Jacqueline Crahalla

Jacqueline Crahalla
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 150th district
In office
January 7, 2003[1] – November 30, 2006[2]
Preceded by John A. Lawless
Succeeded by Mike Vereb
Constituency Part of Montgomery County
Personal details
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Benjamin R. Crahalla
Residence Audubon, Pennsylvania
Alma mater Gwynedd Mercy College
Occupation Legislator (retired)

Jacqueline R. Crahalla is a former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

She is a 1958 graduate of Collingswood High School in Collingswood, New Jersey.[3] She worked in Merck Sharp & Dohme and other corporations before retiring to "stay home and raise a family".[4] During that time, she worked part-time as a columnist for a local newspaper.[4] After 10 years, she returned to Merck and earned her degree in English and communications as a non-traditional student at Gwynedd Mercy College in 1993.[3][4] She transferred to a new company, Astra Merck, which was a joint venture of between Merck and Astra, where Crahalla worked to create the Corporate Contributions department.[4] After several corporate mergers, she chose to retire rather than relocate to Wilmington, Delaware.[4] She served as township supervisor in Lower Providence Township, Pennsylvania for five years.[4]

In the 2002 election, Crahalla challenged Republican-turned-Democrat incumbent John A. Lawless in the newly re-drawn 150th legislative district.[5] The new configuration was intentionally drawn to handicap Lawless as punishment from Lawless' former caucus.[5] In September 2002, Lawless profanely berated a Lower Providence Township police officer, the [6] That November, Crahalla defeated Lawless by razor thin 168 vote margin.[7] Following the loss, Lawless destroyed many constituent-related documents, rather than surrender them to Crahalla.[8]

In 2005, James T. Stewart, Crahalla's former chief of staff who was fired and indicted in Montgomery County for stealing $15,000 in campaign money, filed an ethics complaint against his former boss, telling the state State Ethics Commission and Judicial Conduct Board that he was "routinely required to perform political and campaign-related work" in Crahalla's district office.[9][10] The complaint also alleged that Crahalla's husband, a magistrate judge violated judicial conduct rules by handling her campaign donations.[11]

In January 2006, Crahalla announced her retirement, effective following the 2006 election, stating that her decision was to "spend more time with family" and that it had nothing to do with Stewart's accusations.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "SESSION OF 2003 - 187TH OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - No. 1" (PDF). Legislative Journal. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 2003-01-07.
  2. ↑ Per Article II, Section 2 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, the legislative session ended on November 30, 2006
  3. 1 2 "Jacqueline R. Crahalla (Republican)". Official Pennsylvania House of Representatives Profile. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 2006-01-10.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Profile". Official Pennsylvania Republican Caucus Biography. Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus. Archived from the original on 2006-08-12.
  5. 1 2 M.R. Bull, John (2001-09-26). "Redistricting zaps Mayernik, Kaiser; Bodack's Senate seat kept intact". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. PG Publishing.
  6. ↑ "Report: Lawless rebuked officer after stop, The lawmaker says he swore at the patrolman, but denies a threat to stop helping Lower Providence police get Pa. aid.". Philadelphia Inquirer. 2002-09-18. "State Rep. John Lawless (D., Montgomery) berated a Lower Providence police officer who stopped him for a minor traffic violation and later threatened the police chief with a loss of state funds for the department, according to an internal police document. According to the five-page document detailing the incident, Lawless used vulgar language, suggested to Officer Mark Wells that he "should be out looking for real criminals," and later made a veiled threat about..."
  7. ↑ "2002 General Election - Representative in the General Assembly". Commonwealth of PA - Elections Information. Pennsylvania Department of State. 2004.
  8. ↑ Dobo, Nichole (2002-11-15). "Lawless destroys files and disappears after loss, opponent says". The Daily Collegian. University Par, Pennsylvania.
  9. 1 2 Lowe, Benjamin Y.; Mario F. Cattabiani (2006-01-04). "A retirement, but no exodus of lawmakers.". Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2006-01-04.
  10. ↑ "Crahalla named in complaint". Philadelphia Inquirer. 2005-05-07.
  11. ↑ "Former Aide Says State Rep. Broke Campaign Rules". Bucks County Courier Times. Levittown, Pennsylvania. 2005-05-07.
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