Daylin Leach

Early life, education, and legal career

Leach was born in Philadelphia and graduated from Parkland High School in 1979 in Allentown, PA. He received a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 1983 and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 1986.

He practiced law for 16 years, focusing on family and education law. He taught constitutional law, legal ethics and First Amendment law as an adjunct professor at Cedar Crest College and Muhlenberg College. Leach served as president of the Pennsylvania Young Democrats in the early 1990s and on the Allentown Zoning Board from 1990 to 1994. He previously co-hosted a weekly political TV debate program entitled Lehigh Valley Firing Line.. In 2016, Senator Leach joined Philadelphia law firm Sacks Weston Diamond LLC in an of-counsel position. He left the firm in July, 2017.

2002

Leach first ran for the 149th legislative district in a special election on February 12, 2002 following the resignation of Democrat Connie Williams. Leach was the Democratic nominee and lost to Republican Wallis Brooks 48%-44%, a difference of 273 votes.

In the November 2002 rematch of their February special election, the Brooks campaign sent dozens of direct mail advertisements, including one accusing Leach of defending child molesters as an attorney. On the Saturday before the election, one was sent to voters accusing Leach of being anti-Semitic. The mailer carried a headline of "Anti-Semitism, Neo-Nazism, Holocaust Denial. They are not 'a big joke.'" The charges stemmed from Leach's 1999 defense of an in absentia client from Texas who was sued in Allentown, Pennsylvania for alleged comments in an Internet chat room. Following the dismissal, the plaintiff posted on the Internet, denouncing Leach and the Texas man as anti-Semites. The posts were unearthed by a Brooks researcher and used in the mailer. "She had to know I was Jewish, because it had come up in a debate. But since I have a non-Jewish surname, she apparently thought she could get away with this," Leach said. The campaign immediately convinced a local Jewish newspaper to denounce the mailer and reproduced the article on a flyer with a profile of Leach, emphasizing his Jewish roots and activism, on the reverse. By election day, 70 volunteers had hand-delivered the literature to most district households. On November 5, 2002, Leach defeated Brooks 53%-47%, a difference of 1,170 votes.

2004

Leach won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican Brad Murphy 62%-38%.

2006

Leach won re-election to a third term, defeating Republican Monica Treichel 67%-33%.

Tenure

In 2003, the political website PoliticsPA named him to "The Best of the Freshman Class" list, saying that he "has all the ingredients of a rising star" and that he "makes the job look fun."

In August 2005, Leach published an op-ed article in the Philadelphia Inquirer criticizing the paper's coverage of the 2005 Pennsylvania General Assembly pay raise controversy. In what the Philadelphia City Paper called "the paper's first round against Leach," Inquirer columnist John Grogan responded by accusing Leach of "funny math." In response, Leach "struck back" against the Inquirer with a satirical email to associates under the pseudonym "Dutch Larooo" criticizing Inquirer reporter Mario F. Cattabiani.

On September 1, 2005, Mario F. Cattabiani published a front page article in the Philadelphia Inquirer that "exposed" Leach's long-standing and satirical blog "leachvent.com." The Philadelphia City Paper criticized the Inquirer for allowing Cattabiani to "answer his attacker" through a news article, noting that "thousands of insiders have laughed at Leach's satire for years," but the Inquirer acted as though it had been "recently discovered." The Philadelphia City Paper wrote that Cattabiani's article incorrectly characterized Leach's website as a "blog" rather than satire and had focused on Leach's pseudonym's "impure thoughts," while ignoring the "satirical attack" on his Cattabiani's reporting. The next day, Leach removed his website. John Grogan wrote that Leach had "dug his own political grave." The Philadelphia City Paper criticized these negative articles about Leach by stating that "hidden behind the newspaper's florid obsession with Leach's naughty bits, is the state rep's pointed satire of their mediocre coverage — a criticism that the newspaper never addresses...The Inquirer savaged this young legislator because his satire was hitting its mark: Them."

Notable work in the House includes proposed bills that would allow hybrid cars into the state fleet, that give state funding for breast and ovarian cancer screening for low-income women, that would address redistricting reform, that would eliminate state's lethal use of paralytic drugs, and that would require hospitals to offer emergency contraception to sexual assault victims.

Committee assignments

Elections

When Connie Williams of Pennsylvania's 17th senate district decided to retire, Leach decided to enter the election. He was the Democratic nominee and defeated Republican Lance Rogers, a Montgomery County Commissioner, 62%-38%.

Leach won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican nominee Charles Gehret 63%-37%.

Leach won re-election to a third term, defeating Republican nominee Brian Gondek 64%-36%.

Tenure

Leach was awarded the 2008 Humane Legislator Award by the Humane Society, the 2011 Legislative Leadership Award by GVF Transportation, and the 2011 Friend of Education Award by the Lower Merion Education Association.

In January 2013, he proposed legislation that would legalize recreational use of marijuana in Pennsylvania for people 21 years or older, called the "Regulate Marijuana Act." In defending it, Leach argued “We would never, in a rational society, starting from scratch, have the policy we have now.”

In 2016, a bill sponsored by Leach, legalizing some marijuana products for medical use, became law.

In 2017, Leach made headlines in response to President Trump's threat to "destroy the career" of a Texas state senator who proposed legislation requiring a conviction before civil asset forfeiture, by goading the President to try to destroy Leach's career in a social media post.

Committee assignments

2014 congressional election

On April 1, 2013, Main Line Times reported that Leach would run for Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district, which was open as incumbent Democrat Allyson Schwartz ran for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2014. However, while the majority of Upper Merion Township is within the boundaries of the 13th Congressional district, Leach's home in Wayne, Upper Merion Township is within the state's 7th Congressional district. Leach lost in the Democratic primary, winning 16.6% of the vote.

2018 congressional election

On July 3, 2017, Leach announced his candidacy for the Congressional seat held by Pat Meehan in Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district. He is expected to have several Democratic primary opponents.