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Russell Diamond

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Russell Diamond
Image of Russell Diamond
Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102
Tenure

2014 - Present

Term ends

2026

Years in position

10

Compensation

Base salary

$106,422.33/year

Per diem

$185/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Personal
Birthplace
Hershey, Pa.
Religion
Methodist
Profession
Business owner
Contact

Russell Diamond (Republican Party) is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing District 102. He assumed office on December 1, 2014. His current term ends on November 30, 2026.

Diamond (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to represent District 102. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Diamond completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Russell Diamond was born in Hershey, Pennsylvania. His career experience includes working as a business owner.[1]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Diamond was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Diamond was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Diamond was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Pennsylvania committee assignments, 2017
Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Gaming Oversight
Local Government
Tourism & Recreational Development

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Diamond served on the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102

Incumbent Russell Diamond won election in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Russell Diamond
Russell Diamond (R) Candidate Connection
 
94.8
 
27,886
 Other/Write-in votes
 
5.2
 
1,516

Total votes: 29,402
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

No Democratic candidates ran in the primary.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102

Incumbent Russell Diamond defeated Rachel Moyer in the Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 on April 23, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Russell Diamond
Russell Diamond Candidate Connection
 
65.0
 
5,782
Rachel Moyer Candidate Connection
 
34.6
 
3,083
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.4
 
35

Total votes: 8,900
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign finance

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Diamond in this election.

2022

State Senate

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102

Incumbent Russell Diamond defeated Laura Quick in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Russell Diamond
Russell Diamond (R)
 
70.1
 
19,142
Image of Laura Quick
Laura Quick (D)
 
29.9
 
8,170

Total votes: 27,312
Candidate Connection = 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 102

Laura Quick advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 on May 17, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Laura Quick
Laura Quick
 
100.0
 
3,125

Total votes: 3,125
Candidate Connection = 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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102

Incumbent Russell Diamond advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 on May 17, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Russell Diamond
Russell Diamond
 
100.0
 
9,267

Total votes: 9,267
Candidate Connection = 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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Campaign finance

Lieutenant Governor

See also: Pennsylvania gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania

Austin Davis defeated Carrie DelRosso, Timothy McMaster, Michael Bagdes-Canning, and Nicole Shultz in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Austin Davis
Austin Davis (D)
 
56.5
 
3,031,137
Image of Carrie DelRosso
Carrie DelRosso (R)
 
41.7
 
2,238,477
Image of Timothy McMaster
Timothy McMaster (L) Candidate Connection
 
1.0
 
51,611
Image of Michael Bagdes-Canning
Michael Bagdes-Canning (G)
 
0.5
 
24,436
Image of Nicole Shultz
Nicole Shultz (Keystone Party of Pennsylvania) Candidate Connection
 
0.4
 
20,518

Total votes: 5,366,179
Candidate Connection = 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 Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania

Austin Davis defeated Brian Sims and Ray Sosa in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania on May 17, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Austin Davis
Austin Davis
 
63.0
 
768,141
Image of Brian Sims
Brian Sims
 
25.1
 
305,959
Image of Ray Sosa
Ray Sosa Candidate Connection
 
11.9
 
145,228

Total votes: 1,219,328
Candidate Connection = 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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania on May 17, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Carrie DelRosso
Carrie DelRosso
 
25.6
 
318,970
Image of Rick Saccone
Rick Saccone
 
15.7
 
195,774
Image of Teddy Daniels
Teddy Daniels
 
12.1
 
150,935
Image of Clarice Schillinger
Clarice Schillinger
 
11.9
 
148,442
Image of Jeff Coleman
Jeff Coleman
 
10.1
 
126,072
Image of James Jones
James Jones Candidate Connection
 
9.1
 
113,966
Image of Russell Diamond
Russell Diamond
 
6.0
 
74,265
Image of John Brown
John Brown
 
4.8
 
59,267
Image of Chris Frye
Chris Frye
 
4.7
 
58,752

Total votes: 1,246,443
Candidate Connection = 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2020

