Chris Thomas is the State Senator-elect for Pennsylvania Senate District 24. He defeated first-term Republican Tracy Pennycuick and flipped a key seat in the fight for control of the Pennsylvania Senate. In response, 314 Action President Shaughnessy Naughton released the following statement:
“Congratulations to the next State Senator for Pennsylvania’s 24th District, Chris Thomas,” said Shaughnessy Naughton, President of 314 Action. “Thomas has spent his life showing up for his community, from a seventh-grade science classroom in Philadelphia to the fire company in Upper Frederick Township. He has seen what underfunded schools do to kids because he taught in one, and he ran to fix it.”
“Republicans have held the Pennsylvania Senate for more than 30 years, and families in Montgomery and Berks counties are paying more for less every year. Thomas ran on bringing down the cost of living, fully funding public schools and protecting access to affordable healthcare. He will take that fight to Harrisburg with a scientist’s commitment to getting the facts right.”
Thomas comes from a working-class family of veterans, coal miners, educators and corrections officers. He earned a bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Akron and a master’s in environmental policy from Drexel University. He worked construction and installed solar panels before teaching seventh-grade math and science in Philadelphia. He serves as a volunteer firefighter in Upper Frederick Township.