# President pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate

The President pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate (also known more commonly as the "President pro-tem") is a constitutionally-created office in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The incumbent holder of the office is Republican Kim Ward.

## Overview

The position of President pro tempore replaced the abolished position of Speaker of the Senate in the Constitution of 1874.
The office is filled through election by the full Senate membership, though its holder typically comes from the majority party. The President pro tempore is designated as second in the gubernatorial succession, behind the Lieutenant Governor.

## Duties

The President pro tempore presides over the Senate in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor and appoints committee chairpersons, votes on all bills, and is the leader of the Senate. In issues involving both chambers of the General Assembly, the President pro tempore confers with the Speaker of the House.

## List of speakers of the Pennsylvania Senate

| Name | Political party | County | Dates served |
| Samuel Powell | Federalist | Delaware, Philadelphia County | 1792–1793 |
| Anthony Morris | Federalist | Philadelphia County | 1793–1794 |
| William Bingham | Federalist | Delaware, Philadelphia County | 1794–1795 |
| Robert Hare Sr. | Federalist | Delaware, Philadelphia County | 1795–1799 |
| John Woods | Federalist | Allegheny, Washington County | 1799–1801 |
| Samuel Maclay | Democratic Republican | Northumberland County | 1801–1802 |
| John Pearson | Democratic Republican | Lancaster County | 1802–1803 |
| Robert Whitehill | Democratic Republican | Cumberland County | 1803–1805 |
| James Young Brady | Constitutionalist | Armstrong, Indiana, Jefferson, Westmoreland County | 1805–1806 |
| John Francis Steele | Democratic Republican | Lancaster County | 1805–1806 |
| Presely Carr Lane Sr. | Democratic Republican | Fayette, Greene, Westmoreland County | 1806–1814 |
| Walter Lowrie | Democratic Republican | Allegheny, Beaver, Butler County | 1813–1814 |
| John Tod | Democratic Republican | Bedford, Cambria, Somerset County | 1814–1816 |
| Isaac Weaver Jr. | Democratic Republican | Greene, Washington County | 1817–1820 |
| William Marks | Democratic | Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler County | 1820–1825 |
| Philip Swenk Markley | Democratic | Montgomery County | 1821–1822 |
| Thomas Burnside Sr. | Democratic | Centre, Clearfield, McKean, Potter, Tioga County | 1825–1826 |
| Alexander Mahon Sr. | Democratic | Cumberland, Perry County | 1825–1828 |
| William George Hawkins Sr. | Democratic | Fayette, Greene, Washington County | 1831–1832 |
| Thomas Ringland | Democratic | Greene, Washington County | 1833–1834 |
| Jesse Reading Burden | Democratic | Philadelphia County | 1833–1834 |
| Thomas Scott Cunningham | Democratic | Crawford, Erie, Mercer County | 1835–1836 |
| Jesse Reading Burden | Whig | Philadelphia County | 1837–1838 |
| Charles Bingham Penrose | Whig | Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, Perry, Philadelphia County | 1838–1839 |
| William Tennet Rogers | Democratic | Bucks County | 1839 |
| Ebeneezer Kingsbury Jr. | Democratic | Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Wayne County | 1841 |
| John Strohm | Anti-Masonic | Lancaster, York County | 1841 |
| Charles Bingham Penrose | Whig | Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, Perry, Philadelphia County | 1841 |
| John Hoge Ewing | Whig | Washington County | 1842 |
| William Hiester Jr. | Whig | Lancaster, York County | 1842 |
