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'''Mark B. Cohen''' (born June 4, 1949) is a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[politician]] from [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. He has represented [[Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 202|District 202]] in the [[Pennsylvania House of Representatives]] since June 10, 1974.<ref>Addressing the House of Representatives after having been elected a Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Philadelphia, Gelfand was introduced by Speaker [[Herbert Fineman]] on July 8, 1975 as "one of the most hard working, conscientous and responsible legislators ever to come to Harrisburg...." Gelfand told the House "....I really do miss the legislature. Sometimes I think one of the worst things I ever did was to run for the judiciary and leave this body...." Gelfand also humorously responded to needling about his penchant for making speeches on the House floor. Legislative Journal--House, page 1949, http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/HJ/1975/0/19750708.pdf</ref> He is the most senior member in the [[Pennsylvania General Assembly]] since the December 27, 2010 death of Sen. [[Michael O'Pake]],<ref>The second most senior current Pennsylvania House member is [[Thomas Caltagirone]], whose service began on December 1, 1976. [[Stewart Greenleaf]], whose legislative career began in the House on December 1, 1976 and whose Senate career began on December 1, 1978, is the senior member of the Pennsylvania Senate. Saying he wanted to draw attention to issues he was concerned about, such imposing tariffs on foreign products, paying off the national debt, tying the value of government assets to the issuing of money, and protecting American copyrights and trademarks against foreign competition, Greenleaf filed for President in the 2012 New Hampshire primary in October, 2011, according to Gary Weckelsatt, "Greenleaf on Presidential ballot," the [[The Intelligencer (Doylestown, Pennsylvania)|Intelligencer]], November 1, 2011</ref> one of the most senior state legislators in the United States,<ref>
State Senator [[Fred Risser]], first elected to the [[Wisconsin]] House 1956, and the Wisconsin Senate in 1962, is the senior state legislator in the United States. Twelve other incumbent state legislators around the United States with more seniority than Cohen as of the start of the 2015 legislative session include [[Maryland]] State Senator [[Thomas V Miller, Jr.]], first elected to the House in 1970 and to the Senate in 1974, [[New Jersey]] State Senator [[Richard Codey]], first elected to the House in 1973 and to the Senate in 1981, [[Vermont]] State Senator [[William T. Doyle]], first elected to the Senate in 1968, [[Texas]] State Rep. [[Tom Craddick]], first elected in 1968, [[New York]] State Rep. [[Richard Gottfried]], first elected in 1970, [[Indiana]] State Rep. [[B. Patrick Bauer]], first elected in 1970, [[Illinois]] Rep. [[Michael Madigan]], first elected in 1970, [[New York]] State Rep. [[Joseph Lentol]], first elected in 1972, [[Minnesota]] State Rep. [[Lyndon Carlson]], first elected in 1972, [[New Mexico]] State Rep. [[Nick Salazar]], first elected in 1972, [[Minnesota]] State Rep. [[Phyllis Kahn]], first elected in 1972, and [[Texas]] State Rep. [[Senfronia Thompson]], first elected in 1972. See Ballotpedia, State Representatives Sorted By Years First Elected, and State Senators Sorted By Years First Elected, and biographies of legislators in Ballotpedia and Wikipedia. Not all of those currently serving first elected before Cohen are listed here as having more seniority than he does, as some served non consecutive terms and have fewer years of total legislative service than he does.</ref> one of the longest serving state legislators in Pennsylvania history <ref>Pennsylvania state legislators who have served longer than Cohen as of the start of the 2015-2016 legislative session include [[Clarence D. Bell]], Norman Wood, for whom the [[Norman Wood Bridge]] is named, and [[Michael O'Pake]]. Former legislators as of the start of the 2015-2016 legislative session who have not served as long as Cohen, but have served at least 35 years, include [[Bill DeWeese]], [[Joseph G. Wargo]], [[Frank L. Oliver]] , [[Camille George]], [[Jeanette Reibman]], [[Barry Stout]], [[Bob Mellow]] [[William Rieger]]. and [[Matthew Ryan]]. See the biennial editions of the Pennsylvania Manual, published by the Department of General Services for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.