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Fred Keller (politician)

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Frederick B. Keller (born October 23, 1965) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, who served as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district from 2019 to 2023.[1] He was a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 85th district from 2011 until his resignation in May 2019 following election to the U.S. House.[2][3]

Fred Keller
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 12th district
In office
May 21, 2019 – January 3, 2023
Preceded byTom Marino
Succeeded bySummer Lee
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 85th district
In office
January 4, 2011 – May 22, 2019
Preceded byRuss Fairchild
Succeeded byDavid H. Rowe
Personal details
Born (1965-10-23) October 23, 1965 (age 59)
Page, Arizona, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Kay Payne
​
(m. 1985)​

[citation needed]
Children2

On February 28, 2022, Keller announced that he would not seek reelection in 2022 after being drawn out of his Congressional district.[4]

Early life and career

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Keller was born in Page, Arizona, to parents who were native Pennsylvanians that had moved west for work.[5] After graduating from Shikellamy High School in 1984,[3] Keller got a job at Conestoga Wood Specialties, a factory that makes cabinets and other wooden kitchen products, in Beavertown, Pennsylvania. He was ultimately promoted to become the plant operations manager.[6][7] In 1990, Keller began a real estate property business, and attended Don Paul Shearer Real Estate school in 1995.[2][5]

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

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In 2010, Keller ran as a Republican for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 85th district, seeking to succeed Republican Russ Fairchild, who was retiring.[7] He was elected to the Pennsylvania House, and was reelected every two years through 2018.[8] He was appointed to the board of trustees of the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System in 2019.[9]

U.S. House of Representatives

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Elections

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2019 special election

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Main article: 2019 Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district special election

Following Tom Marino's resignation from the United States House of Representatives in January 2019, Keller declared his candidacy in the 2019 Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district special election.[10]

He won the Republican nomination at a conference meeting on March 2.[11] Keller won the general election on May 21, defeating previous 2018 Democratic nominee Marc Friedenberg, and resigned from his state House seat on May 22.[12][13] He was sworn in on June 3.[14]

2020

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See also: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania § District 12

Keller ran for and won reelection on November 3, 2020, against Lee Griffin, gaining 70.8% of the vote.[15]

Tenure

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In December 2020, Keller was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives who signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden prevailed[16] over incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of the election held by another state.[17][18][19]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement that called signing the amicus brief an act of "election subversion." Additionally, Pelosi reprimanded Keller and the other House members who supported the lawsuit: "The 126 Republican Members that signed onto this lawsuit brought dishonor to the House. Instead of upholding their oath to support and defend the Constitution, they chose to subvert the Constitution and undermine public trust in our sacred democratic institutions."[20][21]

Immigration

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Keller voted against the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, which authorizes DHS to nearly double the available H-2B visas for the remainder of FY 2020.[22][23]

Keller voted against the Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1158),[24] which effectively prohibits ICE from cooperating with Health and Human Services to detain or remove illegal alien sponsors of unaccompanied alien children (UACs).[citation needed]

Committee assignments

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Caucus memberships

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Electoral history

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Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district special election, 2019[30]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Fred Keller 90,000 68.1% +2.0%
Democratic Marc Friedenberg 42,195 31.9% −2.0%
Total votes 132,195 100.0% N/A
Republican hold
Pennsylvania's 85th house district election, 2018[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Fred Keller (incumbent) 14,714 67.7% −32.3%
Democratic Jennifer Rager-Kay 7,012 32.3% N/A
Total votes 21,726 100.0% N/A
Republican hold
Pennsylvania's 85th house district election, 2016[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Fred Keller (incumbent) 21,304 100.0% +30.8%
Total votes 21,304 100.0% N/A
Republican hold
Pennsylvania's 85th house district election, 2014[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Fred Keller (incumbent) 10,895 69.2% −11.9%
Democratic Michael Sundberg 4,857 30.8% N/A
Total votes 15,752 100.0% N/A
Republican hold
Pennsylvania's 85th house district election, 2012[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Fred Keller (incumbent) 16,900 81.1% 15.1%
Libertarian Erik Viker 3,935 18.9% 9.9%
Total votes 20,835 100.0% N/A
Republican hold
Pennsylvania's 85th house district election, 2010[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Fred Keller 11,412 66.0% −4.4%
Democratic Trey Casimir 4,323 25.0% −4.6%
Libertarian Erik Viker 1,551 9.0% N/A
Total votes 17,286 100.0% N/A
Republican hold
Pennsylvania's 85th house district Republican primary election, 2010[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Fred Keller 3,237 44.9% N/A
Republican Maurice Brubaker 2,092 29.0% N/A
Republican Betsy M. Snook 1,886 26.1% N/A
Total votes 7,215 100.0% N/A