| Benjamin Crispin | Democratic | Philadelphia County | 1843 |
| William Bigler | Democratic | Armstrong, Camrbia, Clarion, Clearfield, Indiana County | 1844–1845 |
| John Benton Sterigere | Democratic | Chester, Delaware, Montgomery County | 1845 |
| William Pendleton Wilcox | Democratic | Jefferson, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Venango, Warren County | 1845 |
| Daniel Lee Sherwood Jr. | Democratic | Tioga, Bradford County | 1846 |
| Charles L. Gibbons Sr. | Whig | Philadelphia County | 1847 |
| William Sterling Ross | Improvement Democrat | Columbia, Luzerne County | 1847 |
| William Williamson Jr. | Whig | Chester, Delaware County | 1847 |
| William Freame Johnston | Whig | Chester, Cambria, Clearfield, Indiana County | 1848 |
| George Darsie | Whig | Allegheny, Butler County | 1848–1849 |
| Valentine Best | Democratic | Columbia, Luzerne County | 1849 |
| Benjamin Matthias | Whig | Philadelphia County | 1851 |
| Christan Myers | Whig | Armstrong, Clarion, Indiana County | 1852 |
| John Hoge Walker | Whig | Crawford, Erie County | 1852 |
| Thomas Erskin Carson | Whig | Adams, Franklin County | 1853 |
| John Christian Kunkel | Whig | Dauphin, Northumberland County | 1853 |
| Byron Delano Hamlin | Democrat | Clearfield, Elk, Forest, McKean,Potter, Tioga County | 1855 |
| William Muhlenberg Hiester | Democrat | Berks County | 1855 |
| William McKinney Piatt | Democrat | Bradford, Susquehanna, Wyoming County | 1855–1856 |
| Nathaniel Borrodaille Browne | Democrat | Philadelphia County | 1856 |
| Darwin Abel Finney | Whig | Crawford, Erie County | 1857 |
| David Taggart | Whig | Dauphin, Northumberland County | 1857 |
| John M. Cresswell Jr. | Democratic | Blair, Cambria, Clearfield, Huntingdon County | 1858 |
| William Henry Welsh | Democratic | York County | 1858 |
| Jacob Turney | Democratic | Fayette, Westmoreland County | 1859 |
| William Miller Francis | Republican | Lawrence, Mercer, Venango County | 1860 |
| Robert Moffett Palmer | Republican | Schuylkill County | 1860–1861 |
| Louis Williams Hall Sr. | Republican | Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry County | 1861–1862 |
| George van Eman Lawrence | Republican | Beaver, Greene, Washington County | 1863 |
| John P. Penny Sr. | Republican | Allegheny County | 1863–1864 |
| Louis Williams Hall Sr. | Republican | Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry County | 1864 |
| William J. Turrell | Republican | Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wyoming County | 1865 |
| David Fleming | Republican | Dauphin, Lebanon County | 1866 |
| Louis Williams Hall Sr. | Republican | Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry County | 1866–1867 |
| James Leonard Graham | Republican | Allegheny County | 1868 |
| Wilmer Worthington | Republican | Chester, Delaware, Montgomery County | 1869 |
| Charles Henderson Stinson | Republican | Chester, Delaware, Montgomery County | 1869–1870 |
| Albert Gallatin Brodhead | Democratic | Carbon, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Wayne County | 1871 |
| William Andrew Wallace | Democratic | Blair, Cambria, Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk County | 1871 |
| James Smith Rutan | Republican | Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington County | 1872 |
| George Holmes Anderson | Republican | Allegheny County | 1873 |
| George H. Cutler | Republican | Erie, Warren County | 1874 |
| Butler B. Strang | Republican | Cameron, McKean, Potter, Tioga County | 1874 |
| Henry Lloyd White | Republican | Armstorong, Cambria, Indiana, Jefferson, Westmoreland County | 1874 |
| Elisha W. Davis | Republican | Philadelphia County | 1875–1876 |

