Wednesday, April 12, 2006

More on 12th State Senate

I wrote earlier about the three candidates running for the 12th state senate seat. Incumbent Republican Stewart Greenleaf faces a primary challenge from Kathy Mendla.

In addition, Democrat Jeff Albert has officially thrown his hat into the ring. (press release here on politicspa). Here is his bio:

Jeff Albert, a 17 year resident of Upper Dublin Township, is 59 years
old. He is a shareholder in the Philadelphia and Bucks County law firm of McKissock & Hoffman, P.C. He has been married for thirty-four years. His wife, Karen, is director of library services at Fox Chase Cancer Center. They have two adult children, both of whom graduated from Upper Dublin High School.

Albert is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, cum laude with honors in political science, and of Harvard Law School.

Since 1971 he has practiced law in Pennsylvania, devoting his practice to commercial trial work and, more recently, to representation of attorneys on professional matters, including ethics.

Albert has served as chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Professional Liability Committee, where he spearheaded the successful effort to require attorneys to disclose to clients if they do not maintain professional liability insurance coverage. He has been recognized by national and state publications for the quality of his legal services, including Best Lawyers in America and Philadelphia Magazine's Super Lawyers, and by the Pennsylvania Bar Association for his efforts in educating attorneys on improving their professional services. For 13 years he authored a monthly column advising Pennsylvania attorneys on how to avoid committing legal malpractice, and he has lectured throughout the Commonwealth on that and other legal
topics.

When the Alberts lived in Warminster, they helped found Bucks County Common Cause, the local chapter of the state's governmental reform group.

Before moving to Upper Dublin in 1989, Albert served as an Abington Township Commissioner, and was chair of the former Jewish Community Relations Council of Eastern Montgomery County. Later, he was a member of Montgomery County Commissioners' task force on fiscal responsibility in county government. Albert has twice served on Upper Dublin's ward realignment commission, and he challenged (and argued before the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court) the 2001 gerrymanders of State House and congressional districts.

Albert has served as chair or treasurer of Joe Hoeffel's political campaigns. He has also chaired the Upper Dublin Democratic Committee.

He also appeared on the Democratic Party's national response to a State of the Union address and run as a presidential delegate to the Democratic National Convention for then U.S. Senator Al Gore.

5 comments:

ACM said...

I'm a little confused -- isn't the date for new candidates way past? can somebody enter now, or did he file a month ago like everybody else and then just decide to *announce* it now?

??

AboveAvgJane said...

He doesn't have a primary opponent so he's just officially announcing now, or re-accouncing as the case may be.

Anonymous said...

Albert sounds good, but Greenleaf isn't a bomb-throwing Republican and seems to represent his constituents' mixed political views well. Greenleaf is going to be tough to beat by any challenger.

AboveAvgJane said...

phillydem, you are right that it will be an uphill battle, but I always like to see a horserace.

Unknown said...

Hi

I'm one of the people helping to provide the "horserace". I'm Kathy Mendla's husband and Campaign Manager.

Mr. Albert will be on the November ballot as the Democratic Candidate since he is the only candidate ont he Democratic Ticket.

The name on the Republican ticket in November will depend on the outcome of the May 16th Republican Primary.

Kathy is a fiscal conservative and social moderate. She is committed to representing all of the 12th District constituents. You can easily find her website by googling Kathy Mendla. There is a link there to her blog. We welcome any and all comments there. Also, you will see that she has been active in trying to reign in overdevelopment and in promoting open space.

Two of her major issues are the incumbent's pay raise and the way it was done and the lack of sunshine in the proceedings at harrisburg.


thanks for listening
Chris Mendla