Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Robyn Colajezzi
Robyn Colajezzi (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to represent District 145. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Colajezzi completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Colajezzi grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She earned her bachelor's degree from Kutztown University in 1992. Her professional experience includes working as a marketing director.[1]
Organizations
As of her 2020 campaign, Colajezzi was affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- Director, Philadelphia Fire Department Foundation
- Auxiliary Police Officer, Quakertown Police Department
- Marketing & Fundraising, QPD K9 Unit
- Vice Chair Communications, Community Associations Institute
Elections
2020
See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 145
Incumbent Craig Staats defeated Robyn Colajezzi in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 145 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Craig Staats (R) | 59.7 | 22,482 |
 | Robyn Colajezzi (D)  | 40.3 | 15,203 | |
| Total votes: 37,685 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 145
Robyn Colajezzi advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 145 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Robyn Colajezzi | 100.0 | 6,328 |
| Total votes: 6,328 | |||
| = 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 145
Incumbent Craig Staats advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 145 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Craig Staats | 100.0 | 7,314 |
| Total votes: 7,314 | |||
| = 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
Robyn Colajezzi completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Colajezzi's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
"With a 28-year marketing career spanning radio, sports, entertainment and philanthropy," she says, "I have the business savvy and community awareness to make a real difference in Harrisburg." Robyn is not a career politician, but a successful businesswoman. Currently the Vice President of Marketing for SERVPRO of Upper Bucks/Germantown/Pennypack-Bustleton, Robyn attributes her business success to three traits.
"I'm a mover and shaker who is not afraid to take risks and stand up for what is right.
"I have the passion and perseverance to get things done in an environment as challenging as the legislature. "And - perhaps most important - I've mastered the art of listening. "I believe people are frustrated with politics because they feel their voice isn't being heard. As my campaign progresses, I'll talk with District residents about the issues that matter to them. I will also discuss how I might improve constituent services. Every voice matters!"
Robyn's key issues are lowering prescription drug costs, raising the minimum wage, education funding, helping small businesses, transportation, and being a voice for our Veterans, seniors, children, the mentally ill, and homeless. She will also advocate for equality and LGBTQ+ rights; and fight animal rights, & a clean, healthy environment.- Lowering prescription drug costs Robyn will start with price caps on insulin and other life-saving medications. She strongly believes that no Pennsylvanian should have to choose between buying food or paying for life saving medications. Her first priority will be to institute a $100 cap on the price of insulin.
- Raising the minimum wage Robyn wants to institute a minimum wage that equals a living wage. She believes that no American should work full time and still live in poverty. She recognizes the impossibility of supporting a family on $20,000 per year, particularly for single parents. She believes any full-time worker should not have to rely on government assistance to make ends meet.
- State Funding for Education Pennsylvania ranks a shameful 44th in the nation for the share of education funding the state government contributes. Funding public and special education schools should be everyone's priority to invest in our future. A good education should not be an entitlement or a privilege. Robyn believes all children deserve a proper education and plans to focus on state funding to help lower the consequential high property taxes many people face today.
Currently however, I am MOST passionate about bringing our community back together. One of the reasons I decided to leave the private, corporate world and apply myself to public service, was because our country has become so divided that it keeps me up at night. I truly believe we all want the same things in life: to work hard, to be able to pay our bills, to put food on our tables, to save some money, to take a vacation here or there, to give our children a better life than we've had, to not have to worry about our health and well-being if tragedy struck, to know that our government and elected officials have our backs. We can all agree on this much but yet we find friends, families, and neighbors divided in their political beliefs. For longer than I have been alive, our country has had more moderate leaders who believed in these same principles, and I want to be a change in the political system by representing all of my constituents, regardless of party affiliation, or lack of. Together we can do better.
That was also the year my father, an immigrant from the Ukraine, became a US Citizen. I can remember trying to understand what this meant but I was very proud to announce it in my Social Studies class, repeatedly. I couldn't quite understand it all and my young imagination was fueled by my Baba's (grandmother) horror stories. It took her almost 9 years to make it to America, with a young toddler (my dad) and then another child (my aunt) in tow.
That year I learned that freedom wasn't easy nor something we all have or are born into. That year I learned, though I didn't quite comprehend it until I was much older, that my dad and his family were forced to leave their home, their country, their family to escape the injustices the Ukrainians were under by the Russians. They hid in people's basements. They were once forced to live in a 'concentration' type camp and the horrors she told me, I can't repeat here. My dad and his mother were separated from my real grandfather and he was presumed dead. My Baba remarried the man I grew up knowing as my Dido and he gave my father his name so that they could escape Europe more easily as a 'family'. Their journey took them to Poland, Germany, England, and finally on a ship to America to seek asylum, find peace, and hopefully opportunity.
In high school, I rebelled against the family business and took a 'cool' job at Macy's Department Store as a cashier. That was a short-lived venture because, well let's face it, it wasn't family. After high school, being a first-generation American, I was the first member of my family who wanted to graduate from a 4-year University. This was not perceived well, as secondary education cost money that my family didn't have. I attempted to enter the 'work force' as an Executive Secretary to the General Manager of a large Hotel. It was her inspiration that confirmed my deep desires to further my education, and within 6 months I left to attend college.
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
