Biography

Senator John R. Gordner was first elected to the State Senate in November 2003. He was re-elected on November 2, 2004 to serve his first full term. Senator Gordner represents the 27th Senatorial District, which includes all of Columbia, Northumberland, Montour and Snyder counties and part of Luzerne and Dauphin counties.

Prior to his election to the Senate, Senator Gordner served for 11 years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. During his service in the General Assembly, Senator Gordner has been active in advancing many economic development projects that have helped area businesses create thousands of jobs for district residents.

He has been named Legislative Advocate of the Year by the Small Business Development Centers, and was also honored with the National Federation of Independent Businesses Guardian of Small Business Award. In 2004, Senator Gordner received the Joseph Seigman Legislator of the Year Award, given by the 40,000 members of the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees. He is a past recipient of the Adam Smith Leadership Award by Economics Pennsylvania, a statewide organization that promotes financial literacy programs in public and private schools.

As a member of the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, Senator Gordner has promoted the technology industry and economic development. He was instrumental in the Authority’s approval of the Greater Susquehanna Keystone Innovation Zone, which is bringing high-tech jobs to Bloomsburg, Danville, Selinsgrove and Lewisburg. Senator Gordner has also assisted companies in Berwick, Milton, Millersburg, Shamokin and other area communities in job creation projects. In 2004, he authored a law appropriating $250 million for statewide water and sewer system improvement.

Senator Gordner has continually advocated for better and more affordable health care. He voted to expand prescription drug coverage to more than 100,000 Pennsylvania seniors and worked to enhance the state's Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), so that more children of working families have coverage.

Senator Gordner serves as Chairman of the Labor and Industry Committee and Vice Chairman of the Communications and Technology Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations Committee; Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee; Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee; and the Judiciary Committee. In addition, Senator Gordner is Chair of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania and a member of the Joint Legislative Conservation Committee.

Senator Gordner is very involved in his community, serving as a member of the Board of Deacons of the First Baptist Church of Berwick, the Berwick Rotary Club, the Columbia/Montour Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the statewide Board of Economics Pennsylvania. He is an associate member of Columbia County's Farm Bureau, a former president of the Berwick Jaycees, a former fund drive chairman of the Berwick Area United Way, a former Vice President of the Greater Berwick Chapter of the American Red Cross, and was a charter board member of the Central Susquehanna Community Foundation.

Senator Gordner earned his bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College in 1983, and he earned his law degree from the Dickinson School of Law in 1987.

He and his wife, Lori D. (Lindenmuth) Gordner, reside in Berwick with their two children, Allison and Cole.