Eugene Porterfield
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Eugene Ellsworth Porterfield (born November 3, 1946) is a former member 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, stagger ...
, serving from 1989 to 1996. He is also a businessman.


Early life

Eugene "Gene" Porterfield was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania (Fayette County) on November 3, 1946. One of two children, Porterfield attended various public school systems in southwestern PA, and graduated Connellsville High School in 1964. During high school, he worked numerous jobs, including a bowling alley and as a gas station attendant and mechanic. He then continued his work as a mechanic, an auto parts sales specialist and factory worker before enlisting in the U.S. Army.


Military service

Porterfield was stationed with the 99th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM), but never saw action in the Vietnam War. He served with B Company March, 1966-1969 to rank as Seargeant. 1969 he enlisted to OCS, Ft. Benning, GA. Returned to 99th ARCOM August, 1969-1972 2nd Lt. with A Company. In the last year of his service, he served with the Brownsville NCO Training Company. He was honorably discharged, as a commissioned officer, in August 1972.


Politics

After his discharge from active military service, Porterfield started a professional career as a real estate appraiser. He later acquired the Certified Pennsylvania Evaluator (CPE) license. He moved to Greensburg in 1979. He married Cindy Payne of
Latrobe, Pennsylvania Latrobe ( ) is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,060 as of the 2020 census. A part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, it is located near Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Ridge. Latrobe was incorpo ...
, in 1988 and he ran for 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, stagger ...
's 39th District as a Democrat. He faced the Honorable James Kelley (D) in the primary and won by a small margin. In the fall of 1988, Porterfield defeated Robert Keibler (R) to secure the senate seat. He supported former
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...
legend
Bill Mazeroski William Stanley Mazeroski (born September 5, 1936), nicknamed "Maz" and "the Glove", is an American former second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1956 to 1972. A seven-time All- ...
in his unsuccessful campaign for Westmoreland County Commissioner in 1987. He took office in 1989. His district encompasses
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Westmoreland County is a county in the state of Pennsylvania, United States, in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census the population was 354,663. The county seat is Greensburg and the most populous community is ...
and southern parts of
Indiana County, Pennsylvania Indiana County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the west central part of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 83,246. Its county seat is Indiana. Indiana County comprises the Indiana, PA Mi ...
. He was hailed by local unions for his hard-line fight on jobs in the local economy. He became close friends with Governor Bob Casey, Sr. during his time in office, and made a large effort to work across party lines to accomplish tasks for his constituents. His chaired the
Pennsylvania Game Commission The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) is the state agency responsible for wildlife conservation ethic, conservation and management in Pennsylvania in the United States. It was originally founded years ago and currently utilizes more than 700 ful ...
and co-sponsored the Pennsylvania version of child car restraint bill, called the Pennsylvania Child Passenger Protection Act. He is also directly credited for bringing in the now-defunct
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plant to
New Stanton, Pennsylvania New Stanton is a small city and borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,339 at the 2020 census. New Stanton is often used as a control city in western parts of Pennsylvania, as I-70 joins the Pennsylvani ...
, and securing key construction grants for the
University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg (Pitt-Greensburg or UPG) is a state-related liberal arts college in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It is a baccalaureate degree-granting regional campus of the University of Pi ...
and the
Arnold Palmer Regional Airport Arnold Palmer Regional Airport is in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, two miles (3 km) southwest of Latrobe and about southeast of Pittsburgh. It was formerly Westmoreland County Airport; it was renamed in September 1999 ...
. In 1991, during the
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, on a base in
Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
housing the regiment in which he served in the U.S. Army Reserves, the
14th Quartermaster Detachment The 14th Quartermaster Detachment, is a United States Army Reserve water purification unit stationed in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. During Operation Desert Storm, the detachment lost 13 soldiers and 43 would be wounded in an Iraqi Al Hussein balli ...
, was struck by an enemy SCUD missile, killing 13 soldiers belonging to the detachment. Porterfield attended the ceremony held for the victims, and spoke a few words of comfort. He was re-elected in 1992, beating Mike Smith (R) by nearly 12%.Search. 123 people
When rumblings of Porterfield's possible gubernatorial ambitions became more prevalent, he and his wife were selected as delegates to the
1992 Democratic National Convention The 1992 Democratic National Convention nominated Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas for president and Senator Al Gore from Tennessee for vice president; Clinton announced Gore as his running-mate on July 9, 1992. The convention was held at Madison ...
. While there, they met President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
,
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
and
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
, and rode in Gore's limousine to LaGuardia International Airport after the convention. From that point forward, Porterfield's senate career began to fade. The emergence of serious personal attacks against him, and the hard challenge he faced from
Allen Kukovich Allen Kukovich ( ) is a former member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, where he represented the 39th senatorial district from 1996 through 2004. He was also a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1977 through 1996. He serve ...
in the 1996 Democratic Primary, ended Porterfield's campaign for the Senate. In 1999, Porterfield was pressed by his former staff members to take down Kukovich to reclaim his former seat. In an unexpected move, however, he not only announced his intentions on running, but he switched his party affiliation to Republican. Porterfield continued campaigning and raising money throughout the year 2000. The election turned quite ugly, as Kukovich slammed Porterfield on numerous issues, from jobs to " flip-flopping" his positions on issues. Porterfield likely hurt himself by claiming that he wanted to focus on the beliefs and values, refusing to attack Kukovich openly on the issues because he wanted to run a clean campaign. That November, Kukovich steamrolled Porterfield by nearly 14,000 votes (15%). Porterfield walked away from politics until 2003, when he ran for the Westmoreland County (Pa) Board of Commissioners. In the Republican primary, Porterfield received almost twice the number of votes of his main challenger, Terry Marolt. The almost-certain re-election of Democrats Tom Balya and Tom Ceraso meant only one spot was available, and intense in-fighting developed. With three days remaining until the election and seeing his poll numbers still below Porterfield's, Marolt alleged that because Porterfield was an appraiser, he would raise property taxes significantly. Marolt's plan gave him around 3,000 more votes than Porterfield on election day. Though James Gebicki (I) likely took many potential votes away from the Republicans, Porterfield filed a lawsuit against the sponsors of the scheme. A private investigation revealed that it was libelous and slanderous, but when the judge asked if Porterfield would like him to charge the men involved, he responded "I don't want their money; I just want the truth to come out." Since then, Porterfield has left politics to focus on his business and family. However, he counsels politicians who ask for advice.


Business and personal life

Porterfield works for Evaluator Services and Technology out of
Greensburg, Pennsylvania Greensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 14,976 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located southeast of Pittsburgh, Greensburg is a part of the Greater Pittsbu ...
. He is the president of the company, which writes software for mass appraisals of property in counties they're contracted to. He has over 45 years of experience in this particular field, in which he started out as a data collector of real estate in 1968. Porterfield is married to Cindy. They have one son. He also has three children from a previous marriage.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porterfield, Eugene Pennsylvania Democrats Pennsylvania Republicans Pennsylvania state senators Living people 1946 births 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly