Daylin Leach
Encyclopedia
Daylin Leach is a Democratic
member of the Pennsylvania State Senate
who has represented the 17th senatorial district
since 2009. He was previously a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
, representing the 149th district
from 2003 to 2009.
in 1979, and received a B.A. in political science from Temple University
in 1983 and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center
in 1986. He practiced law for 16 years, focusing on family and education law. He taught constitutional law, legal ethics and First Amendment law as an adjunct professor at Cedar Crest College
and Muhlenberg College
.
Leach served as president of the Pennsylvania Young Democrats in the early 1990s and on the Allentown
Zoning Board from 1990 to 1994. He previously co-hosted a weekly political TV debate show. He has described his political views as "progressive for the most part."
in a special election on February 12, 2002 following the resignation of Democrat Connie Williams
. Leach narrowly lost that election to Republican Wallis Brooks
. In the November 2002 rematch of their February special election, the Brooks campaign sent dozens of direct mail advertisements, including one accusing Leach of defending child molesters as an attorney. On the Saturday before the election, one was sent to voters accusing Leach, a practicing Jew who lost family in the Holocaust, of being anti-Semitic. The mailer carried a bold headline of "Anti-Semitism, Neo-Nazism, Holocaust Denial. They are not 'a big joke.'" The incendiary charges stemmed from Leach's 1999 defense of an in absentia
client from Texas
who was sued in Allentown, Pennsylvania
for comments allegedly made in an Internet chat room. Following the dismissal, the plaintiff took to the internet and posted diatribes denouncing Leach and the Texas man as anti-Semites that were unearthed by a Brooks researcher and used in the mailer. "She had to know I was Jewish, because it had come up in a debate. But since I have a non-Jewish surname, she apparently thought she could get away with this," Leach said. The campaign immediately convinced a local Jewish newspaper to denounce the mailer and reproduced the article on a flyer with a profile of Leach, emphasizing his Jewish roots and activism, on the reverse. By election day, 70 volunteers had hand-delivered the literature to most district households. Leach won the election by over 1,000 votes.
In 2003, the political website PoliticsPA
named him to "The Best of the Freshman Class" list, saying that he "has all the ingredients of a rising star" and that he "makes the job look fun."
article in the Philadelphia Inquirer blasting the paper's coverage of the 2005 Pennsylvania General Assembly pay raise controversy
. In what the Philadelphia City Paper
called "the paper's first round against Leach," Inquirer columnist John Grogan
responded by accusing Leach of "funny math." In response, Leach "struck back" against the Inquirer with a satirical email to associates under the pseudonym "Dutch Larooo" skewering Inquirer reporter Mario F. Cattabiani.
On September 1, 2005, Mario F. Cattabiani published a front page article in the Philadelphia Inquirer that "exposed" Daylin Leach's long-standing and satirical blog "leachvent.com." The Philadelphia City Paper
blasted the Inquirer for allowing Cattabiani to "answer his attacker" though a trumped-up news article, noting that "thousands of insiders have laughed at Leach's satire for years," but the Inquirer acted as though it had been "recently discovered." The Philadelphia City Paper
noted that Cattabiani's article incorrectly characterized Leach's website as a "blog" rather than satire and had focused on Leach's pseudonym's "impure thoughts," while ignoring the "satirical attack" on his Cattabiani's reporting. The next day, Leach removed his website, allowing Cattabiani to "regurgitates the same spicy bits" in two subsequent front page stories. John Grogan
jumped in declaring that Leach had "dug his own political grave." The Philadelphia City Paper
criticized this fury of negative articles about Leach by noting that "hidden behind the newspaper's florid obsession with Leach's naughty bits, is the state rep's pointed satire of their mediocre coverage — a criticism that the newspaper never addresses...The Inquirer savaged this young legislator because his satire was hitting its mark: Them."
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
member of the Pennsylvania State Senate
Pennsylvania State Senate
The Pennsylvania State Senate has been meeting since 1791. It is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such...
who has represented the 17th senatorial district
Pennsylvania Senate, District 17
Pennsylvania's 17th Senatorial district includes parts of Delaware and Montgomery Counties.Delaware County* Radnor Township* Haverford TownshipMontgomery County* Bridgeport* Conshohocken* East Norriton Township* Lower Merion Township* Narberth...
since 2009. He was previously a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....
, representing the 149th district
Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 149
The 149th Pennsylvania House of Representatives District is located in Montgomery County and includes the following areas:* Bridgeport* Lower Merion Township ** Ward 04** Ward 05** Ward 06 [PART, Divisions 01 and 02]...
from 2003 to 2009.
Biography
Leach graduated from Parkland High SchoolParkland High School (Allentown, Pennsylvania)
Parkland High School, located near Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States, is a public high school serving students in grades 9 to 12. It is the only high school for the Parkland School District....
in 1979, and received a B.A. in political science from Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
in 1983 and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center
University of Houston Law Center
The University of Houston Law Center is a law school located in Houston, Texas. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1947, the Law Center is one of 12 academic colleges of the University of Houston...
in 1986. He practiced law for 16 years, focusing on family and education law. He taught constitutional law, legal ethics and First Amendment law as an adjunct professor at Cedar Crest College
Cedar Crest College
Cedar Crest College is a private liberal arts women's college in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the United States. During the 2006-2007 academic year, the college had 1,000 full-time and 800 part-time undergraduates and 85 graduate students...
and Muhlenberg College
Muhlenberg College
Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America.- History...
.
Leach served as president of the Pennsylvania Young Democrats in the early 1990s and on the Allentown
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
Zoning Board from 1990 to 1994. He previously co-hosted a weekly political TV debate show. He has described his political views as "progressive for the most part."