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102

Incumbent Russell Diamond defeated Matthew Duvall in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Russell Diamond
Russell Diamond (R)
 
70.2
 
23,197
Image of Matthew Duvall
Matthew Duvall (D) Candidate Connection
 
29.8
 
9,845

Total votes: 33,042
Candidate Connection = 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 102

Matthew Duvall advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 on June 2, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Matthew Duvall
Matthew Duvall Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
3,546

Total votes: 3,546
Candidate Connection = 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 102

Incumbent Russell Diamond advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 on June 2, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Russell Diamond
Russell Diamond
 
100.0
 
8,245

Total votes: 8,245
Candidate Connection = 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

2018

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102

Incumbent Russell Diamond won election in the general election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Russell Diamond
Russell Diamond (R)
 
100.0
 
17,966

Total votes: 17,966
Candidate Connection = 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 102

Incumbent Russell Diamond advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 on May 15, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Russell Diamond
Russell Diamond
 
100.0
 
4,957

Total votes: 4,957
Candidate Connection = 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.

2016

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on April 26, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was February 16, 2016.

Incumbent Russell Diamond defeated Jacob Long in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 general election.[2][3]

Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102, General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Russell Diamond Incumbent 69.91% 19,858
     Democratic Jacob Long 30.09% 8,549
Total Votes 28,407
Source: Pennsylvania Department of State


Jacob Long ran unopposed in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 Democratic primary.[4][5]

Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 102 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Jacob Long  (unopposed)


Incumbent Russell Diamond defeated Thomas Houtz in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102 Republican primary.[4][5]

Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 102 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Russell Diamond Incumbent 55.52% 6,200
     Republican Thomas Houtz 44.48% 4,968
Total Votes 11,168

2014

See also: Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 11, 2014. Russell Diamond was unopposed in the Republican primary. Joseph Eisenhauer (R) was removed from the ballot on March 27, 2014, and Wanda Bechtold (R) was removed on April 2, 2014. Diamond defeated write-in candidate Jake Long (D) and Robert McAteer (McAteer For House) in the general election.[6][7][8]

Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 102 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngRussell Diamond 48% 7,668
     Democratic Jake Long 27.8% 4,446
     Independent Robert McAteer 24.2% 3,861
Total Votes 15,975

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Russell Diamond completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Diamond's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Russ is a life-long resident of Lebanon County. He graduated from Northern Lebanon High School and Lebanon County Vo-Tech in 1981. He entered the workforce as a production laborer at O'Sullivan Corporation in Lebanon, and seven years later pursued his dream of becoming a working musician.

In 1992, his passion for music led him to open a small recording studio in Lebanon. The business subsequently gained regional acclaim and was transformed into the nationally known CD and manufacturing and duplicating service known as Raintree Multimedia.

Prior to being elected to office, Russ was a well-known and highly effective government reform advocate, leading the charge against the infamous midnight pay raise of 2005. His organization recruited over 110 candidates for the General Assembly, the largest such effort in state history by a non-partisan organization.

His group also led the charge in the first-ever non-retention of a PA Supreme Court Justice, which cleared a path for Republicans to take the majority on the Court in 2007.

He was named one of three Citizens of the Year by the Philadelphia Inquirer for his work in 2006. Later that same year, Russ received the Public Service Achievement Award from Common Cause of Pennsylvania and was named Communicator of the Year by the Harrisburg chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.

First elected to the General Assembly in 2015, Russ introduced a bill to bring industiral hemp back
  • First, a good legislator needs to know their district. Russ has lived his entire life in the 102nd District. His instinctive knowledge of Lebanon County attitudes and traditions is very instructive to his legislative duties.

    Second, a good legislator needs to know Pennsylvania as a whole. Russ has crisscrossed the Commonwealth on 6 separate occasions during his campaigns as an award-winning citizen activist and candidate over the last 20 years.

