# List of speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

The speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives holds the oldest statewide elected office in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Since its first session under the Frame of Government in 1682, presided over by William Penn, over 130 House members have been elevated to the speaker's chair. The house cannot hold an official session in the absence of the speaker or their designated speaker pro tempore.
Speaker K. Leroy Irvis was the first African-American elected speaker of any state legislature in the United States since the Reconstruction era.
Current Speaker Joanna McClinton is the first female and first female African-American speaker.

## List of speakers of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly (1682–1775)

| Name | Date elected |
| unknown (probably Wynne or More, below) | 1687/1688 |
| Thomas Wynne | 1682/1683 |
| Nicholas More | 1684 |
| John White | 1685/88 |
| Arthur Cook | 1689 |
| Joseph Growdon | 1690/91 |
| unknown | 1691 |
| William Clark | 1692 |
| Joseph Growdon | 1693 |
| David Lloyd | 1694 |
| Edward Shippen | 1695 |
| John Simcock | 1696 |
| John Blunston | 1697 |
| Phineas Pemberton | 1698 |
| John Blunston | 1699 |
| Joseph Growdon | 1700 |
| David Lloyd | 1703 |
| Joseph Growden | 1705 |
| David Lloyd | 1706 |
| Richard Hill | 1710 |
| Isaac Norris | 1712 |
| Joseph Growdon | 1713 |
| David Lloyd | 1714 |
| Joseph Growdon | 1715 |
| Richard Hill | 1716 |
| William Trent | 1717 |
| Jonathan Dickinson | 1718 |
| William Trent | 1719 |
| Isaac Norris | 1720 |
| Jeremiah Langhorne | 1721 |
| Joseph Growdon | 1722 |
| David Lloyd | 1723 |
| William Biles, Jr. | 1724 |
| David Lloyd | 1725 |
| Andrew Hamilton | 1729 |
| Jeremiah Langhorne | 1733 |
| Andrew Hamilton | 1734 |
| John Kinsey | 1739 |
| John Wright | 1745 |
| John Kinsey | 1745/1746 |
| Isaac Norris (II) | 1750 |
| Thomas Leech | 1758 |
| Isaac Norris (II) | 1758 |
| Thomas Leech | 1759 |
| Isaac Norris (II) | 1759 |
| Benjamin Franklin | 1764 |
| Isaac Norris (II) | 1764 |
| Joseph Fox | 1764 |
| Joseph Galloway | 1766 |
| Joseph Fox | 1769 |
| Joseph Galloway | 1769 |
| Edward Biddle | 1774 |
| John Morton | 1775 |

## List of speakers of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (following the 1776 Constitution)

| Name | Date elected |
| John Jacobs (under the 1776 Constitution) | 1776 |
| John Bayard | 1777 |
| Frederick Muhlenberg | 1780 |
| George Gray | 1783 |
| John Bayard | 1784 |
| Thomas Mifflin | 1785 |
| Gerardus Wynkoop II | 1786 (four days) |
| Richard Peters | 1788 |
| William Bingham (under the 1790 constitution) | 1790 |

