EDUCATION

Northeastern University, Boston, MA, Bachelor's, 1995

Indiana University, Kelly School of Business, Bloomington, IN, Master's, 2003

Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York, NY, Certificate, 2022

Mark Pinsley Candidate Profile | iVoterGuide

Mark Pinsley earned a certificate from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, a bachelor's degree from Northeastern University, and a master's degree from Indiana University's Kelly School of Business.

Mark Pinsley - State Senator, District 16 - Voter Guide

Mark Pinsley (SD-16), a U.S. Army Reserve veteran, small business owner, and Lehigh County Controller, is running to flip a seat in the Pennsylvania Senate in November. Mark uses his financial expertise to serve his community and ensure fiscal accountability in Lehigh County.

Target Race Launch: DLCC Highlights Another High-Stakes Pennsylvania Senate Contest

WORK & MILITARY
Army Reserves 6 yrs., Corporal

AFFILIATIONS

Mark Pinsley is a small business owner. He served as a corporal in the U.S. Army Reserve for six years.

Target Race Launch: DLCC Highlights Another High-Stakes ...

POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Lehigh County Controller, 2020-
South Whitehall Township Commissioner 2 yrs.


POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Lehigh County Controller, 2020-
South Whitehall Township Commissioner 2 yrs.

POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT

The seat is presently occupied by Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R-Lehigh) who defeated Pinsley by eight points in the 2022 race to replace Patrick Browne who served from 2005-22.

PA-07: Pinsley drops out to make another state senate run

Mark has served as Lehigh County Controller since 2020. He previously served two years as a South Whitehall Township commissioner. He was defeated in the 2022 race for State Senate District 16.

PA-07: Pinsley Drops Out to Make Another State Senate Run

2026 Pennsylvania General Election 

Pinsley: Affordability is a two-sided problem: What people get paid and what life costs. Right now, families are getting squeezed from both sides. Workers are producing more, corporate profits keep climbing, but paychecks haven’t kept up. Whether you stock shelves, drive a truck, work in a hospital or sit behind a desk, a full day’s work should pay enough to live on. That means helping people keep more of what they earn. I would end the state tax on overtime, raise the minimum wage, end noncompete agreements that keep people from leaving for a better-paying job, and tackle healthcare costs that can wipe out a raise before a family ever feels it.

Election 2026: Jarrett Coleman, Mark Pinsley discuss affordability, election integrity, data centers in critical state Senate race

I would also cap property taxes based on income. If you’re retired or working for a living, you shouldn’t lose your home because your property taxes went up faster than your income. And we need more housing. We’ve built warehouse after warehouse in the Lehigh Valley. We need to get just as serious about building homes.

And we need more housing. We’ve built warehouse after warehouse in the Lehigh Valley. We need to get just as serious about building homes. I would make it easier to build starter homes, smaller homes and duplexes, speed up approvals, and give communities incentives to build housing people can afford.

Our minimum wage has been frozen at $7.25 for 17 years. Every state that borders us has a higher minimum wage. That’s a disgrace. I will raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $45,000 ($22/hour), then increase it each year with the cost of living. This will demand a gradual change so employers can plan ahead. This way, one job will be enough to live a comfortable, dignified life.

Issues | Mark Pinsley for PA Senate

That’s backward. Here’s what I’ll fight for in Harrisburg. Big companies that replace Pennsylvania workers with AI or automation should pay into a fund for those workers, based on how many jobs they cut and how much in wages. That money goes to the people who got hurt: retraining, job placement, and help paying for health insurance so nobody loses coverage for their kids the same week they lose their job.

Workers deserve a real heads-up. Federal law only requires 60 days’ notice for big layoffs, and plenty of layoffs don’t even count. I want a stronger Pennsylvania law, with longer notice and severance, so nobody finds out they’re done when their badge stops working at the door. When a company cuts jobs because of AI, it should have to say so publicly. We deserve to know who’s doing it and how many people it’s hitting.

Unions are good for workers and good for business. I will use every legislative tool to empower workers to unionize and stop retaliation, wage theft, worker misclassification, and union-busting. I will ensure that state contracts don’t go to companies that mistreat workers, require strict labor standards on major public projects, use Project Labor Agreements, raise prevailing wages, and expand apprenticeships.

