Charles Wieder Dent (born May 24, 1960) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for from 2005 to 2018. Born in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

, Dent worked in a variety of occupations after graduating from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. He earned a master's degree in public administration from

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

and served as an aide to Congressman Donald L. Ritter. From 1991 to 2004, he served in the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvani ...

. In 2004, Dent won election to the United States House of Representatives, succeeding

Pat Toomey Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. represen ...

. In the House, Dent became a member of the centrist

Republican Main Street Partnership The Republican Main Street Partnership is a nonprofit organization that was founded to raise funds to support politicians in the moderate wing of the Republican Party. As of 2024, the organization seems to be leaning away from its original cent ...

and the

Tuesday Group The Republican Governance Group, originally the Tuesday Lunch Bunch and then the Tuesday Group until 2020, is a group of moderate Republicans in the United States House of Representatives. It was founded in 1994 in the wake of the Republican ta ...

. He became co-chair of the Tuesday Group in 2007. He served on the House Committee on Appropriations, and previously chaired the

House Ethics Committee The U.S. House Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Before the 112th Congress, it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. ...

. In September 2017, Dent announced that he would retire from Congress and not seek re-election to another term in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. In April 2018, Dent announced that he would retire in May 2018, not serving out the remainder of his term. He resigned on May 12, 2018, leaving the seat vacant.

Early life and education

Dent was born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the son of Marjorie L. (née Wieder) and Walter R. Dent. He is of German, English, and Irish descent. Dent is a 1978 graduate of Allentown's

William Allen High School William Allen High School, often referred to as Allen High School or simply Allen, is one of two large, urban state school, public secondary education in the United States, high schools of the Allentown School District in Allentown, Pennsylvania. ...

. He received a bachelor's in international politics from

in 1982, and a masters in public administration from

in 1993. He is a member of

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1852. The fraternity has over ninety chapters at accredited four-year colleges and uni ...

Career

Prior to pursuing elected office, Dent worked as a development officer at Lehigh University, an industrial electronics salesman, a hotel clerk, and an aide to U.S. Representative Donald L. Ritter.

Pennsylvania legislature

Before being elected to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, Dent was a member of the

State Legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

for 14 years. He represented Pennsylvania's 132nd

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

district from 1991 to 1999 after unseating Democratic incumbent Jack Pressman in a heavily Democratic district in 1990. In 1998, Dent won an open 16th District Senate seat when Democrat Roy Afflerbach, who later served as Mayor of Allentown from 2002 to 2006, retired to take up an ultimately unsuccessful bid for Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2004

Dent was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2004, succeeding Pat Toomey, who gave up his seat to challenge

Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...

for the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

. He defeated Democrat Joe Driscoll 59%–39%.

2006

He won re-election 54%–44% against Charles Dertinger.

2008

He won re-election 59%–41% against Allentown Democratic Party Chairman Sam Bennett.

2010

Dent won re-election against

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

Mayor John Callahan with 54% of the vote, the smallest percent of the vote he received in any of his election campaigns.

2012

Dent defeated Democrat Rick Daugherty, the Chairman of the Lehigh County Democratic Party, 57%–43%.

2014

Dent won re-election unopposed.

2016

Dent defeated Daugherty in a rematch, 58%–38%.

Tenure

Dent is a moderate Republican. The non-partisan ''

National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes ...

'' gave Dent a composite ideological rating of 62% conservative and 38% liberal in 2013. The ''National Journal'' considered Dent to be one of the three most moderate Republicans in that year.

GovTrack GovTrack.us is a website developed by then-student Joshua Tauberer. It is based in Washington, D.C., and was launched as a hobby. It enables its users to track the bills and members of the United States Congress. Users can add trackers to certain ...

placed Dent near the ideological center of the House of Representatives; the liberal

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

gave him a rating of 35% and the fiscally conservative

United States Chamber of Commerce The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is a business association advocacy group and is the largest lobbying group in the United States. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urging of President Will ...

gave him a 95% rating. Dent was ranked as the 47th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the

114th United States Congress The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from Ja ...

(and the fourth most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania) in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy that ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring the frequency each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member's co-sponsorship of bills by members of the opposite party). In 2014, Dent introduced a bill to give states more flexibility in how they provide health insurance to children from families between 100 and 133 percent of the

federal poverty level In the United States, poverty has both social and political implications. Based on poverty measures used by the Census Bureau (which exclude non-cash factors such as food stamps or medical care or public housing), America had 37 million peop ...

, according to '' The Ripon Advance''. The Next Generation Choices Foundation selected Dent to be the Elsie Hillman Speaker at their annual National Cancer Prevention Day event in 2016 in recognition of his efforts to support legislation related to cancer prevention. Before retiring, Dent voted in line with President Trump's position on legislation 93% of the time. After announcing his retirement during late 2017, he said that dealing with the "freewheeling president" became "exhausting". According to '' The Hill'', he said "disorder, chaos, instability, uncertainty, intemperate statements" were not "conservative virtues". He delivered a farewell speech on May 10, and resigned on May 12, 2018, leaving the seat vacant.

Political positions

Social policy

In April 2011, after admitting that it was highly controversial, Dent voted along with the other Republican members of the House for a budget bill that would have abolished government-run Medicare. It proposed to make senior citizens purchase individual private health insurance using vouchers that would have covered only a part of their costs. The

Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. I ...

found that privatizing Medicare under this plan would significantly increase the out-of-pocket costs to seniors; by 2030, the out-of-pocket share for standard medical expenses paid by a typical 65-year-old would have risen to 68% under the Republican plan, as opposed to 25% under the then existing Medicare system. The CBO found that the Republican bill would also have increased the budget deficit for at least a decade. Dent voted against the 2007 Re-authorization of the

Children's Health Insurance Program The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – formerly known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) – is a program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides matching funds to ...

(CHIP). Dent consistently opposed the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

, commonly known as Obamacare. However he broke with his party and voted against one of the Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare in 2017. As a Republican who represented a district with Democratic leanings, he occasionally crossed party lines on legislation. On the issue of abortion and reproductive health care, Dent is a

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their ...

Republican. In 2018,

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

, which supports legal access to abortion and birth control, gave Dent a 41% lifetime score for voting with their positions and the

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

National Right to Life Committee The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is the oldest and largest national anti-abortion organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide. Since the 1980s, NRLC has influenc ...

, which opposes legal abortion, gave him a 50% rating in the same year. He co-sponsored legislation to fund embryonic stem-cell research and was one of the Republicans who broke with their party to support the use of embryos in research. Dent supported same-sex marriage. He cosponsored the

Employment Non-Discrimination Act The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation or, depending on the version of the bill, gender i ...

which would have banned employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and he voted to allow foreign same-sex partners to receive green cards. The

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for L ...

, which supports same-sex marriage and LGBT rights, gave him a 68% for their legislative scorecard. In December 2010, Dent was one of fifteen Republican House members to vote in favor of repealing the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

's "

Don't Ask, Don't Tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on Sexual orientation in the United States military, military service of homosexual people. Instituted during the Presidency of Bill Clinton, Clinton administration, the pol ...

" ban on

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

service members.Chris Geidner
House Passes DADT Repeal Bill
, ''

Metro Weekly ''Metro Weekly'' is a free weekly magazine for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) community in Washington, D.C., United States. It was first published on May 5, 1994. ''Metro Weekly'' includes national and local news, intervi ...

'' (December 15, 2010).House Vote 638 – Repeals 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', December 15, 2010.

Citizenship and immigration

In April 2010, Dent introduced a resolution urging the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

to issue a Certificate of Loss of Nationality to

Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki (; April 21 or 22, 1971September 30, 2011) was an American-Yemeni lecturer assassinated Drone strikes in Yemen, in Yemen in 2011 by a U.S. government drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki was th ...

. He said al-Awlaki "preaches a culture of hate" and had been a functioning member of al-Qaeda "since before 9/11", and had effectively renounced his U.S. citizenship by engaging in treasonous acts. Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen on September 30, 2011, and his 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman was likewise killed two weeks later; both strikes were ordered by U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. Al-Awlaki's eight-year-daughter Nawar, also a U.S. citizen, was killed in a SEAL commando raid in Yemen on January 29, 2017. The raid was ordered by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. In it, a SEAL was killed and an Osprey aircraft was destroyed.Myre, Greg.
"Trump Aims For Big Splash In Taking On Terror Fight"
''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

'', 29 January 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2018. In January 2012, Dent co-sponsored the Enemy Expatriation Act with Senator

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; February 24, 1942 – March 27, 2024) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. Originally a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Dem ...

. The bill's purpose was "To add engaging in or supporting hostilities against the United States to the list of acts for which United States nationals would lose their nationality," where the term "hostilities" means any conflict subject to the laws of war. The proposal would allow the United States government to strip U.S. citizens of their citizenship without requiring that the citizen have been convicted of a crime.New Bill Known As Enemy Expatriation Act Would Allow Government To Strip Citizenship Without Conviction
Addictinginfo.org, January 6, 2012. Dent criticized President

's 2017

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...

to temporarily curtail Muslim immigration until better screening methods were devised. He stated that "This is ridiculous. I guess I understand what his intention is, but unfortunately the order appears to have been rushed through without full consideration. You know, there are many, many nuances of immigration policy that can be life or death for many innocent, vulnerable people around the world."

Economy

In 2005, Dent cosponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. Dent stated in 2018 that he would "tuck" his Export-Import Bank bill into the spending bill as an omnibus. The bill would "lower the quorum on the board so it could approve large loans once more." As of 2018, the reopened bank had a seven-member board that lacked a quorum.

