Angela Reese, wife of Mike Reese, to run for late husband's state House seat

Angela Reese said she hopes to carry on her late husband’s legacy by running for his former seat in the state House.

Mike Reese, 42, a Republican, died of an apparent brain aneurysm Jan. 2. He was reelected in November to a seventh term representing the 59th Legislative District after running unopposed.

“It was a very difficult decision, not something I wanted to have to think about right away. … I spent a lot of time talking with family and close friends, and it just seemed like the right thing to do,” Angela Reese said. “We did everything as a family, and I just wanted to continue that and continue his legacy.”

A special election to fill the seat will be held May 18.

Reese, who works as the business manager for St. Florian Church in Mt. Pleasant Township, said she hopes to carry on her husband’s political legacy.

“I will be a strong voice for our families and seniors, and I will fight for their jobs, less taxes and our shared values here at home and in Harrisburg,” she said.

She described herself as pro-life and a supporter of the Second Amendment. She said top priorities would be election reform and limiting Gov. Tom Wolf’s ability to make covid-related mandates.

A Southwestern Pennsylvania native, Angela Reese graduated from Shippensburg University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. She married Mike Reese in 2002.

She helped raise the couple’s three children: Addy, 15; Michael, 13; and Claire, 10.

She volunteers at the parent teacher organizations at her children’s schools, as a volunteer minister at her church and in youth sports, she said.

Reese said she shares her husband’s commitment to the community.

“He had such a dedication to this community, and so do I,” she said. “This community has been an amazing strength to me over the last few weeks.”

She said she’s received an outpouring of support since her husband’s death, from a non-stop torrent of sympathy cards to home-cooked dinners from neighbors.

The 59th District consists of 42 voting precincts in eastern Westmoreland County, including parts of Hempfield and Unity townships as well as Cook, Donegal, Fairfield, Ligonier and Mt. Pleasant townships; and Bolivar, Donegal, Ligonier, Laurel Mountain, New Florence and Seward boroughs. It also includes 10 rural precincts in western Somerset County.

Angela Reese is the third Republican this month to announce their intention to run for Mike Reese’s former seat.

She is competing against Leslie Baum Rossi, the Unity woman best known for owning the red, white and blue Trump House on Route 982, and Shawn Knepper, a Ligonier Valley police officer.