John Herm Suplizio

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John Herm Suplizio

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 2, 2020

Personal

Birthplace

DuBois, Pa.

Religion

Christian: Catholic

Profession

Executive director

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

John Herm Suplizio (Republican Party) ran for election to the Pennsylvania State Senate to represent District 25. He lost in the Republican primary on June 2, 2020.

Suplizio completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

John Herm Suplizio was born in DuBois, Pennsylvania. He has served as the mayor and city manager of the City of DuBois. Suplizio's professional experience includes working as the executive director of the United Way of Greater DuBois. He has been associated with DuBois Fire Department, Catholic Charities, and St. Catherine's Parish.

Elections

2020

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 25

Cris Dush defeated Margie Brown in the general election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 25 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cris Dush (R)	74.4	88,994
		Margie Brown (D)	25.6	30,608

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 119,602
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 25

Margie Brown advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 25 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Margie Brown	100.0	14,038

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 14,038
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 25

Cris Dush defeated John Herm Suplizio and James Brown in the Republican primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 25 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cris Dush	59.0	23,087
		John Herm Suplizio	31.3	12,232
		James Brown	9.7	3,799

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 39,118
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

John Herm Suplizio completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Suplizio's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Herm Suplizio has spent his entire adult life dedicated to public service. A 1978 graduate of DuBois Central Catholic, Suplizio is a proven leader for rural Pennsylvania.

Rising from volunteer firefighter to chief of the DuBois Fire Department and Executive Director of the local United Way, Suplizio's impact on DuBois is far-reaching. As City Manager, Suplizio helped leverage millions of dollars in state grants and private dollars to improve downtown DuBois and incentivize job growth to employers like Danone, who just created almost 100 new jobs in Clearfield County.

A pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment conservative, Herm Suplizio knows that freedoms that we take for granted are under attack from liberal Democrats and socialist candidates. As a State Senator, Herm will always vote to protect the right to life and the 2nd Amendment.

Herm attends St. Catherine's Catholic Church in DuBois and is a supporter of local charities. He has also served as Executive Director for United Way of DuBois since 1993 and volunteers for a number of community organizations.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Jobs and Our Local Economy
• Conservative Values
• Experience to Get Things Done

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

-Bringing high-quality jobs to our region

-Defending the 2nd Amendment
-Protecting Pro-Life and Conservative Values
-Supporting Police; Ending Sanctuary Cities

-Reduction/Elimination of Property Taxes

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty and Integrity. 100%.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

The ability to get things done for our district and the integrity/character to stay true to our principles.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

1. Vote the values of our district and residents

2. Bring additional resources back home to improve infrastructure and job opportunities
3. Keep as many tax dollars local as possible
4. Advocate for policies that will make our area competitive to job creators

5. Always be honest and keep citizens informed

What legacy would you like to leave?

I'd like to leave a strong mark on our area's struggle with the opioid crisis and greater access to high quality jobs in our region.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I was three-and-a-half when President Kennedy was shot and still remember it clearly.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked in construction for a couple years while I was still in high school prior to going to work for US Air.

Every state besides Nebraska has two legislative chambers. What do you consider the most important differences between the legislative chambers in your state?

I think that the House because of the smaller size districts has the ability to micro-focus on issues important to the member or district. When you're a Senator representing 250,000+ people and multiple counties-you have to be able to prioritize and multi-task. This Senate district is the largest in the state and you have to have a team in place to work across the 8 counties. I think that I've put together a team of supporters and volunteers to be able to do that on Day 1 in the Senate.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I think that it's important to have leadership experience. Lawyers and staff largely draft the bills/policy items in the State Capitol while the members have to communicate and work to get issues across the finish line. I've gotten things done my whole career and will continue to do so in the Senate.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

Financial liabilities and lack of emergency funding. We're seeing it right now with COVID-19. If we don't really start to take a proactive approach at rainy-day fund savings, our state budget will continue to be on the brink of collapse.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?

I think each has a role to check the other. While the General Assembly has 253 members and there's compromise on most every important issue, there is only one Governor. The General Assembly is the only Constitutionally protected body that can limit the Governor's power when he overreaches and I believe that it is their duty to do so regardless of party.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Yes, building relationships with legislators, staff and policy experts is crucial. It is impossible to be a subject matter expert on everything that comes before you as a legislator-so these relationships are incredibly important.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Economic Development

Judiciary
Environmental Resources and Energy
Law and Justice

Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness

If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the legislature, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?

Not at this point-I simply want to contribute to the Senate Republican Caucus.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Senator Joe Scarnati has been a great leader for our region. He's shown that you can be principled and still compromise. He's done a ton for our area. If I could be seen in the same light that folks see Joe, I'll have done well for our region.

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

No.

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

It's hard to pick just one. Our seniors struggle on fixed incomes and often feel powerless. As City Manager, we cut utility payments by over 40% for seniors to make sure they're being charged for what they use, not the same as a family of six. It is simple common-sense solutions like those that excite me to bring some perspective to Harrisburg.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

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Footnotes

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Current members of the Pennsylvania State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Joe Pittman

Minority Leader:Jay Costa

Senators

District 1

Nikil Saval (D)

District 2

Christine Tartaglione (D)

District 3

Sharif Street (D)

District 4

Art Haywood (D)

District 5

Joe Picozzi (R)

District 6

Frank Farry (R)

District 7

Vincent Hughes (D)

District 8

Anthony Williams (D)

District 9

John Kane (D)

District 10

Steve Santarsiero (D)

District 11

Judy Schwank (D)

District 12

Maria Collett (D)

District 13

Scott Martin (R)

District 14

Nick Miller (D)

District 15

Patty Kim (D)

District 16

Jarrett Coleman (R)

District 17

Amanda Cappelletti (D)

District 18

Lisa Boscola (D)

District 19

Carolyn Comitta (D)

District 20

Lisa Baker (R)

District 21

Scott Hutchinson (R)

District 22

Martin Flynn (D)

District 23

Gene Yaw (R)

District 24

Tracy Pennycuick (R)

District 25

Cris Dush (R)

District 26

Timothy Kearney (D)

District 27

Lynda Culver (R)

District 28

Kristin Phillips-Hill (R)

District 29

David Argall (R)

District 30

Judith Ward (R)

District 31

Dawn Keefer (R)

District 32

Patrick Stefano (R)

District 33

Doug Mastriano (R)

District 34

Greg Rothman (R)

District 35

Wayne Langerholc (R)

District 36

James Malone (D)

District 37

Devlin Robinson (R)

District 38

Lindsey Williams (D)

District 39

Kim Ward (R)

District 40

Rosemary Brown (R)

District 41

Joe Pittman (R)

District 42

Wayne Fontana (D)

District 43

Jay Costa (D)

District 44

Katie Muth (D)

District 45

Nick Pisciottano (D)

District 46

Camera Bartolotta (R)

District 47

Elder Vogel (R)

District 48

Chris Gebhard (R)

District 49

Daniel Laughlin (R)

District 50

Michele Brooks (R)

Republican Party (27)

Democratic Party (23)