Ryan Costello

Ryan Costello
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 6th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2015
Preceded by Jim Gerlach
Member of the Chester County Board of Commissioners
In office
February 17, 2011 – December 16, 2014
Preceded by Carol Aichele
Succeeded by Michelle Kichline
Chester County Recorder of Deeds
In office
January 7, 2008 – February 17, 2011
Preceded by Terence Farrell
Succeeded by Rick Loughery
Personal details
Born Ryan Anthony Costello
(1976-09-07) September 7, 1976
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Christine Costello
Children 2
Education Ursinus College (BA)
Villanova University (JD)
Website House website

Ryan Anthony Costello (born September 7, 1976) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Pennsylvania. A Republican, Costello is the representative for Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district, elected in 2014 to the United States House of Representatives. He previously served on the Chester County Board of Commissioners (2011–2015), and as its chair from 2013 to 2015. He announced his retirement in 2018 on MSNBC, stating that he would not seek reelection. After announcing his retirement, CNN called him a "rare brand in the House GOP conference: a young moderate willing to break with his leadership and his President on everything from gun control bills to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act."[1]

Early life

Costello was born in 1976 to schoolteacher parents.[2] Costello attended Ursinus College and Villanova University School of Law.[3]

Political career

Costello served on the Board of Supervisors for East Vincent Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, for six years, serving as chairman for the last four. He was elected the Chester County recorder of deeds in 2008.[3][4] He was elected to the Chester County Board of Commissioners in 2011.[5] His fellow commissioners elected him as chairman of the commission in 2013, and reappointed in 2014.[6]

U.S. House elections

2014

When Jim Gerlach, the Republican incumbent in Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, announced that he would not run for reelection in 2014, Costello chose to run for the Republican Party nomination.[7] He faced no primary opposition.[8] He faced Manan Trivedi of the Democratic Party in the general election.[9] Costello defeated Trivedi, 56%–44%.[10]

2016

In 2016, Democrat Mike Parrish challenged Costello. Hacked material from Parrish was leaked during the campaign, but the Costello campaign took the position that they would not use the illicitly obtained materials during the election.[11] Vincent Galko, a consultant for Costello, said, "When news broke that this material had likely been stolen by a foreign actor, we immediately said, ‘We’re not going to use it.'"[11]

Costello was re-elected by a wide margin of 57.2 to 42.8.[12]

Tenure

For his first two terms, Costello represented a district that took in northern Chester County and western Montgomery County, then reached across Berks County to take in much of heavily Republican Lebanon County. However, in February 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which has a Democratic majority,[13] released a new map for the state's congressional districts to replace a map which the court had previously struck down as a Republican partisan gerrymander.[14] The court imposed a new map after the state legislature refused to submit a replacement. Costello was the only incumbent who retained his old district number. However, the 6th was made significantly more compact. It lost most of its heavily Republican western portion, as well as its share of Montgomery County. Instead, it now took in all of Chester County as well as most of the more Democratic portions of Berks County, including Reading.[15]

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Of the many Republicans who took a political blow from Pennsylvania's new congressional map, Chester County's Ryan Costello got hit the hardest."[13] Costello saw his district move from having a Republican-leaning constituency to a district Hillary Clinton won by nine points.[16] The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that "the previous, GOP-drawn map was one factor aiding Republicans as they held a firm grip on every competitive seat in the moderate Philadelphia suburbs."[13] According to the Pottstown Mercury, the Republican-drawn congressional map was "widely viewed as among the nation’s most gerrymandered."[17] After the new congressional map was released, Costello said he supported impeaching the justices who imposed the map, calling the court corrupt and undemocratic.[13] Republicans requested that the United States Supreme Court intervene in the redistricting dispute, although Politico reported that the Republican challenge was unlikely to be successful.[18][19] In March 2018, a panel of federal judges refused to block the new congressional map from going into effect.[20]

In March 2018, Costello filed petitions to get on the 2018 ballot,[21] but later that month, he announced that he was dropping his reelection bid.[22] According to The Hill, he became frustrated with the Trump administration, which contributed to his dropping from the race.[23]

Political positions

Throughout his tenure, Costello has been ranked as one of the most bipartisan Members of Congress, breaking with his party to support environment, health care, and education initiatives.[24] In 2017, Costello ranked ninth out of 435 Members of Congress in bipartisanship.[25]

In May 2017, Costello broke from his party and voted against the Republican health care legislation, the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA). [26]

In November 2017, Costello voted for the Republican Party's 2017 tax plan that passed the House.[27] He also voted in favor of a 2018 bipartisan bill to fund the federal government.[28]

