Paige Cognetti Explained

Office:	36th Mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania
Term Start:	January 6, 2020
Predecessor:	Wayne Evans (acting)
Birth Place:	Eugene, Oregon, US
Children:	2^[1]
Spouse:	Ryan Cognetti^[2]
Party:	Democratic
Otherparty:	Independent (2019)
Education:	University of Oregon (BA) Harvard University (MBA)

Paige Gebhardt Cognetti is an American politician serving as the 36th mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania. She is the first woman to be mayor of the city and won her seat in a special election.^{[3] [4]} A member of the Democratic Party, she ran her first Scranton mayoral campaign as an Independent.

Early life and education

Cognetti was born in Eugene, Oregon. She graduated summa cum laude from the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon with a BA in English Literature and Romance Languages, and holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School. She started her career as an English teacher in Japan; and was a fundraiser for the Clinton and Obama 2008 campaigns and later served as an advisor at the U.S. Treasury Department.^{[5] [6]}

Political career

Cognetti was appointed to the Scranton School Board in 2017,^[7] but later resigned in December 2018 to become a special assistant to Pennsylvania's then state auditor, Eugene DePasquale.^[8] She has run on reform and pragmatism platforms; on the school board, she criticized Scranton's no-bid school bus contracts and unapproved payments to contractors.^[9] For her mayoral bid, she focused on investments and budgets for local businesses, education, and infrastructure.^[10] In 2024, President Joe Biden appointed Cognetti to the United States Trade Representative's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.^[11]

Mayor of Scranton

In 2019, Cognetti ran in the Scranton mayoral special to finish the term of former Scranton mayor Bill Courtright, who pleaded guilty to corruption charges in July of that year.^[12] Cognetti, previously a life long Democrat, ran as an independent after she deemed the closed caucus system of nomination used by the local Democratic Party as not in favor of the people. Cognetti won the special election with 36% of the vote.

Cognetti ran for election to a full term in 2021 as a Democrat and won in a landslide.

Notes and References

1. Web site: About the Mayor . ScrantonPa.gov . February 28, 2024.
2. News: Lange . Stacy . Mayor Paige Cognetti has declared victory in Scranton . October 2, 2022 . WNEP-TV . November 3, 2021.
3. News: Scranton became shorthand for the past. Its reality is far more complicated.. en-US. Washington Post. May 17, 2021. 0190-8286.
4. News: Cole. Devan . First woman elected mayor of Scranton, as an independent after sparring with Democratic machine. May 17, 2021. CNN. November 6, 2019.
5. Web site: March 11, 2020. Mayor of Scranton to Deliver Johnson College's 2020 Commencement Address. May 19, 2021. Johnson College of Technology. en-US.
6. Web site: June 9, 2020. Now the mayor of Scranton, PA, Paige Gebhardt Cognetti's passion for equity inspired by her time in CHC. May 17, 2021. Clark Honors College. en.
7. News: Buynovsky . Sarah . Paige Cognetti Named First Female Mayor of Scranton . 29 February 2024 . WNEP-TV . November 5, 2019.
8. Web site: December 12, 2018. Cognetti Resigns From Scranton School Board To Work For State Auditor General. May 19, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210519052628/https://apnews.com/article/cc6d493175254d9eafe243bcade61c6c . May 19, 2021 . usurped . AP NEWS.
9. Web site: May 14, 2021. Scranton School Board To Ask District Attorney To Investigate Mechanic Insurance. May 19, 2021. AP NEWS.
10. Web site: November 15, 2019. Scranton Mayor-Elect Paige Cognetti offers an object lesson for Philly politics. May 19, 2021. The Philadelphia Citizen. en-US.
11. News: President Biden appoints Scranton Mayor Cognetti as a member of the Advisory Committee . 29 February 2024 . WNEP-TV . February 23, 2024.
12. News: Lange . Stacy . Paige Cognetti Sworn In as Scranton's First Female Mayor . October 2, 2022 . . January 6, 2020.