Richard Ruggieri
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Richard Ruggieri (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to represent District 13. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Ruggieri completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Richard Ruggieri was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He served in the United States Air Force from 1997 to 2007. Ruggieri earned a bachelor's degree in information sciences and technology from Pennsylvania State University in 2005.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 13
Incumbent John Lawrence defeated Richard Ruggieri in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 13 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John Lawrence (R) | 59.0 | 20,247 |
 | Richard Ruggieri (D)  | 41.0 | 14,097 | |
| Total votes: 34,344 | |||
| = 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 House of Representatives District 13
Richard Ruggieri advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 13 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Richard Ruggieri | 100.0 | 5,493 |
| Total votes: 5,493 | |||
| = 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 House of Representatives District 13
Incumbent John Lawrence advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 13 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Lawrence | 100.0 | 6,093 |
| Total votes: 6,093 | |||
| = 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 finance
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Richard Ruggieri completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ruggieri's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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There are many issues facing District 13 that we must solve together. I'm a veteran who understands the meaning of the word sacrifice. I am a pragmatic problem solver and a leader who will bring honor, dignity and respect to all people in our community. When elected, my chief responsibility is to serve you. Your needs will be my needs. My voice will be your voice in Harrisburg.
- We must aim higher in our state legislature. Government only works when representatives honor and serve the people every single day. When elected, I will think independently and deliver pragmatic solutions to the challenges our community faces.
- When I was sworn into the United States Air Force, I took an oath to defend the Nation and uphold our Constitution. As your next State Representative for District 13, I will take my oath just as seriously. We have an environmental crisis in our own backyard, and we must take decisive steps now to protect our Pennsylvania natural resources before it is too late.
- I am running to ensure that there is a change in leadership in the General Assembly and a change in representation for the people of the 13th. I believe that we deserve more than a politician who goes to Harrisburg, checks a box for his party, and comes home. We deserve an independent thinker, who can build the relationships and forge the coalitions required to move legislation through the General Assembly and into law.
I believe in the power of education to lift up a community. My wife, Christina, and I are products of public education. My older son attends Avon Grove schools and my younger son will start next fall. My mother is a graduate of the Oxford Area School District, and my father is a graduate of Kennett Consolidated School District. I am committed to ensuring every child in District 13 and across Pennsylvania has access to great public schools. That begins with a community that fosters a love of learning and supports students, teachers, parents, therapists, and other educational professionals. We must ensure safe, healthy environments where our children can gain skills and confidence. We must teach empathy along with arithmetic, and we must create conscientious citizens along with scientists and CPAs.
Our government has a responsibility to fund public education and not hoist this burden on the taxpayers. We must end partisan gridlock and find solutions. When elected, I will bring leadership with new insights and new solutions - pragmatic problem solving for our seniors, our children and our entire commonwealth community.
Elected officials should have empathy and curiosity. Being able to empathize with people from all different walks of life enables an official to best serve his or her constituents. Being curious allows an official to be open minded to solutions and to keep a wide perception of what is possible.
If, at the end of my tenure, I could say that I helped guide my state to a more equitable and generous funding solution for our K-12 and college funding...and enabled the Chester Water Authority to become a public trust...I would be content.
The first historical event I remember was the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. I was six years old and in first grade. We were watching the launch from our classroom and it was a fairly horrific thing to see. My own children, 8 and 5, are now living through the COVID19 pandemic and I am concerned for the impact it will have on them and all of our children.
I grew up in the 80's so I would say one of two characters: Luke Skywalker or Indiana Jones. Both had great adventures, faced down great dangers, righted great wrongs, and fought for what they believed in. Luke Skywalker, specifically, was expected to be a weapon, but chose to fight with empathy for and with faith in his father. This choice ultimately led to the overthrow of a despotic government. Plus...lightsabers.
While I certainly believe that former experience in government or politics can be an asset to a Senator (or any public official), I don't believe that it is a prerequisite to being an effective Senator. The Senate, as a body, benefits from having Senators with varied backgrounds, not just geographical, but also professional and experiential.
