Tommy Sankey

Thomas R. Sankey III (born September 21, 1980) is a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.[3] He has represented the 74th District and now the 73rd District because of redistricting, since 2013.

Tommy Sankey
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 73rd district
Assumed office
January 6, 2015[1]
Preceded byGary Haluska
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 74th district
In office
January 1, 2013 [2] – January 6, 2015
Preceded byBud George
Succeeded byHarry Lewis
Personal details
Born (1980-09-21) September 21, 1980
Political partyRepublican
Residence(s)Decatur Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Alma materSt. Francis University

Sankey attended the Clearfield Area School District and received a bachelor's degree in accounting from St. Francis University. Tommy Sankey would play on the Clearfield High School undefeated 1998 football team and briefly for the St. Francis football team in college.[4] After college, he worked as an accountant before returning to the family business, R&G Fabrication.

Sankey currently sits on the Consumer Affairs, Subcommittee on Public Utilities, Environmental Resources & Energy Subcommittee on Mining, Finance, and Rules committees.[5] Representative Sankey would be appointed as Deputy Chairman of House Majority Policy Committee in 2019 and then appointed Deputy Whip in 2020 by Majority Whip Donna Oberlander.[6][7]

On February 1, 2022, Tommy Sankey announced that he would not seek reelection.[8]

2012 Election

Thomas Sankey announced his candidacy for State Representative for the 74th State Representative district that was being vacated by long time serving member Bud George. He defeated the Democrat nominee and Clearfield County Commissioner Mark McCracken 60%-39%.[9] This would be the first time the district was held by a Republican since 1975 and Representative Sankey's closest election.

2016 Election

Representative Sankey would only be formally challenged for his position on one occasion which was during the 2016 election. This was the Representative's reelection campaign to his third term to the General Assembly. He would be challenged by Clearfield County Democrat Committee Treasure Fred Weaver. Mixed with President Trump's upset presidential victory in 2016 that included landslide results within the 5th Congressional District where the 73rd State District is located, Representative Sankey's strong approval rating, and Fred Weaver's local unpopularity all would play substantial parts in his successful reelection to his third term by a margin of 71%-29%.[10] Tommy Sankey would run unopposed in his 2014, 2018, and 2020 campaigns.

Tenure

During his tenure, Sankey would only spend one of his five terms in a unified Pennsylvania state government. In the 2012-2014 session, Representative Sankey would work with Republican Governor Tom Corbett. However, after Tom Corbett's reelection defeat to businessman Tom Wolf in the 2014 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election Sankey will have spent his remaining four terms working with a Democrat Governor if he follows through with his decision to not run for a sixth term.

Representative Sankey would be described as a small government conservative that was notable for his outspoken behavior in opposing green energy initiatives proposed by Governor Tom Wolf and a staunch pro-coal advocate.[11] He would be a strong critic of Governor Wolf's administration including accusing the Governor of partisan and lack of substance rhetoric during the 2016 budget proposal process.[12] In June 2020, Representative Sankey would sign alongside 34 GOP lawmakers in an attempt to impeach Governor Wolf and would again sign impeachment articles with 30 GOP lawmakers in February 2021. Both articles of impeachment where in relation to the Govenor's response to COVID-19 and his emergency declaration. The Republican lawmakers accused the Governor of overextending his power and circumventing the legislative branch.[13] Both articles of impeachment would fail to advance out of the Republican controlled judiciary committee.

Sankey was a strong advocate for the energy sector (primarily coal and gas), advocating for a reduced and balanced budget, anti-tax increases, and the elimination of the inheritance tax going as far as to accuse the tax of, "stealing from children".[14][15][16][17] He would also be endorsed by the NRA and received a 0% rating from Planned Parenthood.[18] Over the course of five campaigns, he received over $5.5 million dollars from the energy sector and $4.2 million from the banking and finance sector in campaign donations.[19]

In 2018, he was a strong supporter for State Senator Scott Wagner in his unsuccessful attempt to defeat Governor Tom Wolf in the 2018 election cycle.

Representative Sankey would be a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump's administration and played a central role in the section within the GOP who attempted to overturn Pennsylvania's election results based upon the false narrative from the Trump administration that the election was stolen after his defeat to then-candidate Joe Biden. This would include a motion to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court that urged the court to void Pennsylvania's election results in which Sankey signed along with other conservative lawmakers in the state house.[20] There was strong consensus amongst voting experts and government agencies that there was no widespread fraud and all thirteen lawsuits alleging electoral fraud in Pennsylvania would be dismissed.

Representative Sankey would endorse Jeff Bartos for the 2022 Pennsylvania Senate Election.[21]

References
  1. "SESSION OF 2015 - 199TH OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - No. 1" (PDF). Legislative Journal. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 2015-01-06.
  2. "SESSION OF 2013 - 197TH OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - No. 1" (PDF). Legislative Journal. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 2013-01-01.
  3. http://www.house.state.pa.us/BMC/Bios/PDF/2457.PDF
  4. "101918FBgame". www.clearfieldfootball.org. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  5. "Representative Tommy Sankey". The official website for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  6. "Sankey Appointed Deputy Chairman of House Majority Policy Committee". www.pagoppolicy.com. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  7. "Sankey, Rigby to Both Serve as House Majority Deputy Whip for 2021-22". www.repsankey.com. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  8. WJAC Staff (2022-02-01). "Rep. Sankey to retire at end of term". WJAC. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  9. "Sankey Wins 74th District Seat". GantNews.com. 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  10. mpesto@tribdem.com, Mark Pesto. "Incumbent Sankey decisively wins re-election in 73rd state House district". The Tribune-Democrat. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  11. Sankey Discusses Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, retrieved 2022-02-05
  12. Wolf's Address Was Nothing But Politics, retrieved 2022-02-05
  13. Caruso, Stephen; February 23, Pennsylvania Capital-Star; 2021. "MAP: These are the GOP lawmakers who want to impeach Gov. Tom Wolf". Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Retrieved 2022-02-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. Coal Industry Vital in Pennsylvania, retrieved 2022-02-05
  15. The Unfunded Liability is Huge, retrieved 2022-02-05
  16. Clear Message - No Support for Tax Hikes, retrieved 2022-02-05
  17. Sankey Supports Elimination of Inheritance Tax, retrieved 2022-02-05
  18. "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  19. "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  20. "GOP legislators seek emergency court order to void final certification of 'severely flawed' Pa. vote count". pennlive. 2020-12-07. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  21. "PoliticsPA". Retrieved 2022-02-04.
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