## List of speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

| Name | County | Tenure | Notes |
| William Bingham | Philadelphia | 1791 | |
| Gerardus Wynkoop II | Philadelphia | 1793 | |
| George Latimer | Philadelphia | 1794 | |
| Cadwalader Evans | Montgomery | 1799 | |
| Isaac Weaver, Jr. | Greene | 1800 | |
| Simon Snyder | Northumberland | 1804 | |
| Charles Porter | Fayette | 1806–1807 | |
| Simon Snyder | Northumberland | 1807 | |
| Nathaniel Boileau | Montgomery | 1808 | |
| James Engle | Philadelphia | 1809 | |
| John Weber | Montgomery | 1810 | |
| John Tod | Bedford | 1812 | |
| Robert Smith | Franklin | 1813 | resigned February 14, 1813 |
| John St. Clair | Fayette | 1814 | |
| Jacob Holgate | Philadelphia | 1815 | |
| Rees Hill | Greene | 1816 | |
| William Davidson | Fayette | 1818 | |
| Rees Hill | Greene | 1819 | |
| Joseph Lawrence | Washington | 1820 | |
| John Gilmore | Allegheny, Butler | 1821 | |
| Joseph Lawrence | Washington | 1822 | |
| Joel B. Sutherland | Philadelphia | 1825 | |
| Joseph Ritner | Washington | 1826 | |
| Ner Middleswarth | Union | 1828 | |
| Frederick Smith | Franklin | 1830 | |
| John Laporte | Bradford, Tioga | 1832 | |
| James Findley | Westmoreland | 1833 | |
| Samuel Anderson | Delaware | 1833 | |
| William Patterson | Washington | 1834 | |
| James Thompson | Venango, Warren | 1835 | |
| Ner Middleswarth | Union | 1836 | |
| Lewis Dewart | Northumberland | 1837 | |
| William Hopkins | Washington | 1839 | |
| William A. Crabb | Philadelphia | 1841 | |
| James Ross Snowden | Venango, Clarion | 1842 | |
| Hendrick Bradley Wright | Luzerne, Wyoming | 1843 | |
| James Ross Snowden | Venango, Clarion | 1844 | |
| Findley Patterson | Washington | 1845 | |
| Findley Patterson | Washington | 1846 | |
| James Cooper | Adams | 1847 | |
| William F. Packer | Lycoming, Clinton | 1848 | |
| William F. Packer | Potter, Sullivan | 1849 | |
| John S. McCalmont | Venango | 1850 | |
| John Cessna | Bedford | 1851 | |
| John S. Rhey | Armstrong, Cambria | 1852 | |
| William P. Schell | Bedford | 1853 | |
| E.B. Chase | Susquehanna, Wyoming | 1854 | |
| Henry K. Strong | Philadelphia | 1855 | |
| Richard L. Wright | Philadelphia | 1856 | |
| J. Lawrence Getz | Berks | 1857 | |
| A.B. Longaker | Montgomery | 1858 | |
| William Lawrence | Dauphin | 1859 | |
| William Lawrence | Dauphin | 1860 | |
| Elisha W. Davis | Mercer, Venango | 1861 | |
| William Kinsey | Bucks | 1862 | |
| John Cessna | Bedford | 1863 | |
| Henry C. Johnson | Crawford | 1864 | |
| Arthur G. Olmsted | Potter | 1865 | |
| James R. Kelley | Fulton | 1866 | |
| John P. Glass | Allegheny | 1867 | |
| Elisha W. Davis | Philadelphia | 1868 | |
| John Clark | Washington | 1869 | |
| Butler B. Strang | Tioga | 1870 | |
| James H. Webb | Bradford | 1871 | |
| William Elliott | Philadelphia | 1872 | |
| H. H. McCormick | Allegheny | 1874 | |
| Samuel D. Patterson | Allegheny | 1875 | |
| E. Reed Myer | Bradford | 1877 | |
| Henry M. Long | Allegheny | 1879 | |
| Benjamin L. Hewit | Blair | 1881 | |
| John E. Faunce | Philadelphia | 1883 | |
| James L. Graham | Allegheny | 1885 | |
| Henry K. Boyer | Philadelphia | 1887 | |
| Henry K. Boyer | Philadelphia | 1889 | |
| Caleb C. Thompson | Warren | 1891 | |
| Caleb C. Thompson | Warren | 1893 | |
| Henry F. Walton | Philadelphia | 1895 | |
| Henry K. Boyer | Philadelphia | 1897 | resigned January 17, 1898 |
| John R. Farr | Lackawanna | 1899 | |
| William T. Marshall | Allegheny | 1901 | |
| Henry F. Walton | Philadelphia | 1903 | |
| Henry F. Walton | Philadelphia | 1905 | |
| Frank B. McClain | Lancaster | 1907 | |
| John F. Cox | Allegheny | 1909 | |
| John F. Cox | Allegheny | 1911 | died in office November 6, 1911 |
| Milton W. Shreve | Erie | 1911 | |
| George E. Alter | Allegheny | 1913 | |
| Charles A. Ambler | Montgomery | 1915 | died August 29, 1940 |
| Richard J. Baldwin | Delaware | 1917 | |
| Robert S. Spangler | York | 1919 | |
| Robert S. Spangler | York | 1921 | unseated April 26, 1921 |
| Samuel A. Whitaker | Chester | 1921 | elected to fill unexpired term April 26, 1921 |
| C.J. Goodnough | Cameron | 1923 | |
| Thomas Bluett | Philadelphia | 1925 | |
| Thomas Bluett | Philadelphia | 1927 | resigned to become a judge |
| James H. McClure | Allegheny | 1927 | elected to fill an unexpired term |
| Aaron B. Hess | Lancaster | 1929 | |
| C.J. Goodnough | Cameron | 1931 | |
| Grover C. Talbot | Delaware | 1933–1935 | |
| Wilson G. Sarig | Berks | 1935–1936 | died in office March 14, 1936 |
| Roy E. Furman | Greene | 1936–1939 | |
| Ellwood J. Turner | Delaware | 1939–1941 | |
| Elmer Kilroy | Philadelphia | 1941–1943 | |
| Ira T. Fiss | Snyder | 1943–1947 | |
| Franklin H. Lichtenwalter | Lehigh | 1947–1949 | |
| Herbert P. Sorg | Elk | 1949–1953 | |
| Charles C. Smith | Philadelphia | 1953–1955 | |
| Hiram G. Andrews | Cambria | 1955–1957 | |
| W. Stuart Helm | Armstrong | 1957–1959 | |
| Hiram G. Andrews | Cambria | 1959–1963 | |
| W. Stuart Helm | Armstrong | 1963–1965 | |
| Robert K. Hamilton | Beaver | 1965–1967 | |
| Kenneth B. Lee | Sullivan | 1967–1969 | |
| Herbert Fineman | Philadelphia | 1969–1971 | |
| Kenneth B. Lee | Sullivan | 1971–1975 | |
| Herbert Fineman | Philadelphia | 1975–1977 | |
| K. Leroy Irvis | Allegheny | 1977–1979 | elected May 23, 1977 |
| H. Jack Seltzer | Lebanon | 1979–1981 | |
| Matthew J. Ryan | Delaware | 1981–1983 | |
| K. Leroy Irvis | Allegheny | 1983–1987 | |
| James J. Manderino | Westmoreland | 1987–1989 | died in office December 26, 1989 |
| Robert W. O'Donnell | Philadelphia | 1990–1992 | |
| H. William DeWeese | Greene | 1993–1994 | |
| Matthew J. Ryan | Delaware | 1995–2003 | died in office March 29, 2003 |
| John M. Perzel | Philadelphia | 2003–2006 | elected to fill unexpired term April 15, 2003 |
| Dennis M. O'Brien | Philadelphia | 2007–2008 | Minority-party Speaker |
| Keith R. McCall | Carbon | 2009–2010 | |
| Samuel H. Smith | Jefferson | 2011–2015 | |
| Michael C. Turzai | Allegheny | 2015–2020 | Resigned June 15, 2020 |
| Bryan Cutler | Lancaster | 2020–2022 | |
| Mark Rozzi | Berks | January–February 2023 | Resigned February 28, 2023 |
| Joanna McClinton | Philadelphia | February 2023 –Present | |