Pennsylvania has no standard process for assessing property values, pushing costs onto counties. That means that some houses are paying property taxes based on their values from the 60s! In Lehigh County, I found that this broken system meant that rich people living in the largest houses were underpaying property taxes, while low-income residents living in modest homes were overpaying. I will push to standardize property assessments, ensuring that wealthy homeowners pay their fair share, while easing pressure from school taxes.

Proposes ending the state tax on overtime and noncompete agreements, while raising the minimum wage and addressing healthcare costs.

Proposes income-based caps on property taxes to prevent tax increases from outpacing residents' incomes.

Proposes speeding approvals and offering community incentives for starter homes, smaller homes, and duplexes.

Proposes speeding up approvals and offering community incentives for starter homes, smaller homes, and duplexes.

Proposes raising Pennsylvania's minimum wage to $22 per hour and indexing it to cost-of-living increases.

Calls for companies that replace workers with artificial intelligence or automation to fund retraining, job placement, and health-insurance assistance.

Wants a stronger state law requiring notice of layoffs, with longer notice periods and severance, plus public disclosure when artificial intelligence causes job cuts.

Pledges to strengthen unionization rights and labor standards, including by barring state contracts for companies that mistreat workers.

Plans to standardize property assessments to shift more property-tax responsibility to higher-value homes and reduce school-tax pressure.

- Proposes ending the state tax on overtime and noncompete agreements, while raising the minimum wage and addressing healthcare costs.
- Proposes income-based caps on property taxes to prevent tax increases from outpacing residents' incomes.
- Proposes speeding up approvals and offering community incentives for starter homes, smaller homes, and duplexes.
- Proposes raising Pennsylvania's minimum wage to $22 per hour and indexing it to cost-of-living increases.
- Calls for companies that replace workers with artificial intelligence or automation to fund retraining, job placement, and health-insurance assistance.
- Wants a stronger state law requiring notice of layoffs, with longer notice periods and severance, plus public disclosure when artificial intelligence causes job cuts.
- Pledges to strengthen unionization rights and labor standards, including by barring state contracts for companies that mistreat workers.
- Plans to standardize property assessments to shift more property-tax responsibility to higher-value homes and reduce school-tax pressure.

Economy

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that we underfund our schools so much it was literally unconstitutional. As a state, we must increase funding to our schools so that our children have access to a quality education with enough well-paid teachers, supplies, and safe buildings while easing the pressure of local property taxes. We can do all of this and give every child free lunches so that they don’t have to learn hungry.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that we underfund our schools so much it was literally unconstitutional. As a state, we must increase funding to our schools so that our children have access to a quality education with enough well-paid teachers, supplies, and safe buildings while easing the pressure of local property taxes. We can do all of this and give every child free lunches so that they don’t have to learn hungry. Our children are our future; let’s mean it.

Advocates for increased state school funding for teachers, supplies, and safe buildings while reducing reliance on local property taxes.

Supports providing free school lunches to every child.

- Advocates for increased state school funding for teachers, supplies, and safe buildings while reducing reliance on local property taxes.
- Supports providing free school lunches to every child.

Education

The federal government has disastrously cut Medicaid, making it harder than ever for working Pennsylvanians to afford basic healthcare. I will fight to protect Medicaid and reduce costs before you get the bill by requiring real price transparency from healthcare providers, capping out-of-pocket costs for essential drugs like insulin, and cutting out middlemen that drive up drug prices. In Lehigh County, I’ve already taken on the biggest healthcare companies and exposed their waste and abuse.

An average nursing home in Pennsylvania can cost families over $100k/yr. In one of the hardest times for adults and their parents, we ask them to go bankrupt. We should use the state budget to protect home healthcare, nursing homes, and rural hospitals, and make sure people don’t lose coverage over a missed form or a confusing system. Let’s raise wages for home healthcare and nursing home workers so the care actually exists, and tighten rules on nursing-home ownership so facilities aren’t gutted by absentee investors. People should age with dignity, not debt.

The decision to continue a pregnancy belongs to a person and their doctor, not a politician. I will write reproductive freedom into Pennsylvania law, protect access to contraception, and expand access to IVF. That also means codifying reproductive and adoption rights for LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians into law.

