Trump House creator Leslie Baum Rossi wins Republican nod as party's candidate for open state House seat

Leslie Baum Rossi, the Unity woman who created the Trump House, was chosen Saturday to be the Republican candidate in the May 18 special election to fill the vacancy in the 59th District State House seat created by the death of Mike Reese.

Rossi, 50, was chosen by appointed members of the Westmoreland County Republican Committee from the district that includes 42 precincts in eastern Westmoreland County, as well as 10 in western Somerset County, according to chairman Bill Bretz.

Rossi won the party’s nod over four other Republicans, including Reese’s widow, Angela Reese, 44, of Mt. Pleasant Township; Ligonier Township police Officer Shawn Knepper; Latrobe attorney John Hauser, 42; and Dustin D. DeLuca, 35, of Jennerstown.

Attempts to reach Rossi for comment Saturday were unsuccessful.

Rossi will run against Democrat Mariah Fisher, 39, who was elected to Ligonier Borough Council in 2017. The Westmoreland County Democratic Party this month nominated her to run in the special election.

“We had five extremely well-qualified candidates. Our conferees had a very difficult decision,” Bretz said.

Bretz said each of the Republicans spoke before the conferees during the special meeting held at the Fort Ligonier History Education Center.

Bretz said it took more than one vote before Rossi won a majority, but he declined to report how many were taken.

He anticipates “Rossi will be an outstanding candidate” supporting the conservative platform of the party.

Bretz admitted Rossi’s popularity as creator of the Trump House nearly five years ago during the 2016 Republican primary “certainly helped” her recognition among the conferees.

But he also noted she was a GOP delegate for Trump last year and is a “businesswoman and entrepreneur in her own right.”

Rossi works in the family’s development business with her husband, Mike. The couple have eight children.

During the 2016 presidential primary, Rossi, an early supporter of Trump, painted an old frame house just north of Youngstown along Route 982 red, white and blue and staked a 12-foot metal likeness of Trump in the yard. It became a popular tourist spot for Trump supporters.

Reese, a 42-year-old Republican from Mt. Pleasant Township, ran unopposed in November for a seventh term in office. He died Jan. 2 of an apparent brain aneurysm.