Welcoming two new members, Pa. Senate back to full complement

Welcoming two new legislators Wednesday, the 50-member Pennsylvania Senate is back to full complement.

Joined by friends and family, Sens. Marty Flynn, D-Lackawanna, and Chris Gebhard, R-Lebanon, were sworn into the chamber. Winning their races in the May 18 primary election, they will respectively fill the seats vacated by Sen. John Blake, a Democrat, and the late GOP Sen. Dave Arnold.

First elected to the House of Representatives in 2012, Flynn is a Scranton native. He has worked as a Lackawanna County Prison inmate education and program coordinator, prison guard, mixed martial arts fighter, and professional boxer.

He will serve as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee and will join the Appropriations, Community, Economic and Recreational Development, and Transportation committees.

In a statement, Flynn said that as a senator, his focus will be on providing “the best constituent services in the state.” He added that he plans to advocate for working people and push for “real results in Harrisburg.”

“I’ve always been a fighter and I look forward to keeping up the fight for the needs and values of everyone I represent,” he said.

The special election to fill Flynn’s vacant House seat will be held during the municipal election, Nov. 2.

Gebhard, a Lebanon native, will serve out the remainder of Arnold’s term, which ends Nov. 30, 2022. While in office, he plans to continue working as president and CEO of Hoaster and Gebhard & Co., an insurance and risk management firm.

Throughout his campaign, Gebhard said he would support legislation to repeal Act 77, the state’s mail-in voting law, and help schools and businesses struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.