View source for Phil English

{{Short description|American politician (born 1956)}}
{{BLP sources|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name          = Phil English
| image         = Phil English (cropped).jpg
| caption       = Official house portrait 
| state1        = [[Pennsylvania]]
| term_start1   = January 3, 1995
| term_end1     = January 3, 2009
| predecessor1  = [[Tom Ridge]]
| successor1    = [[Kathy Dahlkemper]]
| constituency1 = {{ushr|PA|21|C}} (1995–2003)<br>{{ushr|PA|3|C}} (2003–2009)
| birth_name    = Philip Sheridan English
| birth_date    = {{birth date and age|1956|6|20}}
| birth_place   = [[Erie, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date    = 
| death_place   = 
| party         = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse        = Christiane English
| education     = [[University of Pennsylvania]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| signature     = Phil English signature.svg
}}
'''Philip Sheridan English''' (born June 20, 1956) is an American politician who served as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1995–2009 from the [[Commonwealth (U.S. state)|Commonwealth]] of [[Pennsylvania]], representing the state's [[Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district|3rd Congressional district]].

After 14 years in the U.S. House, he was defeated for reelection by Democrat [[Kathy Dahlkemper]] on November 4, 2008.

==Early life and career==
English is a lifelong resident of Erie and is of Irish and German descent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/reps/english.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140906015733/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/reps/english.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 6, 2014|title=english|website=freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com|access-date=2014-09-06}}</ref> He attended [[Portsmouth Abbey School]] in [[Portsmouth, Rhode Island]], and graduated from the [[University of Pennsylvania]]. While in college, he served as Chairman of the PA Federation of College Republicans.

English served as Erie City Controller from 1985 to 1989. In 1988 he was the Republican nominee for State Treasurer but was defeated by Democrat [[Catherine Baker Knoll]]. He stayed in politics and served as Chief of Staff for then [[Pennsylvania State Senate|State Senator]] [[Melissa Hart (politician)|Melissa Hart]].

==U.S. House of Representatives==
[[File:Turner Kemp English Myrick.jpg|thumb|right|English with [[Jack Kemp]], [[Sue Myrick]] and [[Mike Turner]] (c. May 2004)]]
{{See also|2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania#District 3}}
English was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] in [[United States House election, 1994|1994]] after seven-term incumbent [[Tom Ridge]] vacated the seat to make a successful run for [[Governor of Pennsylvania|governor]]. English benefited from the [[United States House elections, 1994|Republican wave of 1994]] as well as Ridge's coattails. In addition, the Democrats had a crowded primary in which the Erie candidates split the vote, which allowed Sharon attorney Bill Leavens to win the primary. English, as a native of Erie, then garnered enough support from his hometown (generally a Democratic stronghold) to win the election.<ref>[http://www.dccc.org/news/headlines/foust_makes_strong_foe_english05262007/ DCCC.org: Erie Times News – Foust makes strong foe for English<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010021051/http://www.dccc.org/news/headlines/foust_makes_strong_foe_english05262007/ |date=2007-10-10 }}</ref>

English was re-elected in a close race in [[United States House election, 1996|1996]] against Erie attorney and Marine Corps veteran Ron DiNicola as [[Bill Clinton]] carried the district. However, he was handily reelected in [[United States House election, 1998|1998]] on Ridge's coattails, and didn't face a close race again until 2006. That year, he defeated Steve Porter by only 54% to 42% (with 4% going to [[U.S. Constitution Party|Constitution Party]] candidate Tim Hagberg).  Porter was an unknown retired college professor who spent virtually no money; he raised only $81,100 to English's $1.4 million.<ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/races/election.php?state=PA&cycle=2006 Database of 2006 Pennsylvania congressional spending] from OpenSecrets</ref>

English was liberal on economic matters and conservative on social matters. Unusually for a Republican, he had strong ties to organized labor. However, this served him well in a district that was dominated by the heavily Democratic and thoroughly unionized city of Erie (no other city in the district has more than 17,000 people).

English moved up the seniority ladder in the House over the years.  From his first term, he was a member of the powerful [[United States House Committee on Ways and Means|Ways and Means Committee]]—the first freshman Republican to be appointed to this committee since 1975. In the 110th Congress, English served as the ranking member on the Subcommittee of Select Revenue Measures.

==2008 election==
English's narrow win in 2006 led the Democrats to target his seat in 2008.  He faced first-time candidate and small businesswoman [[Kathy Dahlkemper]] in the November election.

The race captured considerable national attention.  Although English outspent Dahlkemper—raising $2.2 million to Dahlkemper's $872,000—the Democratic House Campaign Committee overwhelmed English overall in spending on media buys and direct mail.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

In the election, English was defeated, taking 48 percent of the vote to Dahlkemper's 52 percent.  English carried five of the district's seven counties, but could not overcome a 14-point deficit in his native [[Erie County, Pennsylvania|Erie County]], the largest county in the district.

==References==
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{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{CongLinks | congbio=e000187 | votesmart= | fec=H4PA21051 | congress= }}<!--
Links formerly displayed via the CongLinks template:
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00001427 Financial information (federal office)] at [[Center for Responsive Politics|OpenSecrets.org]]
* [http://www.ontheissues.org/PA/Phil_English.htm Issue positions and quotes] at [[On the Issues]]
* -->
* {{C-SPAN|36779}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081127184011/http://votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=21865 Biography], [https://web.archive.org/web/20081128095646/http://votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=21865 voting record], and [https://web.archive.org/web/20081128193414/http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=21865 interest group ratings] at [[Project Vote Smart]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061117034125/http://www.politicspa.com/FEATURES/Interviews/english.htm PoliticsPA interview]

{{s-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Treasurer of Pennsylvania]]|years=1988}}
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{{s-non|reason=Constituency abolished}}
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{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States representatives from Pennsylvania|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district]]|years=2003–2009}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[United States order of precedence|Order of precedence of the United States]]<br>''{{small|as Former U.S. Representative}}''|years=}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Tim Murphy (American politician)|Tim Murphy]]|as=Former U.S. Representative}}
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{{USCongRep-start |congresses=104th–110th [[United States Congress]]es |state=[[United States congressional delegations from Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]]}}
{{USCongRep/PA/104}}
{{USCongRep/PA/105}}
{{USCongRep/PA/106}}
{{USCongRep/PA/107}}
{{USCongRep/PA/108}}
{{USCongRep/PA/109}}
{{USCongRep/PA/110}}
{{USCongRep-end}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:English, Phil}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:21st-century United States representatives]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:College Republicans]]
[[Category:Information Technology and Innovation Foundation]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Members of Congress who became lobbyists]]
[[Category:Politicians from Erie, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Portsmouth Abbey School alumni]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni]]