Fully and explicitly protect LGBTQIA+ Pennsylvanians under state law so no one loses a job, is denied housing, or is pushed out of public life for who they are or who they love. Overhaul the name- and gender-marker change process so documents match who you are without a lawyer, a maze of paperwork, or public outing. Secure access to gender-affirming care and therapy, and properly train health workers to care for LGBTQIA+ people with dignity.

Plans to protect Medicaid, require healthcare price transparency, cap out-of-pocket insulin costs, and address drug-pricing middlemen.

Supports state-budget protections for home healthcare, nursing homes, and rural hospitals, including higher care-worker wages and tighter nursing-home ownership rules.

Plans to codify reproductive freedom, protect contraception access, and expand access to in vitro fertilization.

Supports access to gender-affirming care and therapy, along with training for health workers serving LGBTQIA+ people.

- Plans to protect Medicaid, require healthcare price transparency, cap out-of-pocket insulin costs, and address drug-pricing middlemen.
- Supports state-budget protections for home healthcare, nursing homes, and rural hospitals, including higher care-worker wages and tighter nursing-home ownership rules.
- Plans to codify reproductive freedom, protect contraception access, and expand access to in vitro fertilization.
- Supports access to gender-affirming care and therapy, along with training for health workers serving LGBTQIA+ people.

Healthcare

Pinsley: The best way to protect confidence in our elections is transparency. Voters should be able to see how their ballots are handled, understand how votes are counted and know that the results are independently checked.

I also believe major political parties should have an equal voice in election administration, with neither party having unilateral control. Election officials should be selected for their competence, integrity and commitment to following the law, not simply their party affiliation.

Pennsylvania’s voting systems produce a voter-verifiable paper record, giving us a physical record that can be checked against reported results. If elected, I would support keeping those safeguards strong while making the process as open and understandable as possible. That means continuing to invest in election security, giving county election offices the resources and training they need, and making audit results and other election information readily available to the public.

And we have to get big money out of politics. When campaigns depend on a small number of people writing very large checks, those people get heard a lot more than everyone else. I would limit campaign contributions and end gifts to lawmakers. The people making decisions in Harrisburg should be thinking about the people paying the mortgage, buying groceries and opening the electric bill, not who helped pay for their campaign.

Says election confidence requires transparent ballot handling and vote counting, with results independently checked.

Believes major political parties should have equal roles in election administration and officials should be chosen for competence, integrity, and adherence to law.

Believes major political parties should have equal roles in election administration, and that officials should be chosen for competence, integrity, and adherence to the law.

Supports maintaining voter-verifiable paper records, investing in election security and county election offices, and publicly sharing audit results.

Proposes limiting campaign contributions and ending gifts to lawmakers.

- Says election confidence requires transparent ballot handling and vote counting, with results independently checked.
- Believes major political parties should have equal roles in election administration, and that officials should be chosen for competence, integrity, and adherence to the law.
- Supports maintaining voter-verifiable paper records, investing in election security and county election offices, and publicly sharing audit results.
- Proposes limiting campaign contributions and ending gifts to lawmakers.

Voting & Elections

Police exist to respond to emergencies, solve crimes, and keep streets safe, but the federal government is threatening our neighbors with illegal deportations. Tangling local police with federal civil immigration enforcement makes communities live in fear and makes it harder for police to build trust. I will make sure that our state and local law enforcement can protect and serve our communities without succumbing to federal pressure.

Weed has been illegal for simply far too long. Pennsylvania made the right step by legalizing medical use, but we’re losing billions of dollars a year to states like Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York that have legalized recreational use. Let’s legalize marijuana for adults 21+, regulate it for safety, and tax it fairly. We can expunge the records of those wrongfully convicted of non-violent marijuana use and send the additional tax dollars to the communities that bore the brunt of the War on Drugs.

Plans to keep state and local law enforcement separate from federal civil immigration enforcement.

Supports legalizing and regulating marijuana for adults 21 and older, expunging certain nonviolent marijuana convictions, and directing tax revenue to affected communities.

- Plans to keep state and local law enforcement separate from federal civil immigration enforcement.
- Supports legalizing and regulating marijuana for adults 21 and older, expunging certain nonviolent marijuana convictions, and directing tax revenue to affected communities.