Personal life

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Keller has three siblings. Soon after he began working, Keller married his wife Kay. Together, they have two grown children, one of whom survived after being hospitalized on life support and being told there was no chance for recovery. As of April 2019, the Kellers also had two grandchildren.[5]

Keller is a Congregationalist.[32]

Controversies

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In a private text message, Keller suggested to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that President Trump state that he was only testing Raffensperger's loyalty to Trump when Trump asked Raffensperger to find 11,780 votes.[33]

Keller voted against certifying Pennsylvania's electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election.[34] WITF refers to him as "Fred Keller, who voted against certifying Pennsylvania's election results for President Biden despite no evidence to support election-fraud claims."[34]

Keller signed onto a Texas-led lawsuit to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.[35]

References

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  1. ^ "Keller, Frederick B." (PDF). Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Representative Fred Keller's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Fred Keller". Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Archived from the original on May 4, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  4. ^ "Pa. Rep. Fred Keller not seeking re-election". WFMZ-TV. February 28, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Stout, Larry (April 17, 2019). "Congressional Candidate Fred Keller". Webb Weekly. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  6. ^ Bowman, Bridget (May 21, 2019). "Republican Fred Keller wins Pennsylvania special election". Roll Call. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Marcia MooreThe Daily Item (October 5, 2010). "Keller: I'm no political insider | News". dailyitem.com. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  8. ^ Moore, Marcia (November 6, 2018). "Keller wins fifth consecutive term in 85th state House | News". dailyitem.com. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  9. ^ Moore, Marcia (January 16, 2019). "State Rep. Keller appointed to school retirement board of trustees | News". dailyitem.com. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  10. ^ Krawczeniuk, Borys (January 23, 2019). "List grows for those seeking Marino seat". citizensvoice.com. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  11. ^ Moore, Marcia (March 2, 2019). "Fred Keller wins GOP nod to replace Marino | News". dailyitem.com. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  12. ^ Almukhtar, Sarah; Lee, Jasmine C. (May 21, 2019). "Pennsylvania Special Election Results: 12th House District". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  13. ^ Moore, Marcia (May 22, 2019). "Deadlines may keep Keller out of Washington office until June". Daily Item. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  14. ^ "Keller to take the oath of office on June 3". Daily Item. May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  15. ^ "Pennsylvania Election Results: 12th Congressional District". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  16. ^ Blood, Michael R.; Riccardi, Nicholas (December 5, 2020). "Biden officially secures enough electors to become president". AP News. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  17. ^ Liptak, Adam (December 11, 2020). "Supreme Court Rejects Texas Suit Seeking to Subvert Election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  18. ^ "Order in Pending Case" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. December 11, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  19. ^ Diaz, Daniella. "Brief from 126 Republicans supporting Texas lawsuit in Supreme Court". CNN. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  20. ^ Smith, David (December 12, 2020). "Supreme court rejects Trump-backed Texas lawsuit aiming to overturn election results". The Guardian. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  21. ^ "Pelosi Statement on Supreme Court Rejecting GOP Election Sabotage Lawsuit" (Press release). Speaker Nancy Pelosi. December 11, 2020. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  22. ^ "Text - H.R.1865 – 116th Congress (2019–2020): Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020". December 20, 2019.
  23. ^ "Roll Call 689 Roll Call 689, Bill Number: H. R. 1865, 116th Congress, 1st Session". December 17, 2019.
  24. ^ "H.R. 1158: DHS Cyber Hunt and Incident Response Teams Act … -- House Vote #690 -- Dec 17, 2019".
  25. ^ a b "Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives – Official Alphabetical List". clerk.house.gov. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  26. ^ "House Committee on Education and Labor". edlabor.house.gov. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  27. ^ "Keller kicks off Bureau of Prisons Reform Caucus". The Review. Towanda, Pennsylvania. October 1, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  28. ^ "Conservative Climate Caucus Members". Congressman John Curtis. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  29. ^ "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  30. ^ "2019 Special Election 12th Congressional District". Pennsylvania Department of State. May 21, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  31. ^ a b c d e f "Fred Keller". Ballotpedia. Lucy Burns Institute. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  32. ^ "Valley GOP leader says Keller would be 'good addition' in Washington". The Daily Item. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  33. ^ Scicchitano, Eric (December 16, 2022). "Report shows texts from Keller, Kelly, Perry in broad attempts to overturn 2020 election results". Meadville Tribune. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  34. ^ a b "WITF is connecting these lawmakers to their actions on the election-fraud lie. Here's why". WITF. January 28, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  35. ^ "Seven Pa. GOP congressmen sign onto Texas-led lawsuit to overturn the will of the people". WITF. December 11, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 85th district
2011–2019 		Succeeded by
David Rowe
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district
2019–2023 		Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Representative 		Succeeded byas Former US Representative
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