Over the next decade it looks like recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, in a budgetary sense, will be our state's greatest challenge. This will be especially true if the Federal government fails to provide states the relief they require. There will be a political push to reduce services and funding for education among other necessities and it will be the job of like minded legislators to ensure that any changes in funding do not compromise the promises the government has made to the people.
In any legislative body where decisions are made through deliberative debate, having working and even friendly relationships with colleagues is beneficial. The better colleagues understand each other, and their respective backgrounds and communities, the easier it is for them to understand what tradeoffs are viable during legislative negotiations.
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
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 21, 2020
Current members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Joanna McClinton
Majority Leader:Kerry Benninghoff
Minority Leader:Jesse Topper
Representatives
District 1
Patrick Harkins (D)
District 2
Robert Merski (D)
District 3
Ryan Bizzarro (D)
District 4
Jake Banta (R)
District 5
Eric Weaknecht (R)
District 6
Bradley Roae (R)
District 7
Parke Wentling (R)
District 8
Aaron Bernstine (R)
District 9
Marla Brown (R)
District 10
Amen Brown (D)
District 11
Marci Mustello (R)
District 12
District 13
John Lawrence (R)
District 14
Roman Kozak (R)
District 15
Joshua Kail (R)
District 16
Robert Matzie (D)
District 17
Tim Bonner (R)
District 18
K.C. Tomlinson (R)
District 19
Aerion Abney (D)
District 20
Emily Kinkead (D)
District 21
Lindsay Powell (D)
District 22
Joshua Siegel (D)
District 23
Dan Frankel (D)
District 24
La'Tasha Mayes (D)
District 25
Brandon Markosek (D)
District 26
Paul Friel (D)
District 27
Daniel Deasy (D)
District 28
Jeremy Shaffer (R)
District 29
Tim Brennan (D)
District 30
Arvind Venkat (D)
District 31
Perry Warren (D)
District 32
Joe McAndrew (D)
District 33
Mandy Steele (D)
District 34
District 35
Dan Goughnour (D)
District 36
Jessica Benham (D)
District 37
Mindy Fee (R)
District 38
John Inglis (D)
District 39
Andrew Kuzma (R)
District 40
Natalie Mihalek (R)
District 41
Brett Miller (R)
District 42
Dan Miller (D)
District 43
Keith Greiner (R)
District 44
Valerie Gaydos (R)
District 45
Anita Kulik (D)
District 46
Jason Ortitay (R)
District 47
Joe D'Orsie (R)
District 48
Timothy O'Neal (R)
District 49
District 50
Bud Cook (R)
District 51
District 52
Ryan Warner (R)
District 53
Steven Malagari (D)
District 54
Greg Scott (D)
District 55
Jill Cooper (R)
District 56
Brian Rasel (R)
District 57
Eric Nelson (R)
District 58
Eric Davanzo (R)
District 59
Leslie Rossi (R)
District 60
Abby Major (R)
District 61
Liz Hanbidge (D)
District 62
James Struzzi (R)
District 63
Josh Bashline (R)
District 64
R. James (R)
District 65
Kathy Rapp (R)
District 66
Brian Smith (R)
District 67
Martin Causer (R)
District 68
Clint Owlett (R)
District 69
Carl Metzgar (R)
District 70
Matthew Bradford (D)
District 71
Jim Rigby (R)
District 72
Frank Burns (D)
District 73
Dallas Kephart (R)
District 74
Dan Williams (D)
District 75
Mike Armanini (R)
District 76
District 77
Scott Conklin (D)
District 78
Jesse Topper (R)
District 79
Louis Schmitt (R)
District 80
Scott Barger (R)
District 81
Richard Irvin (R)
District 82
Paul Takac (D)
District 83
Jamie Flick (R)
District 84
Joe Hamm (R)
