Guy Reschenthaler

Reschenthaler was born in Pittsburgh on April 17, 1983.[2] He was raised in Pittsburgh's South Hills and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 2001. He graduated from Penn State Erie, The Behrend College in 2004 with a BA in political science. Upon graduation, Reschenthaler attended Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, earning a JD in 2007. While at Duquesne, Reschenthaler founded the Military Law Society chapter and interned at the U.S. District Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh.[3]

After law school, Reschenthaler served in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) in Iraq.[4] In the U.S. Navy, Reschenthaler deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, in 2009. In 2010, he was one of three attorneys who defended a Navy SEAL accused of covering up an assault on terrorist Ahmad Hashim Abd al-Isawi while in custody. The Navy SEAL represented by Reschenthaler and the other SEALs charged were eventually acquitted of all charges.[5] Reschenthaler was awarded the Michael Taylor Shelby Award for Professional, Ethics and Dedication in the practice of law.[6] He left military service in 2012.

After his Navy service, Reschenthaler returned to Pittsburgh to practice law in spring 2012 before being elected magisterial district judge in Pittsburgh's South Hills in 2013.[4][7] He was elected district judge in May 2013. As a magistrate, Reschenthaler sought to reduce truancy.[8]

In 2013, Reschenthaler briefly co-hosted a radio program with Carl Higbie, who resigned from the Trump administration in 2018 over "anti-gay, anti-Muslim, racist and sexist remarks he had made on his radio program."[9] He also wrote the foreword to Higbie's self-published 2012 book, which contained racist, homophobic, and xenophobic content.[10][9] He said in April 2018 that he denounced the book and was unaware of its contents when he wrote the foreword. In April 2018, he disavowed the foreword he had written and said he would not have written the foreword. CNN reported that Higbie's book was a frequent topic of discussion on the radio show that Reschenthaler co-hosted, with Reschenthaler saying that he read parts of the book and citing those parts approvingly.[9] In a 2013 episode of the radio show, Higbie argued that "the black race" was "lazier than the white race." Reschenthaler became "audibly upset," calling Higbie's comments "insane" and "so off-base."[9] Reschenthaler encouraged Higbie not to make that episode of the show public, because it could damage both of their careers.[9] After that episode, Reschenthaler continued to associate with Higbie, co-hosting the show and having Higbie conduct book signings at Reschenthaler's fundraisers.[9] In a later episode of the show, Reschenthaler disagreed with Higbie that black people do not contribute equally to society, saying that it was "multiculturalism" that was "destroying the fabric of the country."[9]

Reschenthaler was of counsel at Pittsburgh law firm Brennan, Robins & Daley and serves as a member of Penn State Behrend's Political Science Advisory Board.[4][11]

After the resignation of Democratic state senator Matt Smith, Reschenthaler won the Republican nomination for a special election in the 37th state Senate district in July 2015. He defeated the Democratic nominee, Heather Arnet, in the general election to serve the remainder of Smith's term, ending in 2016.[12][13] He was sworn-in upon the official certification of the election results on November 24, 2015.[14][15][16]

• Congressman Guy Reschenthaler official U.S. House website
• Campaign website
• Guy Reschenthaler at Ballotpedia
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN