Leslie Rossi, Abby Major break records as they take office in Harrisburg

Pennsylvania’s newest lawmakers, state Reps. Leslie Rossi, R-Unity, and Abby Major, R-Ford City, are breaking molds with every step they take.

The two, who won special elections last month to fill unexpected vacancies, were sworn into office Monday in Harrisburg. They are the first women to represent, respectively, the 59th and 60th legislative districts.

Perhaps just as significant, state Rep. Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, reminded House members as she welcomed and congratulated the new lawmakers that their addition set a new record for the number of women in the state House. With their swearing-in, the chamber includes 57 women. That means women, who make up 51% of the state’s population, comprise 28% of the 203-member Pennsylvania House.

That comes in a year when, for the first time, women head two of the General Assembly’s four caucuses. McClinton is House minority leader, while state Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, is Senate majority leader.

“It’s good news that we keep breaking records, but our numbers are still far from parity,” said Dana Brown, director of the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics at Chatham University. “The great news is that, with McClinton and Ward, there are two women on the Legislative Reapportionment Commission.”

The five-member commission, which begins work in earnest this summer, is tasked with remapping the borders of voting districts to align with the most recent census results. Given that Western Pennsylvania lost population, while areas in the eastern part of the state have grown, the new lawmakers likely will see their district lines shift for the 2022 elections.

Rossi, 50, was elected to fill the 59th District seat vacated by the Jan. 2 death of seven-term incumbent Republican Mike Reese. Her district includes portions of Westmore­land and Somerset counties.

Major, 36, was elected to fill the 60th District seat vacated when mounting health challenges led to the resignation of Rep. Jeff Pyle, a nine-term Republican. Her district includes portions of Armstrong, Indiana and Butler counties.

Rossi, a mother of eight who worked with her husband, Mike, in the family’s development business, was a delegate to last year’s Republican National Convention. She became a player in local political circles in 2016 when she created the Trump House in Unity. The old frame house that sports a red, white and blue paint job and a 12-foot cutout of Donald Trump on the front lawn attracted tens of thousands of Trump supporters to the site last year.

Her husband held the Bible, with their children looking on, as Rossi took the oath of office from state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Saylor.

“It felt great to get started and I am ready to dig in and get to work,” Rossi said. “It’s a very busy time right now. It meant so much to have my family there around me today. The most important thing to me is to represent the 59th District and to do what is best for them and their needs.”

Major’s daughter, Eliza, held the Bible as her mother was sworn into office at the same time as Rossi.

Major, an Iraq war veteran, had years to observe the legislative process prior to taking the oath of office. She was Pyle’s chief of staff for 10 years before he endorsed her bid to succeed him when he stepped down. Prior to that, she was an intern to former state Rep. Jeff Coleman.

She did not immediately return a call for comment.

House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, who presided over the livestreamed ceremony, congratulated the new lawmakers and urged them to remember the voters back home and that they’ve been elected to “be building for the next generations of learners, workers and families.”