State senator Kasunic will retire after current term
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State Sen. Richard A. Kasunic, a Democrat from Dunbar Township, Fayette County, announced Thursday that he will retire when he reaches the end of his current term late this year.
His district includes Allenport, Charleroi, Coal Center, Dunlevy, Elco Speers and Stockdale in Washington County, but reapportionment shifted the boundaries of the 32nd Senatorial District to the east, so candidates running this year will no longer represent this side of the Mon Valley.
Kasunic, was elected in 1982 to represent the 52nd Legislative District in the state House, and he ran for the State Senate seat in 1994. He had no opponent in the general election of 2010.
“I never once woke up in the morning not wanting to go to work.” Kasunic said in a statement. “This decision was honestly not an easy one, but after much soul-searching I decided that, it is time to devote myself to spending quality time with my friends, and more importantly, my family, in this next chapter of my life.”
Among his legislative accomplishments, Kasunic rates procuring the funding and construction of the Mon-Fayette Expressway, Fayette County’s first limited-access, four-lane highway, near the top of the list. He also wrote the Bituminous Coal Mine Safety Law and he helped obtain funding for construction of the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail from Ohiopyle to Connellsville.
He noted that during his Senate career, his district in Somerset County was the site of several historic moments, including the rescue of trapped coal miners at Quecreek Mine and the crash of the terrorist-hijacked United Flight 93 near Shanksville Sept. 11, 2001.
Kasunic was Democratic chairman of the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee for multiple sessions. He is chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus, an elected leadership position he has held since 2010. He previously was elected and served as the Democratic Policy Committee chair from 1997 to 2010. At the end of his term, Kasunic will have served 18 of his 20-year Senate tenure as a member of the Senate Democratic Leadership.
In addition to part of Washington and all of Fayette County, Kasunic’s district includes part of Somerset County and four communities in Westmoreland County.