John Blake (born August 1, 1960) is an American politician from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States, who served as a Democratic 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 ...

for the 22nd District from 2011 to 2021. He is currently the District Director and Senior Economic Development Specialist for Congressman

Matt Cartwright Matthew Alton Cartwright (born May 1, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2025. The district includes a large swath of northeastern Pennsylvania, anchored by Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, ...

Early life and education

Blake received a bachelor's degree from

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

while playing on the school's football team. He also received a master's in social work from Marywood College and a master's in business administration from the

University of Scranton The University of Scranton is a private Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was elevated to university status and took ...

. He also completed Executive Education in Public Management at Harvard University's

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Career

Blake began working in housing policy as director of the Lackawanna County Redevelopment Authority. Prior to entering electoral politics, he also held a two-year fellowship position under the

U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, a job as vice president for community development with

PNC Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 U.S. state, states and the District of Columbia, ...

, and an appointment as the

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American politician, author, and former prosecutor who served as the 45th governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011. He previously served as chair of the national Democratic Party from 1999 to 2 ...

administration's director of policy for Northeastern Pennsylvania. On February 15, 2021, Blake resigned from the Pennsylvania Senate to take a position leading economic development from Congressman

References

External links

Senator John BlakePennsylvania State Senate - John Blake (D)John Blake for Senate
1960 births Harvard Kennedy School alumni Living people Marywood University alumni Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators Politicians from Scranton, Pennsylvania University of Scranton alumni Villanova Wildcats football players 21st-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly {{Pennsylvania-PASenate-stub