Education

At the start of the 112th Congress, Dent received a new position on the coveted House Appropriations Committee, and continued to serve on the House Ethics Committee. In June 2013, Dent decided to co-sponsor the Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA), a bill that would require schools and districts to adopt policies specifically prohibiting

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

and harassment against all students, including

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

young people. Dent is known for his efforts to promote LGBT equality throughout the nation.

Energy

Dent is a proponent of

hydrogen fuel The hydrogen economy is an umbrella term for the roles hydrogen can play alongside low-carbon electricity to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The aim is to reduce emissions where cheaper and more energy-efficient clean solutions are not avail ...

and was one of the four founding members of the House Hydrogen Fuel Cell Caucus. In 2006, he proposed legislation aimed at promoting the rollout of commercial hydrogen fueling stations. He has spoken of his vision for the development of a "Hydrogen Highway East", similar to California Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

's plans for a Hydrogen Highway on the West Coast. Dent is a member of The

. In 2007 he was elected to co-chair the

, a centrist organization of Congressional Republicans.

Drug policy

Dent is a proponent of drug prohibition, and is outspoken on the dangers of novel synthetic drugs, having personally sponsored several bills aimed to schedule new psychoactive compounds. In 2011, he sponsored the Synthetic Drug Control Act of 2011, which sought to schedule a large number of cannabimimetic agents, as well as 26 other psychoactive substances. The bill passed the House but did not make its way through the Senate. On March 27, 2017, the bill was re-introduced as the Synthetic Drug Control Act of 2017. If passed in its current text (as of May 14, 2017), this bill would schedule a large number of novel psychoactive substances, including 96

phenethylamine Phenethylamine (PEA) is an organic compound, natural monoamine alkaloid, and trace amine, which acts as a central nervous system stimulant in humans. In the brain, phenethylamine regulates monoamine neurotransmission by binding to trace ami ...

s, 94 cannabimimetic agents, 15 arylcyclohexylamines, 21

tryptamine Tryptamine is an indolamine metabolite of the essential amino acid tryptophan. The chemical structure is defined by an indole—a fused benzene and pyrrole ring, and a 2-aminoethyl group at the second carbon (third aromatic atom, with the firs ...

s, 8

benzylpiperazine Benzylpiperazine (BZP) is a substance often used as a recreational drug and is known to have euphoriant and stimulant properties. Several studies conducted between 2000 and 2011 found that the effects of BZP are similar to amphetamine, although ...

s, 4

benzodiazepine Benzodiazepines (BZD, BDZ, BZs), colloquially known as "benzos", are a class of central nervous system (CNS) depressant, depressant drugs whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. They are prescribed t ...

s, 4 opioid or opioid-like substances, 8

piperazine Piperazine () is an organic compound with the formula . In term of its structure, it can be described as cyclohexane with the 1- and 4-CH2 groups replaced by NH. Piperazine exists as deliquescent solid with a saline taste. Piperazine is freely sol ...

s, and 2

tropane alkaloid Tropane alkaloids are a class of bicyclic .2.1alkaloids and secondary metabolites that contain a tropane ring in their chemical structure. Tropane alkaloids occur naturally in many members of the plant family Solanaceae. Certain tropane alkaloi ...

Committee assignments

* Committee on Appropriations ** Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (Chair) ** Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (Vice Chair) ** United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies *

United States House Committee on Ethics The U.S. House Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Before the 112th Congress, it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. Th ...

(Chair)

Caucus memberships

* Congressional Arts Caucus * Congressional Cement Caucus, Co-chair * U.S.-Japan Caucus *

Friends of Wales Caucus The Friends of Wales Caucus is a congressional caucus consisting of Welsh people, Welsh and Welsh heritage congresspeople in the United States Cabinet of the United States, Government, United States Senate, Senate and United States House of Repre ...

* Problem Solvers Caucus

Electoral history

, - , colspan=13 , , - !Year !Winning candidate !Party !Pct !Opponent !Party !Pct !Opponent !Party !Pct !Opponent !Party !Pct , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, style="background:#ffb3b3;", Charlie Dent , style="background:#ffb3b3;", Republican , style="background:#ffb3b3;", 59% , style="background:#b3d9ff;", Joe Driscoll , style="background:#b3d9ff;", Democratic , style="background:#b3d9ff;", 39% , style="background:#fc9;", Richard J. Piotrowski , style="background:#fc9;",

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

, style="background:#fc9;", 1% , style="background:#0bda51;", Greta Browne , style="background:#0bda51;",

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

, style="background:#0bda51;", 1% , - ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, style="background:#ffb3b3;", Charlie Dent (inc.) , style="background:#ffb3b3;", Republican , style="background:#ffb3b3;", 54% , style="background:#b3d9ff;", Charles Dertinger , style="background:#b3d9ff;", Democratic , style="background:#b3d9ff;", 43% , , , , style="background:#0bda51;", Greta Browne , style="background:#0bda51;",