In May 2018, Costello signed the discharge petition that would call for the House to vote on immigration legislation.[29] He has supported efforts to allow for DACA children to remain in the United States.[30]

Electoral history

Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District election, 2014
Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ryan Costello 24,313 100
Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District, 2014
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ryan Costello 119,643 56.29
Democratic Manan Trivedi 92,901 43.71
Total votes 212,544 100
Republican hold
Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District election, 2016
Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ryan Costello (Incumbent) 88,349 100
Total votes 88,349 100
Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District, 2016
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ryan Costello (Incumbent) 207,469 57.24
Democratic Mike Parrish 155,000 42.76
Total votes 362,469 100
Republican hold

Committee assignments

115th Congress
114th Congress

Personal life

Ryan Costello lives along with his wife and two children in West Chester, Pennsylvania.[3] He is a Presbyterian.[31][32]

References

  1. ↑ CNN, Story by Lauren Fox, CNN; videos by Cassie Spodak, McKenna Ewen and Zachary Wasser,. "Why Republicans are calling it quits". CNN. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  2. ↑ Profile, nationaljournal.com; accessed November 9, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Chester County Commissioner Ryan Costello to run for Jim Gerlach's seat". Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Costello appointed Chester County Commissioner". The Unionville Times. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Chester County Republican Costello announces run for Congress". Philly.com. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Costello re-appointed chair of Chester County Commissioners". Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  7. ↑ "The Republican Party's rising star". Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  8. ↑ WFMZ. "6th District candidates unopposed in primary, look to November election". WFMZ. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  9. ↑ "In battle for Congress, Ryan Costello and Manan Trivedi vie for money and attention". Reading Eagle. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  10. ↑ Ryan Costello beats Manan Trivedi for 6th U.S. House Congressional seat Archived November 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine., wfmz.com; accessed November 9, 2014.
  11. 1 2 Bertrand, Natasha. "There's Nothing to Stop the 2018 Elections From Being Hacked". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
  12. ↑ "Pennsylvania U.S. House 6th District Results: Ryan A. Costello Wins". Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "In Pa.'s new congressional map, this Republican's 'bad dream' turns into 'a nightmare' - Philly". Philly.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  14. ↑ Prokop, Andrew (February 21, 2018). "What Pennsylvania's new congressional map means for 2018". Vox. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  15. ↑ Cohn, Nate (February 19, 2018). "The New Pennsylvania Congressional Map, District by District". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  16. ↑ Cohn, Nate. "The New Pennsylvania Congressional Map, District by District". Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  17. ↑ "Rep. Costello calls for impeachment of Pa. justices for approving 'corrupt' map". Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Pennsylvania redistricting map challenge filed with Supreme Court". CBS News. Associated Press. February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  19. ↑ Schneider, Elena (February 20, 2018). "Republican challenge to Pennsylvania map likely to fail". Politico. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  20. ↑ Kamisar, Ben (March 19, 2018). "Judges refuse GOP request to block new Pa. district boundaries". The Hill. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  21. ↑ Tamari, Jonathan; Otterbein, Holly; Seidman, Andrew (March 20, 2018). "Nearly 100 people are running for Congress in Pa. Here's how the races are shaping up". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  22. ↑ Stracqualursi, Veronica; Bradner, Eric (25 March 2018). "Rep. Ryan Costello will drop bid for reelection in Pennsylvania". CNN. Cable News Network.
  23. ↑ Zanona, Melanie. "Retiring GOP lawmakers cut loose on Trump". The Hill. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  24. ↑ "What Partisanship Reveals About Congress in 2017". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  25. ↑ "Delaware Valley-area GOP reps rate high in bipartisanship survey". WHYY. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  26. ↑ "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 256".
  27. ↑ Olson, Laura. "Pennsylvania Republicans support GOP tax overhaul as it passes House". themorningcall.com. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  28. ↑ Rellahan, Michael. "Costello votes for budget, but fumes over Trump tweets". Daily Local News. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  29. ↑ "Discharge Petition 0010".
  30. ↑ "Congressman Ryan Costello talks taxes, immigration and infrastructure (VIDEO)". Reading Eagle. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  31. ↑ "Pennsylvania-6: Ryan Costello (R)". www.nationaljournal.com. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Engagements: Thomas – Costello". Daily Local News. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Jim Gerlach		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district
2015–present		 Incumbent
Current U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Barbara Comstock
R-Virginia		 United States Representatives by seniority
324th		 Succeeded by
Carlos Curbelo
R-Florida
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