Candidate for
Governor; State of Pennsylvania; Democratic Party

MEET JOE HOEFFEL: PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRAT FOR GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA

http://joehoeffel2010.com/meet-joe

Joe Hoeffel is proud of his thirty-year record of progressive politics, effective and pragmatic leadership, and fiscal responsibility on behalf of his constituents, having represented the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a State Representative, a U.S. Congressman, and a Montgomery County Commissioner.

Joe is a lifelong resident of Abington, Pennsylvania in Montgomery County. Growing up, his parents instilled in him the values of personal integrity and social responsibility. Joe graduated from Boston University and served as an US Army Reservist during and after college.

At the age of 26, Joe was elected to the Pennsylvania State House, becoming the first Democrat to represent the Abington area in 60 years, and soon after married Francesca, his wife of now 32 years,. Joe served four terms in the State House from 1977 to 1984. He worked on budget and government reform, mass transit, economic development, and programs for seniors. The first bill Joe passed in the state House in 1978 was a campaign reform proposal improving financial disclosure. Joe supported women's reproductive freedoms and opposed the 1981 Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act.

After the birth of his children, Mary, now 29, and Jake, now 27, Joe returned to the private sector and earned his law degree at Temple University in 1986. While his children were young, Joe practiced law in Montgomery County, enjoying assistant-coaching his son's baseball team and cheering on his daughter. Joe's wife, Francesca, a registered nurse with a Master's degree in public health nursing, began at this time her career as a school nurse in Philadelphia public schools, a position she has held now for 23 years.

In 1991, Joe was elected to the first of two terms as Montgomery County Commissioner, serving through 1998, and where he fought for open space preservation, community revitalization and reforms of patronage and pay-to-play abuses in the courthouse. In 1996, Joe ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, challenging a freshman incumbent, and lost by just 84 votes.

In 1998 Joe was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where he served three terms, from 1999 to 2004, representing Pennsylvania's 13th District. He earned a reputation as a hardworking moderate legislator, a deficit hawk on the budget and a strong advocate of expanded healthcare coverage. Joe was a member of House Committees on International Relations, Budget, Science, and Transportation and Infrastructure.

As a Congressman, Joe introduced legislation to eliminate wasteful corporate welfare, to reform federal support for public schools, to establish a patients' bill of rights, and to reform the Medicare prescription drug plan for seniors. In 2004, Joe founded "Iraq Watch" and made 30 speeches on the floor of the House urging changes in our military and foreign policies in Iraq.

In 2008 Joe was elected once again to serve as a Montgomery County Commissioner, where as Vice Chairman of the Board he works hard to promote economic opportunity, improve the county government, protect the environment and expand health care.