District 85
David Rowe (R)
District 86
Perry Stambaugh (R)
District 87
Thomas Kutz (R)
District 88
Sheryl Delozier (R)
District 89
Rob Kauffman (R)
District 90
Chad Reichard (R)
District 91
Dan Moul (R)
District 92
Marc Anderson (R)
District 93
Mike Jones (R)
District 94
Wendy Fink (R)
District 95
Carol Hill-Evans (D)
District 96
Nikki Rivera (D)
District 97
Steven Mentzer (R)
District 98
Tom Jones (R)
District 99
David Zimmerman (R)
District 100
Bryan Cutler (R)
District 101
John Schlegel (R)
District 102
Russell Diamond (R)
District 103
Nate Davidson (D)
District 104
Dave Madsen (D)
District 105
Justin Fleming (D)
District 106
Thomas Mehaffie (R)
District 107
Joanne Stehr (R)
District 108
Michael Stender (R)
District 109
Robert Leadbeter (R)
District 110
Tina Pickett (R)
District 111
Jonathan Fritz (R)
District 112
Kyle Mullins (D)
District 113
Kyle Donahue (D)
District 114
District 115
Maureen Madden (D)
District 116
Dane Watro (R)
District 117
Jamie Walsh (R)
District 118
James Haddock (D)
District 119
Alec Ryncavage (R)
District 120
Brenda Pugh (R)
District 121
Eddie Pashinski (D)
District 122
Doyle Heffley (R)
District 123
Tim Twardzik (R)
District 124
Jamie Barton (R)
District 125
Joe Kerwin (R)
District 126
Jacklyn Rusnock (D)
District 127
Manuel Guzman (D)
District 128
Mark Gillen (R)
District 129
District 130
David Maloney (R)
District 131
Milou Mackenzie (R)
District 132
District 133
Jeanne McNeill (D)
District 134
Peter Schweyer (D)
District 135
Steve Samuelson (D)
District 136
Robert Freeman (D)
District 137
Joe Emrick (R)
District 138
Ann Flood (R)
District 139
Jeff Olsommer (R)
District 140
Jim Prokopiak (D)
District 141
Tina Davis (D)
District 142
Joseph Hogan (R)
District 143
Shelby Labs (R)
District 144
Brian Munroe (D)
District 145
Craig Staats (R)
District 146
Joseph Ciresi (D)
District 147
Donna Scheuren (R)
District 148
Mary Daley (D)
District 149
Tim Briggs (D)
District 150
Joseph Webster (D)
District 151
Melissa Cerrato (D)
District 152
Nancy Guenst (D)
District 153
Ben Sanchez (D)
District 154
Napoleon Nelson (D)
District 155
District 156
District 157
District 158
Christina Sappey (D)
District 159
Carol Kazeem (D)
District 160
Craig Williams (R)
District 161
Leanne Krueger (D)
District 162
David Delloso (D)
District 163
Heather Boyd (D)
District 164
Gina Curry (D)
District 165
Jennifer O'Mara (D)
District 166
Gregory Vitali (D)
District 167
Kristine Howard (D)
District 168
Lisa Borowski (D)
District 169
Kate Klunk (R)
District 170
Martina White (R)
District 171
District 172
Sean Dougherty (D)
District 173
District 174
Ed Neilson (D)
District 175
Mary Isaacson (D)
District 176
Jack Rader (R)
District 177
District 178
Kristin Marcell (R)
District 179
Jason Dawkins (D)
District 180
Jose Giral (D)
District 181
Malcolm Kenyatta (D)
District 182
Benjamin Waxman (D)
District 183
Zachary Mako (R)
District 184
District 185
Regina Young (D)
District 186
Jordan Harris (D)
District 187
Gary Day (R)
District 188
Rick Krajewski (D)
District 189
Tarah Probst (D)
District 190
Roni Green (D)
District 191
Joanna McClinton (D)
District 192
Morgan Cephas (D)
District 193
Torren Ecker (R)
District 194
Tarik Khan (D)
District 195
Keith Harris (D)
District 196
Seth Grove (R)
District 197
Danilo Burgos (D)
District 198
Darisha Parker (D)
District 199
Barbara Gleim (R)
District 200
Christopher Rabb (D)
District 201
Andre Carroll (D)
District 202
Jared Solomon (D)
District 203
Anthony Bellmon (D)
Democratic Party (102)
Republican Party (101)