, style="background:#0bda51;", 3% , - ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, style="background:#ffb3b3;", Charlie Dent (inc.) , style="background:#ffb3b3;", Republican , style="background:#ffb3b3;", 59% , style="background:#b3d9ff;", Sam Bennett , style="background:#b3d9ff;", Democratic , style="background:#b3d9ff;", 41% , - , ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, style="background:#ffb3b3;", Charlie Dent (inc.) , style="background:#ffb3b3;", Republican , style="background:#ffb3b3;", 54% , style="background:#b3d9ff;", John Callahan , style="background:#b3d9ff;", Democratic , style="background:#b3d9ff;", 39% , style="background:#ccc;", Jake Towne , style="background:#ccc;",

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, style="background:#ccc;", 7% , - , ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, style="background:#ffb3b3;", Charlie Dent (inc.) , style="background:#ffb3b3;", Republican , style="background:#ffb3b3;", 57% , style="background:#b3d9ff;", Rick Daugherty , style="background:#b3d9ff;", Democratic , style="background:#b3d9ff;", 43% , - , ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, style="background:#ffb3b3;", Charlie Dent (inc.) , style="background:#ffb3b3;", Republican , style="background:#ffb3b3;", 100% , style="background:#b3d9ff;", , style="background:#b3d9ff;", , style="background:#b3d9ff;", , - , ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, style="background:#ffb3b3;", Charlie Dent (inc.) , style="background:#ffb3b3;", Republican , style="background:#ffb3b3;", 58% , style="background:#b3d9ff;", Rick Daugherty , style="background:#b3d9ff;", Democratic , style="background:#b3d9ff;", 38% , style="background:#fc9;", Paul Rizzo , style="background:#fc9;",

, style="background:#fc9;", 4%

Post-political career

Following his resignation from Congress, Dent joined the law firm

DLA Piper DLA Piper is a law firm with offices in over 40 countries across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. It was founded in 2005 through the merger between three law firms: San Diego–based ''Gray Cary Ware & Freiden ...

as a non-attorney policy adviser. He registered as a lobbyist following the mandatory one-year cooling off period. On August 19, 2020, Dent announced his formal endorsement of

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

, the Democratic nominee for the 2020 presidential election, joining other Republicans such as

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician and author who was the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001, and a Republican candidate for the pre ...

Christine Todd Whitman Christine Temple Whitman (; born September 26, 1946) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush ...

Jeff Flake Jeffry Lane Flake (born December 31, 1962) is an American politician and diplomat who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the United States House of Repr ...

Chuck Hagel Charles Timothy Hagel ( ; born October 4, 1946)Susan Molinari Susan Molinari (born March 27, 1958) is an American politician, company executive, journalist, and lobbyist from New York. A member of the Republican Party, she sat in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1990 to 1997, representing Staten Isl ...

and

John Warner John William Warner III (February 18, 1927 – May 25, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Republican Party, Republican United Stat ...

in choosing to vote for the Democrat in the election. On July 6, 2022, Dent endorsed Democrat

Josh Shapiro Joshua David Shapiro (born June 20, 1973) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 48th governor of Pennsylvania since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the attorney general of Pen ...

in the Pennsylvania Governor Election over Republican Doug Mastriano, claiming that Shapiro would 'unite the state' and that Mastriano 'is a threat to the rule of law'.

ORL and funding questions

On May 24, 2024, Dent appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal to discuss the formation of the group Our Republican Legacy (ORL) to facilitate what organizers call a "comeback" of the traditional principles of the party. On May 15, 2024, Dent had been challenged by CNN anchor Kasie Hunt to reveal details about the funding of the organization. CNN's transcript of the interview reads: HUNT: How much money do you have? DENT: Well, I'm not here to say how much money we have. I can tell you, we have enough money to get us through this year. And we're going to raise even more. We're raising money from individuals and we're very excited about where we are. HUNT: Thousands? Tens of thousands? Millions? Where are we? DENT: Well, I'm not going to say. Well, we're going to -- we're going to be able to advance a program with digital marketing, with all kinds of things. So, don't worry about that. We're getting started. We're going to be well capitalized. And we're going to make -- we're going to make this thing stand on its own for some time. As of May 2025, the organization's Instagram has 55 followers.

Personal life

Dent is married to Pamela Jane Serfass and has three children.

References

External links

* * , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dent, Charlie 1960 births Living people 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 21st-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives American people of English descent American people of German descent American people of Irish descent American Presbyterians Articles containing video clips CNN people Dent family Lehigh University alumni Pennsylvania State University alumni Politicians from Allentown, Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators William Allen High School alumni United States congressional aides