Wayne D. Fontana (born March 12, 1950) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

politician who serves 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 ...

, representing the 42nd District since 2005.

Background

Fontana was born and raised in the Beechview section of

Pittsburgh 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 ...

, and graduated from the

Community College of Allegheny County Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) is a public community college in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. With four campuses and four centers, the college offers associate degrees, certificates, and diplomas. History The Pennsylvania legisl ...

in 1971 with an Associate’s Degree in Business. A former truck driver and member of

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a trade union, labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union now represents a di ...

Locals 249 and 211, he went into real estate and worked for Howard Hanna Real Estate Services as a sales manager and associate broker. He is married to Francine Fontana and has three children.

Political career

Fontana entered politics as a Democratic committee member in Pittsburgh's 19th Ward, and later rose to vice chair of the

Allegheny County Allegheny County ( ) is a county in Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, after Philadelphia County. Its county seat and most populous city is Pit ...

Democratic Committee. In 1999, Fontana was elected as an original member of Allegheny County Council (representing District 12) after it was formed under the new home-rule charter. He served as the council's vice president from January 2004 to March 2005. In January 2005, Senator Jack Wagner resigned from the 42nd District of the

after having been elected

Pennsylvania Auditor General The Pennsylvania auditor general is the chief fiscal officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1850. The current auditor general of Pennsylvania is Republican Timothy DeFoor. History The office of the audito ...

. Fontana won the May 17, 2005 special election for the remainder of Wagner's term, winning 55% of the vote and defeating his closest opponent, Democrat-turned-Republican state Representative Michael Diven. Fontana was re-elected in

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Committees and leadership

Fontana sits on the following committees in the Senate: *Community, Economic & Recreational Development Committee *Game & Fisheries Committee *Law & Justice Committee *Rules & Executive Nominations Committee *Urban Affairs & Housing Committee Fontana joined the Senate Democratic leadership as caucus administrator in 2011. He was elected caucus chairman in 2014.

References

External links

Pennsylvania State Senate - Wayne D. Fontana
official PA Senate website
Senator Fontana
official senate website
Fontana for Senate
official campaign website
Project Vote Smart - Senator Wayne Fontana (PA)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Wayne Fontana
2006
campaign contributions Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators 1950 births Living people Politicians from Pittsburgh 21st-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly {{Pennsylvania-PASenate-stub