Continuing with our coverage of new Members of Congress, this week we profile new Members from Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
The sole new Member of Congress from Ohio is Republican Anthony Gonzalez in the state's Sixteenth Congressional District. He replaced Republican Rep. Jim Renacci, who unsuccessfully ran for senate. Rep. Gonzalez was a professional football player. His father also owns a steel company. While stressing more local control in education during the campaign, Rep. Gonzalez also spoke about "need[ing] to promote policies that will encourage the private sector to work directly with . . . community colleges and trade schools to ensure that the skills being cultivated are those that are in the highest demand in our regional economy." He also specifically spoke about expanding CTE and STEM opportunities.
In Oklahoma's Fifth Congressional District, Democrat Kendra Horn defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Steve Russell. Horn is a lawyer by trade who has also worked in government and for the Space Foundation. During the campaign, Rep. Horn pledged to "expand[] job training," and focus on college affordability issues. She also highlighted the state's CTE system and noted the critical role it plays in addressing the skills gap in Oklahoma.
Prior to the 2018 election, many of Pennsylvanian's congressional districts were redrawn. In Pennsylvania's new Fourth Congressional District, Democrat Madeleine Dean was elected. She is a lawyer who previously served in the state legislature, and was also a college English professor for more than a decade. In the state's Fifth Congressional District, Democrat Mary Scanlon was elected. Rep. Scanlon is a lawyer whose career included working at the Education Law Center of Philadelphia, where she focused on special education law. She also served as president, an elected position, on her local school district. She pledged during the campaign to ensure "job training programs are fully funded" and to "develop innovative solutions to make higher education, including career and technical education, more accessible and affordable."
In Pennsylvania's Sixth Congressional District, Democrat Christina Houlahan was elected. Rep. Houlahan served as a Teach for America teacher and worked at a nonprofit aimed at addressing childhood literacy. In the state's Ninth Congressional District, Republican Daniel Meuser was elected. A businessman, Rep. Meuser previously served as president of a motorized wheelchair manufacturer. The only education-related position on his website is related to school property taxes, which he calls "un-American and unconstitutional." He claimed he would introduce a bill in Congress to forbid states/locals from imposing such taxes. Lastly, in the state's Thirteenth Congressional District, Republican John Joyce was elected. Rep. Joyce is a dermatologist by training, but did not list any education issues on his website.
In South Carolina's First Congressional District, Democrat Joe Cunningham defeated Republican state legislator Katie Arrington, who herself defeated incumbent Rep. Mark Sanford in a primary. Rep. Cunningham is an ocean engineer and attorney by trade. In the state's Fourth Congressional District, Republican William Timmons replaced incumbent Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, who retired. An entrepreneur, Rep. Timmons owns several fitness studios and his own law practice. Neither Reps. Cunningham nor Timmons mentioned education issues on their websites.
You can find the sixth edition of new Member profiles here. Stay tuned for next week's recap of New Members of Congress, which will cover South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.
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