Patrick Rooney Jr. (born February 9, 1964) is a former Republican member of the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

, representing the 85th District, which includes northern

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...

, from 2012 to 2016. Rooney previously represented the 83rd District from 2010 to 2012.

History

Rooney was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, to Patrick Rooney Sr., into the wealthy and well-connected

Rooney family The Rooney family is an Irish Americans, Irish-American family known for its connections to the sports, acting, and political fields. After emigrating from Ireland in the 1840s, it established its American roots in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsyl ...

, which is the majority owner of the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

football team, and includes

Dan Rooney Daniel Milton Rooney (July 20, 1932 – April 13, 2017) was an American professional American football, football executive and diplomat best known for his association with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL), and son of ...

, the former

United States Ambassador to Ireland The United States ambassador to Ireland is the ambassador, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from the United States of America to Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is considered a highly prestigious position within the United States F ...

, who is Rooney's uncle, and Tom Rooney, a

United States Congressman The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of the ...

from

Florida's 17th congressional district Florida's 17th congressional district is an congressional district, electoral district for the U.S. Congress, located in Southwest Florida. In the 2020 United States redistricting cycle, 2020 redistricting cycle, the district was shrunk to only ...

, who is Rooney's brother. He attended

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

, where he graduated with a degree in political science in 1986, and later

Villanova University School of Law The Charles Widger School of Law (known as Villanova Law) is the law school of Villanova University, a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was opened in 1953 and is approved by the American Bar Association (A ...

, where he got his law degree in 1989. Afterwards, Rooney attended

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 ...

, where he graduated with a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

in 1992, and then moved to the state of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

later that year. Since living in Florida, Rooney has managed the Palm Beach Kennel Club, which is heavily involved in gambling and greyhound racing, and served on the

South Florida Water Management District The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is a regional governmental district that oversees water resources from Orlando to the Florida Keys. The mission of the SFWMD is to manage and protect water resources by balancing and improving ...

Board.

Florida House of Representatives

In 2010, incumbent

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

Carl J. Domino could not seek another term due to term limits, instead opting to unsuccessfully run for the

Florida State Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

. Rooney ran to replace him in the 83rd District, which spanned across

, and encountered Nancy Cardone and Francisco Rodriguez in the Republican primary, whom he defeated comfortably with 61% of the vote. In the general election, Rooney was opposed by Mark Marciano, the Democratic nominee and an optometrist. He campaigned on making Florida more business-friendly, specifically supporting efforts to lower the corporate income tax rate and to "streamline the permitting and licensing processes." Ultimately, Rooney defeated Marciano in a landslide, winning over 63% of the vote. When the Florida House districts were redrawn in 2012, Rooney was redistricted into the 85th District, which included most of the territory that he previously represented. He was unopposed in the primary, and in the general election, encountered Democratic nominee David Lutrin, a physical education teacher. Rooney was endorsed for re-election by the ''

Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and '' The Palm Beach Daily News' ...

'', which suggested that "he could bring a different tone to a Florida House that has been far too ideological" due to his desire for consensus-building, bipartisan legislation. In the end, he was elected over Lutrin by a solid margin, with 58% of the vote. In 2014, Rooney was re-elected to his third term in the legislature unopposed.

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives – Patrick Rooney Jr.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooney, Patrick Jr. 1964 births Living people 21st-century members of the Florida Legislature Politicians from Pittsburgh Clemson University alumni Villanova University School of Law alumni Lehigh University alumni Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...