Braddock, John, his wife Gisele, and their three children live in a restored car dealership.

John Fetterman grew up in York, PA, and attended Albright College, where he played offensive tackle for the Lions. He spent two years with AmeriCorps, where he served in Pittsburgh’s historic Hill District, helping to set up the first computer labs in the neighborhood and teaching GED classes to young mothers and fathers.

Harrisburg Hilton at noon, Monday, November 25

Harrisburg Hilton at noon

Lawrence Tabas
Chairman
Republican Party of Pennsylvania

Lawrence Tabas was elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania on July 13, 2019.

As longtime general counsel to the party, Tabas has argued cases for Republican candidates at the local, state and federal level.

With more than four decades representing his party and its candidates, Tabas became party chairman at a time the party faced fundraising challenges and attacks from opposition party institutions and activists.

His representation places special emphasis on campaign finance law (federal and state), ballot referendum matters, nomination petitions and ballot access, recounts and election contests, regulatory matters, corporate and association-sponsored political action committees, voting equipment and systems, conduct of elections, and much more.

Tabas is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and earned his law degree at Georgetown University. He lives with his wife, Libby, in Philadelphia.