2002 election
Leach first ran for the 149th legislative districtPennsylvania House of Representatives, District 149
The 149th Pennsylvania House of Representatives District is located in Montgomery County and includes the following areas:* Bridgeport* Lower Merion Township ** Ward 04** Ward 05** Ward 06 [PART, Divisions 01 and 02]...
in a special election on February 12, 2002 following the resignation of Democrat Connie Williams
Constance H. Williams
Constance H. "Connie" Williams is a Democratic politician and former member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, who represented the 17th District from 2001 to 2009.-Biography:...
. Leach narrowly lost that election to Republican Wallis Brooks
Wallis Brooks
Wallis W. Brooks is a former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. She graduated from American University with a degree in English in 1969. She earned a law degree from the Dickinson School of Law, and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1973.-Election history:Wallis W...
. In the November 2002 rematch of their February special election, the Brooks campaign sent dozens of direct mail advertisements, including one accusing Leach of defending child molesters as an attorney. On the Saturday before the election, one was sent to voters accusing Leach, a practicing Jew who lost family in the Holocaust, of being anti-Semitic. The mailer carried a bold headline of "Anti-Semitism, Neo-Nazism, Holocaust Denial. They are not 'a big joke.'" The incendiary charges stemmed from Leach's 1999 defense of an in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
client from Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
who was sued in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
for comments allegedly made in an Internet chat room. Following the dismissal, the plaintiff took to the internet and posted diatribes denouncing Leach and the Texas man as anti-Semites that were unearthed by a Brooks researcher and used in the mailer. "She had to know I was Jewish, because it had come up in a debate. But since I have a non-Jewish surname, she apparently thought she could get away with this," Leach said. The campaign immediately convinced a local Jewish newspaper to denounce the mailer and reproduced the article on a flyer with a profile of Leach, emphasizing his Jewish roots and activism, on the reverse. By election day, 70 volunteers had hand-delivered the literature to most district households. Leach won the election by over 1,000 votes.
In 2003, the political website PoliticsPA
PoliticsPA
- Content :The website focuses on news aggregation, linking to major political news making headlines across the state. The editors write occasional features, like the weekly "Up & Down" scorecard and one-off lists like "Harrisburg's Smartest Staffer" and "Best Dressed Lobbyist" lists...
named him to "The Best of the Freshman Class" list, saying that he "has all the ingredients of a rising star" and that he "makes the job look fun."
Feud with Philadelphia Inquirer
In August 2005, Daylin Leach published an op-edOp-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
article in the Philadelphia Inquirer blasting the paper's coverage of the 2005 Pennsylvania General Assembly pay raise controversy
2005 Pennsylvania General Assembly pay raise controversy
In the early morning hours of July 7, 2005, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed pay increases for state lawmakers, judges, and top executive-branch officials. The vote took place at 2 a.m. without public review or commentary and Governor Ed Rendell signed the bill into law...
. In what the Philadelphia City Paper
Philadelphia City Paper
Philadelphia City Paper is a free alternative news weekly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in November 1981 as a spin-off of the now defunct WXPN Express newsletter. New issues are released every Thursday....
called "the paper's first round against Leach," Inquirer columnist John Grogan
John Grogan (journalist)
John Grogan is an American journalist and non-fiction writer. His memoir Marley & Me was a best-selling book about his family's dog Marley.- Career :...
responded by accusing Leach of "funny math." In response, Leach "struck back" against the Inquirer with a satirical email to associates under the pseudonym "Dutch Larooo" skewering Inquirer reporter Mario F. Cattabiani.
On September 1, 2005, Mario F. Cattabiani published a front page article in the Philadelphia Inquirer that "exposed" Daylin Leach's long-standing and satirical blog "leachvent.com." The Philadelphia City Paper
Philadelphia City Paper
Philadelphia City Paper is a free alternative news weekly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in November 1981 as a spin-off of the now defunct WXPN Express newsletter. New issues are released every Thursday....
blasted the Inquirer for allowing Cattabiani to "answer his attacker" though a trumped-up news article, noting that "thousands of insiders have laughed at Leach's satire for years," but the Inquirer acted as though it had been "recently discovered." The Philadelphia City Paper
Philadelphia City Paper
Philadelphia City Paper is a free alternative news weekly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in November 1981 as a spin-off of the now defunct WXPN Express newsletter. New issues are released every Thursday....
noted that Cattabiani's article incorrectly characterized Leach's website as a "blog" rather than satire and had focused on Leach's pseudonym's "impure thoughts," while ignoring the "satirical attack" on his Cattabiani's reporting. The next day, Leach removed his website, allowing Cattabiani to "regurgitates the same spicy bits" in two subsequent front page stories. John Grogan
John Grogan (journalist)
John Grogan is an American journalist and non-fiction writer. His memoir Marley & Me was a best-selling book about his family's dog Marley.- Career :...
jumped in declaring that Leach had "dug his own political grave." The Philadelphia City Paper
Philadelphia City Paper
Philadelphia City Paper is a free alternative news weekly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in November 1981 as a spin-off of the now defunct WXPN Express newsletter. New issues are released every Thursday....
criticized this fury of negative articles about Leach by noting that "hidden behind the newspaper's florid obsession with Leach's naughty bits, is the state rep's pointed satire of their mediocre coverage — a criticism that the newspaper never addresses...The Inquirer savaged this young legislator because his satire was hitting its mark: Them."
External links
- State Senator Daylin Leach Official PA Senate Website
- Daylin Leach for State Senate Official Campaign Website