Public Safety

I support Gov. Shapiro’s GRID requirements, which require data center developers to pay the costs of new generation, transmission, distribution and other infrastructure caused by their projects. But I believe we should go further. Developers should have to demonstrate before construction that they can pay the full cost of their electricity needs and the eventual decommissioning of their facility.

Our state constitution gives us the right to clean air, pure water, and the preservation of the environment, but many of our cities have some of the worst air pollution in the country. We can and should do better, while creating jobs. I will work to raise clean energy standards and build renewables, battery storage, and grid upgrades with apprenticeship-backed trades jobs. We should make sure polluters don’t leave communities holding the bill.

PPL is the 10th most profitable utility company in the entire country, and about 20 cents of every dollar on your electric bill goes straight to its shareholders. That is not a free market. It is a monopoly built on corporate greed, answering to investors elsewhere instead of the families it is supposed to serve. I will require every rate increase to justify itself in plain numbers before it takes effect, and build a real consumer advocacy office to fight for families in every rate increase. Electricity should never price families out of living here.

Data centers have gone too far. Corporations are building massive data centers across Pennsylvania that increase energy costs, strain the grid, and threaten our communities. That’s why I support a moratorium on data centers to give the State Legislature time to pass laws to require data centers to pay for grid upgrades, force public hearings before electricity rates go up, and make regulators answer to Pennsylvania families instead of utility shareholders.

Supports requiring data-center developers to demonstrate before construction that they can cover electricity and eventual decommissioning costs.

Plans to raise clean-energy standards and develop renewable energy, battery storage, and grid upgrades to create apprenticeship-backed jobs in the trades.

Proposes requiring utilities to publicly justify rate increases and creating a consumer advocacy office for utility rate proceedings.

Supports a moratorium on data centers while the legislature considers requirements for developers to fund grid upgrades and public hearings on rate increases.

- Supports requiring data-center developers to demonstrate before construction that they can cover electricity and eventual decommissioning costs.
- Plans to raise clean-energy standards and develop renewable energy, battery storage, and grid upgrades to create apprenticeship-backed jobs in the trades.
- Proposes requiring utilities to publicly justify rate increases and creating a consumer advocacy office for utility rate proceedings.
- Supports a moratorium on data centers while the legislature considers requirements for developers to fund grid upgrades and public hearings on rate increases.

Energy & the Environment

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Mark Pinsley

- Proposes raising Pennsylvania's minimum wage to $22 per hour and indexing it to cost-of-living increases.
- Calls for companies that replace workers with artificial intelligence or automation to fund retraining, job placement, and health-insurance assistance.
- Wants a stronger state law requiring notice of layoffs, with longer notice periods and severance, plus public disclosure when artificial intelligence causes job cuts.
- Pledges to strengthen unionization rights and labor standards, including by barring state contracts for companies that mistreat workers.
- Plans to standardize property assessments to shift more property-tax responsibility to higher-value homes and reduce school-tax pressure.

- Plans to raise clean-energy standards and develop renewable energy, battery storage, and grid upgrades to create apprenticeship-backed jobs in the trades.
- Proposes requiring utilities to publicly justify rate increases and creating a consumer advocacy office for utility rate proceedings.
- Supports a moratorium on data centers while the legislature considers requirements for developers to fund grid upgrades and public hearings on rate increases.

Isaac Brickman

Buket Urgen

Jarrett Coleman

- Your state senator represents the interests of your district in the Pennsylvania State Senate. The State Senate, along with the State House of Representatives, makes up your state lawmaking body: the Pennsylvania General Assembly. 
- Your state senator can author, sponsor, and vote on bills that may become state laws after going through the legislative process.
- The State Senator and their staff members respond to constituent concerns and questions through emails, phone calls, and website announcements. 
- The State Senator oversees the executive branch and can vote to overrule a veto by the Governor.   
- There are 50 Pennsylvania state senators, each representing a single district.
- Senators must be at least 25 years old, U.S. citizens, and residents of Pennsylvania for four years. They must also have lived in their district for one year before the election and must remain there throughout their term.
- State senators are elected to four-year terms and have a salary of $106,000, with a 1-3% annual increase.  

Your representative and state lawmaker in the Pennsylvania Senate.