Cris Dush
Cris E. Dush | |
---|---|
Pennsylvania Senate from the 25th district | |
Assumed office January 5, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Joe Scarnati |
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 66th district | |
In office December 1, 2014[1] – November 30, 2020 | |
Preceded by | Samuel H. Smith |
Succeeded by | Brian Smith |
Personal details | |
Born | DuBois, Pennsylvania, U.S. | March 1, 1961
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Traci |
Residence | Pine Creek Township |
Occupation | Legislator |
Cris E. Dush is an American politician. A Republican, he has been a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate since 2020, elected from the 25th District. From 2014 to 2020, Dush was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, elected from the 66th House district, which then encompassed Jefferson County and Indiana County.[2][3]
Education and career before politics
Dush graduated from
Political career
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Dush was elected to the
Pennsylvania State Senate
In November 2019, Dush announced he would not seek a fourth term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, noting a promise he made to only serve three terms when he was first elected in 2014.[9] In January 2020, Dush said he would seek the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania Auditor General, joining a race against two other Republicans seeking the nomination.[10] The next month, however, Dush left that race and announced that he would run for the state Senate instead,[11] for the 25th district seat left open by the retirement of Joe Scarnati.[12] Dush won the race for the seat against Democrat Margie Brown.[13]
In September 2021, Dush chaired a Republican-led committee that approved subpoenas for a wide range of data and personal information on voters.[14]
In 2022, he sponsored legislation to prohibit ballot drop boxes in Pennsylvania elections.[15]
Dush was appointed to chair of the Senate State Government Committee in 2023 by
Political positions
Marijuana
Dush opposed proposals by Democratic
COVID-19
In 2020, Dush compared Governor Tom Wolf's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania to Nazi Germany. A group of Jewish organizations, including the Philadelphia branch of the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, condemned Dush's Nazi analogy as "offensive and wrong".[20][21]
2020 election and continuing denial
After the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Dush was one of 26 Pennsylvania House Republicans who called for withdrawing certification of presidential electors, despite Joe Biden winning Pennsylvania by over 80,000 votes with no evidence of fraud. This was also after federal appeals brought by the Trump campaign were dismissed due to lack of evidence.[22] Afterward, Dush traveled to Arizona along with fellow senator Doug Mastriano, and state house member Rob Kauffman,[23] to observe its 2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit, which the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors called a "spectacle".[24] The audit was ordered by Arizona's Republican senate majority, the rationale for which was generated by widely discredited conspiracy theories.[25][26] One firm involved had previously audited the 2020 election in Pennsylvania.[27] The United States Department of Justice warned the audit participants that they may have broken the law in compromising the integrity of those Maricopa County, Arizona ballots.[28][29] Dush supported efforts for a similar audit to take place in Pennsylvania.[30]
References
- ^ "The Constitution of Pennsylvania, Art. II § 2". Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ "Cris Dush Historical Biography". Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
- ^ "Representative Cris Dush". Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
- ^ a b State Rep. Cris Dush seeks re-election, Jeffersonian Democrat (March 6, 2018).
- ^ Mark Scolforo, GOP plan to impeach 4 Pennsylvania justices remains in limbo, Associated Press (April 21, 2018).
- ^ a b Sommer, Will (2018-03-20). "Pennsylvania GOP moves to oust judges over gerrymandering decision". The Hill. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
- ^ Katie Meyer, Pennsylvania Chief Justice Criticizes Impeachment Moves, NPR (March 22, 2018).
- ^ Caruso, Stephen (November 26, 2019). "Dush announces retirement in 2020; third lawmaker to call it quits this November". Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
- ^ Cassie Miller. Pa. Republican Rep Cris Dush joins race for Auditor General, Pennsylvania Capital-Star (January 22, 2020).
- ^ Joy Norwood, Rep. Dush talks about decision to run for Senate, Jeffersonian Democrat (March 3, 2020).
- ^ "Rep. Dush seeks Scarnati's 25th District Senate seat". Williamsport Sun-Gazette. February 15, 2020.
- ^ "Cris Dush wins PA state senate bid in 25th District". The Punxsutawney Spirit. November 5, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
- ^ "Pa. Senate passes legislation banning ballot drop boxes, private funding of elections". pennlive. 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
- ^ Levy, Marc; Cooper, Jonathan J. (January 28, 2023). "2020 election-deniers oversee election policies in Pa., Arizona". PennLIVE Patriot-News. Advance Local Media LLC. The Associated Press. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ^ Ulrich, Steve (February 27, 2024). "Dush Seeks To Add Mental Competency, Re-Registration to Voter Prerequisites". PoliticsPA. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
- ^ Elizabeth Hardison, The controversy over Lt. Gov. Fetterman's marijuana listening tour, explained, Pennsylvania Capital-Star (April 23, 2019).
- ^ Jacob Perryman, Community speaks out on recreational marijuana legalization, The Courier-Express (Dubois, Pa.) (February 25, 2019).
- ^ Oster, Marcy (2020-05-04). "Pa. lawmaker compares governor to Nazi Germany over coronavirus handling". The Forward. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ Palmer, Ewan (2020-05-05). "GOP PENNSYLVANIA LAWMAKER COMPARES GOV. TOM WOLF'S HANDLING OF CORONAVIRUS TO THE NAZI PARTY". Newsweek. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ Murphy, Jan (27 November 2020). "26 Pa. House Republicans call for withdrawing certification of presidential electors". The Patriot-News.
- ^ "Arizona GOP Election Audit Draws More Republican Politicians". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ^ Cooper, Jonathan J.; Christie, Bob (May 10, 2021). "Inside Arizona's election audit, GOP fraud fantasies live on". Associated Press. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ^ "Wake Technology Services audited a Pennsylvania election as part of the #StopTheSteal movement". Arizona Mirror. May 21, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ^ Epstein, Reid J.; Corasaniti, Nick (May 24, 2021). "Long After Trump's Loss, a Push to Inspect Ballots Persists". Retrieved June 10, 2021 – via NYTimes.com.
- Forbes Magazine, Andrew Solender, June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ^ Giles, Ben (May 6, 2021). "Justice Department: Arizona Senate Audit, Recount May Violate Federal Law". KJZZ. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
- ^ Walker, Carter (March 9, 2023). "Key senator's record has Democrats, voting advocates worried passing reform will be difficult". PennLive Patriot-News. Advance Local Media LLC. Spotlight PA. Retrieved 15 March 2023.