Dave Arnold (politician)

David J. Arnold Jr. (born 1971 or 1972) is a Pennsylvania state senator since January 2020 who represents the 48th district, which includes all of Lebanon County and portions of Dauphin and York Counties. He is a member of the Republican Party and previously served as the district attorney of Lebanon County.

Personal life
Arnold is a lifelong resident of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania and graduated from Cedar Crest High School in 1989. He later earned a criminal justice degree from Kutztown University. After graduating from Widener University School of Law in 1996 with a JD degree and passing the bar exam, he worked four years in private practice before being elected in 2005 as the District Attorney of Lebanon County. Arnold was president of the Pennsylvania District Attorney's Association from 2016 to 2017.

In late October 2019, Arnold was diagnosed with a malignat brain tumor and underwent sucessful surgery two days later at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center to have it removed. According to a post on his campaign's Facebook page, additional treatment would be needed, and he would be off work and the campaign trail for a brief period after doctors had given him an excellent prognosis for full recovery.

Pennsylvania senate
After Mike Folmer resigned as state senator from Pennsylvania's 48th district in September 2019, a special election to fill the position was scheduled for January 14, 2020. Arnold announced in early October 2019 that he was seeking the associated Republican nomination. Running against at least seven other Republicans, Arnold was chosen by a state Republican committee to be the party's nominee. He won the special election against Democratic nominee Michael Schroeder with nearly two-thirds of the vote. Arnold was sworn in to office on January 29, 2020.

The state senator salary is less than half of what Arnold had been making as a district attorney, and he plans to make up the difference with a side job in a private law practice, which other lawyer-legislaters are reported to do. Arnold said his taking the job is not for monetary purposes, and that he will not sign up for state's traditional pension plan, for which other new state employees are not eligible.

References

External links
State Senator Dave Arnold
Campaign website
Campaign website on Facebook

Category:Living people
Category:21st-century American politicians
Category:County district attorneys in Pennsylvania
Category:Kutztown University of Pennsylvania alumni
Category:Pennsylvania Republicans
Category:Pennsylvania state senators
Category:People from Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
Category:Widener University School of Law alumni