</ref> and the longest serving Democrat in Pennsylvania House history.<ref>He is followed in time of total service by House Democrats [[William Rieger]], [[Thomas Caltagirone]] and [[Camille George]]. .</ref> He is one of those who "know [[Harrisburg]]," a reporter summarized.<ref>Gary Weckselbatt, "They know [[Harrisburg]]," in "Jousting over Fitzpatrick's pay freeze bid," January 7, 2013,phillyburbs.com, http://www.phillyburbs.com/local-politics/jousting-over-fitzpatrick-s-pay-freeze-bid/article-ee0674c3-a267-5df1-9e6b-74bc94314370.html</ref> Cohen was a [[Washington, D.C.]] intern during the [[Great Society]] and the [[War in Vietnam]].<ref>More detail is in the "Personal" section below</ref> He is the last of the [[Watergate Babies]] in Pennsylvania still serving in the Pennsylvania legislature <ref>[[Thomas E. Flaherty]], another of the [[Watergate Babies]], is a judge on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas</ref> who were elected to office for the first time in 1974 in the wake of the national backlash against the illegal activities of the [[Watergate scandal]]. They helped to make Pennsylvania "among the 22 states that established outside oversight of ethical conduct and/or disclosure requirements of legislators in the post-Watergate 1970s." <ref>"A snapshot of ethics practices in Pennsylvania," The Center for Public Integrity website, http://www.publicintegrity.org/2001/12/31/6511/pennsylvania</ref> Cohen is the most senior of the small number of Pennsylvania legislators <ref>Others include [[Thomas Caltagirone]] and [[Stewart Greenleaf]].</ref> who started serving before the [[Reagan Era]].
Cohen served as a member of the House Democratic leadership from January, 1990, through November, 2010, in the positions of Democratic Caucus Chairman (1990–1992 and 1994–2010)<ref>[[Franklin L. Kury]], Clean Politics, Clean Streams: A Legislative Autobiography and Reflections, pages 41-43 (2011) says "The party caucus is critical to the working of a legislative body. Limited (at times) to elected party members and leadership staff, caucuses are held before each voting session to explain and discuss the bills that will be acted on. To run a legislature without caucuses would be like playing football games without huddles. Always closed to the press and public, the caucuses permit each party to discuss and strategize on the legislation they will be voting on. In the caucuses the leaders count the votes so they know what will succeed and fail in the voting....When the House was in session our caucus met at least once a week to go over the legislative calendar, get a briefing on each bill, hear the leaders' views on the bills, discuss amendments, and discuss party strategy when that was appropriate. The great bulk of bills did not involve party positions....Attendance at caucuses, however, was essential to understanding what forces were at play on the bills to be considered. To go to the floor without participating in the caucus put a legislator at a considerable disadvantage and political risk. Missing a caucus could mean voting in ignorance of significant political and substantive information."</ref> and Majority Whip (1992–1994).<ref>During his years in leadership, the Democrats were the majority party in his first three terms and his last two terms, and the Republicans were the majority party for the six terms in between. The Republican majority in the 1995-1996 session was caused by the switch of [[Tom Stish]] to the Republican Party after being elected on the Democratic ticket. See Volume 119, Pennsylvania Manual 2009, page 3-275 for term by term partisan breakdowns.</ref> No one in Pennsylvania history has been elected as a Democratic Party caucus leader in the [[Pennsylvania House of Representatives]] as many times (11) as Cohen <ref>[[K. Leroy Irvis]] was elected a party caucus leader 10 times and Speaker of the House (representing the House as a whole) four times. [[Bill DeWeese]] was elected a party caucus leader 10 times and Speaker of the House once. [[Dwight Evans (Pennsylvania politician)]] was elected to caucus leadership 10 times. Jeanne Schmedlen, Pennsylvania House of Representative's Caucus Officers 1900 Until Today: A history of the offices, descriptions of the duties of each office and a chronological list of those who have served (2001) and Pennsylvania Manuals for 2003-2004,
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