Richard Sterner

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Richard Sterner

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Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, 1977

Graduate

Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, 1995

Personal

Religion

Lutheran

Profession

Teacher/Principal

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Personal Facebook

Richard Sterner (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Pennsylvania State Senate to represent District 33. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

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

Biography

Richard Sterner earned both an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree from Shippensburg University. His professional experience includes working as a social studies teacher, as a middle school principal, and as a high school principal. Sterner has served as the vice president of the Bermudian Springs School District school board.

Elections

2020

See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 33

Incumbent Doug Mastriano defeated Richard Sterner in the general election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 33 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doug Mastriano (R)	68.6	96,097
	Submit photo	Richard Sterner (D)	31.4	43,914

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 140,011
= 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 33

Richard Sterner advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 33 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Richard Sterner	100.0	16,722

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 16,722
= 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 33

Incumbent Doug Mastriano advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 33 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doug Mastriano	100.0	34,301

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 34,301
= 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

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

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Rich Sterner grew up in Western PA outside of Pittsburgh. Go Steelers! He graduated from Belle Vernon Area High School (BVA) and worked full-time on a dairy farm during the summer. Rich attended Shippensburg State College and graduated in 1977 with an Elementary Education degree. After college Rich started working in the restaurant industry. In 1989 he decided to return to Shippensburg to get his secondary education certification in Social Studies (History). In 1990 Rich was hired by Upper Adams School District as a history teacher. In 1994 Rich became the first Middle School Principal in Upper Adams. Then in 1997 Rich became Principal of Biglerville High School where he remained until his retirement in 2015. Although he is retired Rich is not done yet. He became a member of the Bermudian Springs School Board the summer of 2018 and six months later elected as Vice President of the school board. He continues in that role but now has decided to work for us. Help us elect Rich as our PA Senator for District 33.

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?

• We need to show compassion for our fellow man. LEADERSHIP, INTEGRITY, COMPASSION, and HONOR should be the corner stone of our society, our communities, and our neighborhoods. We are all responsible for each other.
• EDUCATION Eliminate standardized testing Create an evaluation system based on actual data such as graduation rates and success beyond graduation Fund charter schools, and cyber charter schools by need, and NOT for profit, and hold them accountable Provide equitable and fair funding for all PA public schools, while maintaining a high standard of local control.
• SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS Work in a bipartisan way to PASS LEGISLATION THAT PROTECTS ALL OF US Require safety education for all gun owners Regulate, DON'T confiscate.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

HEALTHCARE

Protect EACH PERSON'S ability to receive health care

Maintain insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions

Reduce costs for prescription drugs

Address mental health and addiction issues

Promote healthcare education

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

There are several books that come to mind. Stephen Covey's SEVEN HABITS book. It's one of the first mind shaping books I read. James Collins, GOOD TO GREAT is another book that helps makes us think about pushing our limits. There are many others but this is just off the top of my head. BUT for sure every politician should read Joshua Chamberlain's speech to 2nd Maine men in the book KILLER ANGELS by Micheal Shaara.

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

Honesty, compassion, common sense. An elected official must not only serve his or her constituents but they must also balance those views with knowledge of the subject, and utilizing their own good judgment.

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

First, I am an EDUCATIONAL EXPERT. My knowledge and time spent working in and running schools will be invaluable not only to me but also to the people of Pennsylvania. I also will bring compassion to the position, something that I think has been missing in Harrisburg.

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

To learn, to listen and respect all points of view. One must also be "present". By that I mean, for example, if someone is talking with me I am listening with my eyes, my ears, whole being. I'm not looking at my phone or thinking about lunch. I'm 100% present with the person or people talking to me.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I was able to raise the level of discourse and get things done for the betterment of Pennsylvania.

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

My first job was working FULL-TIME on a local dairy farm. I worked 6 days a week from 9AM to about 7PM Monday through Saturday during the summer months. Every day I cleaned the barn, I put down fresh bedding. I also learned to bail hay, sit on a combine to bring in oats and barley. I can load a silo with grass or corn silage. (And unload a silo to feed cows!). But the most important thing I learned to do was milk about 30 cows each evening ... on my own! This may have been the job that influenced my growing up the most!!!

What is your favorite book? Why?

ILLUSIONS by Richard Bach
This is the same author that wrote Jonathon Livingston Seagull. The second title to ILLUSIONS is THE ADVENTURES OF A RELUCTANT MESSIAH. If one would learn or read nothing else in this book .... there is one quote attributed to the Reluctant Messiah, "We teach best what we most need to learn." This is one of the most profound statements I've ever read or better yet LEARNED!!!

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

President Jeb Bartlet from the TV Show WEST WING. He knew just what to say.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

The most difficult thing that I have ever had to deal with is student deaths. In my time as both a middle school and high school principal I had to deal with 18 student deaths, 3 of which were suicides. Handling the immediate shock and fallout of a student death is almost incomprehensible. The shock, trying to comfort both students, AND STAFF! What to do with the empty desk, the unattended locker, the empty parking space ..... I could probably write a book on this issue and it still wouldn't be enough.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

At this point, our biggest challenge is to restore public confidence in our government both here at home and over seas. When talking to my November opponent to this Senate seat I made this comment (and he agreed), "We will raise the level of discourse in our campaigns." We need this in a very bad way.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other senators?

Absolutely. As with any position if you want to get things done you have to work together to make it happen. You can ask anyone that I have ever worked for, with, over, ...... I have a knack for bringing people together.

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

Anything Education

Insurance/Healthcare

Labor

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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)