Election 2024: Republican Joseph Rooney For State Representative

Candidates running in the Nov. 5 general election are providing background about themselves and their positions on the issues to voters in these profiles, which will run in Patch individually for each candidate.

ABINGTON TOWNSHIP, PA —Republican Joseph Rooney is running for election as a Republican for state representative in the 153rd Legislative District against Democrat incumbent Ben Sanchez.

Biographical Information

Name: Joseph J. Rooney

Age: 66

Town of residence: Ardsley

Position sought: State Representative, District 153

Are you an incumbent? No

What Towns Does Your Position Cover? Rockledge, most of Abington Township, and half of Upper Dublin Township.

Party affiliation: Republican

Family: Married, 38 years, 5 grown kids

Education: BS Mech Engr, Cornell Univ, USN Pilot Training, multiple USMC schools

Occupation: Retired B737 Captain with Delta Air Lines and retired LtCol USMC F4 and F18 Pilot

Candidate Questions

1. What can you do to curb crime that is seeping into the suburbs in Eastern Montgomery County?

Just recently, Abington Township experienced a woman brutally attacked while doing her laundry in Roslyn and a carjacking in broad daylight while a woman was shopping. Everyone realizes that there is a certain amount of crime in our area, but it is getting much worse. Our proximity to Philadelphia and the terrible policies of the Philadelphia district attorney and former Mayor Kenney have sent the message to criminals that they will not be held accountable. Even in Abington, we recently had Democrat school board members insult our police. We must start with a commitment to enforce our existing laws. Criminals must be held accountable. Secondly, the DA in Philadelphia must be investigated by our state government for mismanagement. Hopefully, the current mayor seems to have taken a more professional approach to crime. These efforts should be supported. Finally, our national borders must be controlled. Right now, every state is a border state. Illegal aliens must be arrested and deported and we need E Verify to make sure employers are only hiring legal workers.

2. How can you work to get more money for your district in terms of school funding and grants?

Abington and Upper Dublin school districts do not have a funding problem. They have a mismanagement problem. Abington School District's budget is $200 million a year. It recently spent over $100 million upgrading the high school and there is no indication that this spending spree had any effect on improving student education scores. They have plans for another $400 million of spending!!! At the state level, the PA Department of Education needs greater oversight. From my experience attending school board meetings, no one wastes money like our school board. Currently, we spend more than $23,000 per student from K - 12! This is shocking. None of our senior administrators in Abington send their kids to Abington Schools —they don't believe they have a great product! The best and easiest way to improve education for all our kids is school choice. Competition is great and it will force our schools to improve education.

3. Where can improvements still be made to reduce traffic that continues to clog key roads in your district?

Abington Township just approved the building of 150 row homes on the 45 acres of St Basils School property! Not one single elected Democrat in our township cares at all about congestion. Our current state representative was MIA when this decision was made. Plain and simple it was a sellout to a big Democratic contributor. Our current elected Democratic representatives are at war with single-family home neighborhoods and suburban living. Look at what is being built along the turnpike in Upper Dublin. Until this crazy overdevelopment is brought under control, there is nothing we can hope to do about congestion. They have baked it into the cake. I have been working for the last six months to improve our roads, clear debris from the shoulders, and fix our failing infrastructure. I will continue along this path when I am elected.

4. What do you bring to the district as a change agent in helping your constituents have a better life after years of inflation and rising costs for families?

There is not one reason for someone to vote for the current representative if they expect to get anything worthwhile done. I have walked our district for the past six months (I grew up here.) I've visited several thousand houses and walked 200 miles through our neighborhoods. I've worked with our township administration, the school district, and state agencies to help improve problems that I have discovered. Some were simple and others have proven remarkably difficult - not the problems just the inertia of government employees and the system. I have spent 23 years with the USMC and 30 years as an Air Line Pilot. I can handle complex problems and get stuff done. If you want a State Representative who is not a mediocre lawyer in a state assembly full of mediocre lawyers, vote for Joe Rooney. If you want someone who loves our state and country, vote for Joe Rooney. If you want someone with an adventurous spirit and a "can-do" attitude, vote for Joe Rooney. You will not be disappointed.