Republican National Committeeman Bob Asher and Republican National Committeewoman Christine Toretti
LANCASTER – Montgomery County’s Bob Asher and Indiana County’s Christine Toretti were re-elected to four-year terms on the Republican National Committee during the Republican Party of Pennsylvania’s Summer Meeting today at the Lancaster Convention Center in Lancaster.
“Bob and Christine have done a fantastic job representing Pennsylvania on the Republican National Committee,” Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason said. “For years, Bob Asher and Christine Toretti have worked tirelessly to ensure our Republican candidates have the support and resources they need to be successful in November. The Republican Party of Pennsylvania is respected all over the country because of Bob and Christine’s distinguished service in support of our candidates, and the PA GOP is excited to re-elect them to represent us on the national level.
“Today, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania reaffirmed its excitement to elect our candidates this November,” Gleason said. “Whether it’s our historic amount of new Republican voters or our high turnout in the Primary Election, momentum is clearly on the side of the Republican Party in the Keystone State. Pennsylvania Republicans are ready to turn our sights to supporting our statewide ticket of U.S. Senator Pat Toomey, Attorney General candidate John Rafferty, Auditor General candidate John Brown, and Treasurer candidate Otto Voit, along with our candidates at all levels of government, in the weeks and months ahead.”
In addition to the re-election of our Republican National Committee members, the PA GOP completed its list of delegates and alternate delegates to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. These fourteen bound delegates will join Pennsylvania’s three members of the Republican National Committee, Bob Asher, Christine Toretti and PA GOP Chairman Rob Gleason, and the fifty-four delegates directly elected by the voters on Primary Election Day on April 26th, at the July Convention.
The fourteen bound delegates, who were elected by the full body of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, are as follows: Congressman Lou Barletta, Luzerne County; George Fisher, York County; Chris Gleason, Cambria County; Joyce Haas, Centre County; Dave Majernik, Allegheny County; Congressman Tom Marino, Lycoming County; James McErlane, Chester County; Pat Poprik, Bucks County; Andrew Reilly, Delaware County; PA Senate President Pro Tempore Joseph Scarnati, Jefferson County; Matthias Shaner, Allegheny County; Lawrence Tabas, Philadelphia County; Speaker of the House Mike Turzai, Allegheny County; Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh, Chester County.
The fourteen alternate delegates, who were also elected by the full body of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, are as follows: Mary Barket, Northampton County; Luke Bernstein, Cumberland County; Donna Cosmello, Susquehanna County; Councilman Sam DeMarco, Allegheny County; Jeanne Gleason, Cambria County; Doug Hager, Montgomery County; Congressman Mike Kelly, Butler County; Pam Levy, Montgomery County; House Majority Leader Dave Reed, Indiana County; Pat Saylor, Snyder County; Alexandra Smith, Montgomery County; Richard Stewart, Cumberland County; State Senator Scott Wagner, York County; Recorder of Deeds Katharine Wood-Jacobs, Lancaster County.
About Bob Asher
Republican National Committeeman Bob Asher is one of the most successful business people in Pennsylvania. Currently, Mr. Asher serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Asher’s Chocolates, a 4th generation family candy business which includes distribution centers in Souderton and Lewistown, PA as well as the historic Germantown area of Philadelphia. Asher’s Chocolates annually produces more than 6 million pounds of confectioneries for national and international distribution.
Mr. Asher is also deeply involved in efforts to improve his community. His accomplishments include serving as Chairman of the Development Committee of the Nature Conservancy of Pennsylvania, on the Board of Directors for the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay Advisory Board, as well as the Board of Directors for the Salvation Army in the Philadelphia Region. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Society, the Philadelphia Zoological Society, Session of Oreland (PA) Presbyterian Church, the Union League of Philadelphia, the Academy Club of Germantown Academy and a number of organizations.
Mr. Asher has served as Pennsylvania’s Republican National Committeeman since 1998, and will be serving as a delegate to the Republican National Convention for the fifth time. He is a former Chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, and the Montgomery County Republican Committee. He also served as State Chairman for Governor Dick Thornburgh’s successful re-election campaign committee in 1982.
The U.S. Army veteran is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and Commerce as well as Germantown Academy in Fort Washington. He is married to the former Joyce Webb, with three children, son Jeff, daughters Jill and Jodi, who are all married, and has seven grandchildren.
About Christine Toretti
A pioneer in many walks of life, Christine Toretti is the former Chairman and CEO of the S. W. Jack Drilling Co., the largest privately-held land-based drilling company in the United States. She serves as Vice Chairman of S&T Bancorp and is a former director of the Pittsburgh Federal Reserve Bank. Her astute business acumen, her ability to transcend gender-biases in the workplace, and her reputation as a business turn-around expert, make her a much sought-after advisor.
In addition, Christine serves on many non-profit boards including the International Medical Corps, an NGO that has been lauded as the most fiscally efficient in the world while serving those distressed with distinction. That passion for supporting the not for profit arena, transcends many areas. She has served as Chair of The Andy Warhol Museum, founding director of the Gettysburg Foundation and numerous higher education institutions and systems. Christine is the Founder and Chair of both the Anne B. Anstine Excellence in Public Service Series in Pennsylvania and the Dodie Londen Excellence in Public Service Series in Arizona, training programs designed to educate, empower and advance Republican women.
Governor Tom Ridge so respected her leadership that he appointed her to Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education and subsequently adopted a plan crafted by her to fund investments in higher education in new and innovative ways. In 2002, Indiana University of Pennsylvania conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Laws. Governor Mark Schweiker appointed her as his representative on the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. President George W. Bush appointed her to the Rural Telephone Bank where she served as Vice Chair. In 2007, she was elected Chair of the Committee of 200, an organization of the most influential female CEOs in the world. She is also a founding member of the Belizean Grove. Recently, she was elected to the Board of Directors of CEO.
With a family tradition of political activism, Christine has been recognized as an extraordinary fundraiser for candidates and party organizations in the local, state, and national arena and serves as National Committeewoman of Pennsylvania to the Republican National Committee. She served as Co-Chair of the RNC Finance Committee in the 2011-12 election cycle and held the position of Secretary of the 2012 RNC Convention. A force within her industry, the Bush administration sought her input by placing her on the National Petroleum Council and the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board. In 2014, Toretti was elected to the board of the Republican State Leadership Committee where she is leading the effort to significantly increase the number of women in elected office across the nation. Named a trustee of the Sarah Scaife Foundation, Christine is an active funder of conservative causes.
If you would ask Christine what is her prime motivation, she would say it is two-fold. First, her commitment to her three sons is paramount and she is compelled to political activism because of her concern for their future. Second, she has a deep commitment to women in great part to the experiences she encountered in the totally male-dominated oil and gas industry. She crosses the nation constantly to promote Republican candidates and had created an annual retreat for female corporate leaders from all over the world. She is the founder of Women Lead PAC, a Super PAC that supports women running in federal elections.
A recipient of numerous awards, she insists that her greatest gifts are her sons: Joe, Max, and Matthew. When available, she has coached their baseball teams and also challenged them on the ice in hockey.
Outside interests include the architecture of Andrea Palladio, the art of the Renaissance, and hiking anywhere in the world.
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