## List of presidents pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate

| Name | Political party | County | Dates elected |
| George H. Cutler | Republican | Erie County | 1875 |
| Elisha W. Davis | Republican | Philadelphia County | 1875,76 |
| John Christopher Newmyer | Republican | Allegheny County | 1876,77 |
| Thomas Valentine Cooper | Republican | Delaware County | 1877,78 |
| Andrew Jackson Herr | Republican | Dauphin County | 1878,79 |
| John Lamon | Republican | Philadelphia County | 1879 |
| William Imlay Newell | Republican | Philadelphia County | 1881 |
| Hugh McNeil | Republican | Allegheny County | 1881 |
| John Edgar Reyburn | Republican | Philadelphia County | 1883 |
| Amos Herr Mylin | Republican | Lancaster County | 1883,85 |
| George Handy Smith | Republican | Philadelphia County | 1885,87 |
| John C. Grady | Republican | Philadelphia County | 1887,89 |
| Boies Penrose | Republican | Philadelphia County | 1889,91 |
| John Peter Shindel Gobin | Republican | Lebanon County | 1891,93 |
| Charles Wesley Thomas | Republican | Philadelphia County | 1893,95 |
| Samuel John Milton McCarrell | Republican | Dauphin County | 1895,97 |
| Daniel Spindler Walton | Republican | Greene County | 1897 |
| William Preston Snyder | Republican | Chester County | 1899, 1901 |
| John Morin Scott | Republican | Philadelphia County | 1901,03 |
| William Cameron Sproul | Republican | Delaware County | 1903,05 |
| Cyrus E. Woods | Republican | Westmoreland County | 1905,07 |
| Albert Everton Sisson | Republican | Erie County | 1907,09 |
| William E. Crow | Republican | Fayette County | 1911 |
| George M. Wertz | Republican | Cambria County | 1911 |
| Daniel P. Gerberich | Republican | Lebanon County | 1913 |
| Charles H. Kline | Republican | Allegheny County | 1913,15 |
| Edward E. Beidleman | Republican | Dauphin County | 1915,17 |
| Clarence Jay Buckman | Republican | Bucks County | 1917,19 |
| Frank E. Baldwin | Republican | Potter County | 1919,21 |
| Thomas Lawrence Eyre | Republican | Chester County | 1921,23 |
| John G. Homsher | Republican | Lancaster County | 1923,25 |
| Samuel W. Salus | Republican | Philadelphia County | 1923,25 |
| Horace W. Schantz | Republican | Lehigh County | 1927,29 |
| Augustus F. Daix Jr. | Republican | Philadelphia County | 1929,31 |
| James S. Boyd | Republican | Montgomery County | 1931,33 |
| Harry B. Scott | Republican | Centre County | 1933 |
| John G. Homsher | Republican | Lancaster County | 1935 |
| Harvey D. Huffman | Democratic | Monroe County | 1937 |
| John S. Rice | Democratic | Adams County | 1938 |
| Frederick T. Gelder | Republican | Susquehanna County | 1939 |
| Charles H. Ealy | Republican | Somerset County | 1941,43 |
| M. Harvey Taylor | Republican | Dauphin County | 1945,47,49,51,53,55,57,59 |
| Weldon Brinton Heyburn | Republican | Delaware County | 1947 |
| Anthony J. DiSilvestro | Democratic | Philadelphia County | 1961 |
| M. Harvey Taylor | Republican | Dauphin County | 1963 |
| James S. Berger | Republican | Potter County | 1964 (acting), 1965 |
| Stanley G. Stroup | Republican | Bedford County | 1966 (acting) |
| Robert D. Fleming | Republican | Allegheny County | 1967,69,70 |
| Martin L. Murray | Democratic | Luzerne County | 1971,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80 |
| Henry G. Hager III | Republican | Lycoming County | 1981,82,83,84 |
| Robert C. Jubelirer | Republican | Blair County | 1984,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92 |
| Robert J. Mellow | Democratic | Lackawanna County | 1992,93,94 |
| Robert C. Jubelirer | Republican | Blair County | 1994,95,96,97,97,99; 2000,01,02,03,04,05,06 |
| Joseph B. Scarnati III | Republican | Jefferson County | 2006,07,08,09,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 |
| Jacob Doyle Corman III | Republican | Centre County | 2020,21 |
| Kim Ward | Republican | Westmoreland County | 2022, 23 |