Veteran GOP lawmaker from Penn Township says he won't run again for state House

George Dunbar’s upcoming 14th year representing residents of Westmoreland County’s 56th District in the state House will be his last.

A Penn Township resident who has served as the Republican caucus chair since 2021, Dunbar announced Monday he doesn’t intend to seek an eighth two-year term in the House.

“It’s just time,” Dunbar said of his decision, indicating he intends to spend more time with his family.

“I never expected to be here this long,” he said of his tenure in the House. “Fourteen years is enough. I’ll be 64 next year.

“I have a wife of 37 years, four wonderful daughters and a third grandchild on the way. My wife and my children deserve much of my gratitude, as my attention is often diverted to Harrisburg.”

As caucus chair, Dunbar leads GOP caucus meetings and handles notifications regarding the progress of legislation. He was selected for the position after the January 2021 death of the previous chair — friend and fellow state Rep. Mike Reese of Mt. Pleasant Township, who suffered a brain aneurysm.

“It’s been the honor of my life to serve the residents of the 56th District,” Dunbar said. The district includes Penn and North Huntingdon townships, Jeannette, Irwin, Manor, North Irwin, Penn and Trafford boroughs.

An accountant by trade who describes himself as a fiscal conservative, Dunbar said one of his major efforts in the House has been promotion of a performance-based state budget.

“It’s not just looking at what we spend on a line item but the result that we get,” he said. “Did you accomplish what you set out to accomplish?”

Fellow Republican Kim Ward of Hempfield, who is majority leader and president pro tempore of the state Senate, said Dunbar’s experience will be missed in Harrisburg and in Westmoreland County.

“George has seniority and is in leadership and can make things happen here,” Ward said of the state capitol. “He did it in a pretty short period of time. He’s been a great partner as we try to navigate the waters and get things done.”

Ward said she met Dunbar when both had their sights set on county government and were running for commissioner.

“He’s been a great friend,” Ward said. “I’m going to miss him a lot. We’re going to have a void.”

Dunbar said one of the highlights of his time in the House has been co-sponsoring legislation in 2017 that expanded state gaming and resulting revenue. The legislation allowed development of more brick-and-mortar casino venues as well as online gaming and sports wagering.

“The revenue has gone to a lot of wonderful projects that otherwise would not have been done,” he said. That includes more than $20 million awarded for projects in Westmoreland earlier this year.

Dunbar cited the importance of state highway projects that have been accomplished or are pending in his district.

He said improvements to some key intersections in Penn Township, where he previously served as a township commissioner, helped to clear the way for a proposed Pennsylvania Turnpike exit ramp there. “That wouldn’t have been able to happen without alleviating those traffic problems,” he said.

Work is slated over the next several years to improve a section of Route 30 in North Huntingdon.

“That’s something, transportation-wise, that we’ve worked on,” Dunbar said. “It’s scary. There’s nothing between the lanes going in the opposite directions.”

Westmoreland County GOP Chairman Bill Bretz said Dunbar has played an important role in mentoring other members of the county’s Harrisburg delegation who have less seniority, while pursuing measures that support the business community.

“It’s going to be a loss, for sure,” Bretz said of Dunbar’s decision not to run again, but added: “I’m sure we’ll have a strong successor who will be able to pick up and fill in that vacuum.”