David J. "Chip" Brightbill (born November 3, 1943) is a former member and Majority Leader of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered eve ...

. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was born in

Lebanon, Pennsylvania Lebanon () is a city in and the county seat of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,814 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in the central part of the Lebanon Valley, east of Harrisburg and west of Reading. ...

to Jonathan and Verda (McGill) Brightbill and attended

Pennsylvania Military College Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania. The university has three other campuses: two in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and Exton) and one in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded as The Bullock School for Boys in 1821, the school ...

for two years before graduating from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...

in 1964. He went on to obtain a law degree at

Duquesne University School of Law The Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University is a private Catholic university law school located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is approved by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schoo ...

in 1970. Prior to being elected to the Senate in 1982, he served as Lebanon County District Attorney from 1977 to 1981. He was elected Majority Whip in 1989 and 1997 by the Republican caucus and became the Majority Leader in 2001 after Senator Joseph Loeper resigned in December 2000. Brightbill served the 48th district, including all of

Lebanon County Lebanon County ( Pennsylvania Dutch: Lebanon Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 133,568. Its county seat is the city of Lebanon. The county was formed from portions of Dauphin ...

, portions of Berks,

Dauphin Dauphin (french: "dolphin", links=no, plural ''dauphins'') may refer to: Noble and royal title * Dauphin of Auvergne * Dauphin of France, heir apparent to the French crown * Dauphin of Viennois People * Charles Dauphin (c. 1620–1677), French ...

, and

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

Counties, and the

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West En ...

borough of Elverson. He was named runner up for the 2003 Politician of the Year by the political website

PoliticsPA PoliticsPA.com is a website centered on the politics of Pennsylvania. Content The website reports on political and campaign news in Pennsylvania, from the state legislature up to federal races. The editors write occasional features, like the w ...

, who noted his growing influence in the 2003 budget negotiations. Brightbill was defeated in the May 2006 Republican primary election by tire salesman

Mike Folmer Michael Folmer (born January 2, 1956) is an American politician and convicted sex offender. He represented the 48th district in the Pennsylvania State Senate, which includes all of Lebanon County and portions of Dauphin and York Counties, from ...

, receiving 36.8% of the vote. Brightbill's defeat was largely attributed to anger generated over a legislative pay raise vote in July 2005. At the end of his term, Brightbill joined the

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

law firm of Stevens & Lee in their government affairs practice. Prior to joining Stevens & Lee, Brightbill was a partner of Siegrist, Koller, Brightbill & Long for 30 years. On May 19, 2007, he received an honorary doctorate degree from

Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown College (informally E-town) is a private college in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. History Founding and early years Founded in 1899, Elizabethtown College is one of many higher learning institutions founded in the 19th century by c ...

References

External links

*
Pennsylvania Senate - David J. Brightbill
official PA Senate website (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brightbill, David J. Living people People from Lebanon, Pennsylvania Duquesne University alumni Pennsylvania State University alumni Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators 1942 births Widener University alumni

See also

References

External links