    Finally, a good legislator needs to know the legislative process. Russ authored bills that were introduced word for word by other lawmakers long before he was elected to be a state legislator himself in 2014.
  • In 2005, Russ spoke the truth about the midnight pay raise and helped change Pennsylvania for the better. In 2014, he spoke the truth about bogus smear campaigns & character attacks and won a seat in the General Assembly. And in 2020, he spoke the truth about Tom Wolf’s Covid lockdowns and helped change Pennsylvania for the better again. In all of those instances, Diamond stood for the truth despite knowing that many would criticize him for taking such a stand. But each time, events proved he was on the right side of history.
  • Russ’s re-election in 2024 could prove to be very meaningful for Lebanon County. The county has not been represented on the House Republican leadership team since the late H. Jack Seltzer’s retirement as Speaker of the House over 40 years ago. As the state’s second-fastest growing county, a potential leadership role for Diamond based on his experience and positive relationships with colleagues would be very significant for our county’s future.
Medical freedom, property taxes, defending firearms rights, pro-life, election integrity.
Integrity, accessibility, transparency and solid core values.
To defend individual rights while striving for common sense public policy and fiscal responsibility.
A governor should faithfully execute the laws the legislature has approved and work in partnership with members of the General Assembly, rather than serving from an isolated ivory tower.
Dealing with the lingering social issues rooted in Covid lockdowns and with an aging population. Reducing red tape and regulatory strangulation for new business ventures. Retaining young educated Pennsylvanians and creating an economic landscape that will entice them to remain in the Commonwealth to work and raise their families.
There is a lot to be said for experience and institutional knowledge. In Pennsylvania a lot of state investment depends on who is serving in legislative leadership, unfortunately, so having an experienced local legislator on the leadership team can be beneficial to a region.
Absolutely. In politics, business, and everyday life nothing gets done without relationships. Having healthy personal relationships even with people who you disagree with on most public policy issues can be key to getting things accomplished.
A constituent recently relayed that after Russ presented a Leadership Award to her son prior to him entering high school, it inspired him to later graduate as President of the class, member of the National Honor Society, Student of the Month, three-sport triathlete, while winning many academic awards.
Absolutely. Russ led the legislative charge to keep Governor Tom Wolf in check during Covid. His legislation to terminate the governor's disaster emergency was introduced just 11 days after he declared it and Russ witnessed some very questionable executive decisions. It took 462 days, many legislative battles, a Supreme Court challenge, and two constitutional amendments to win that battle, but it was worth the fight. As a result, Pennsylvania was the only state in the nation to reduce its governor's emergency powers via constitutional change.
Russ has many bills in the system now that he would re-introduce at the first available opportunity if they are not successfully passed in this legislative session.
Lebanon County Republican Committee, NFIB, FOAC
Currently the Chairman of the Gaming Oversight Committee, but also have experience on the State Government, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Finance, Tourism, Liquor, Local Government, and Human Services Committees.

Russ is the House Republican designee to the Joint State Government Commission's Election Law Advisory Board.
Transparency and accountability are critical, and and already available to the people. Russ is always open to suggestions of ways to enhance both.

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.

2022

Russell Diamond did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Russell Diamond did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Russell Diamond did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Russell Diamond campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102Won general$85,073 $82,427
2022Lieutenant Governor of PennsylvaniaLost primary$64,640 $41,699
2022Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102Won general$0 $0
2020Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102Won general$34,360 N/A**
2018Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102Won general$24,975 N/A**
2016Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 102Won $23,499 N/A**
2014Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 102Won $26,394 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Pennsylvania

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Pennsylvania scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024


2023


2022


2021


2020


2018


2017


2016


2015



See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 102
2014-Present
Succeeded by
-


Leadership
Speaker of the House:Joanna McClinton
Majority Leader:Kerry Benninghoff
Minority Leader:Jesse Topper
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Ann Flood (R)
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