Brett Burman
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Brett Burman (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Pennsylvania State Senate to represent District 9. He lost in the Democratic primary on June 2, 2020.
Burman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Brett Burman was born in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. He pursued his undergraduate education at Washington University in St. Louis and his graduate education at CUNY Lehman College. Burman’s career experience includes working as a public school teacher, executive, and healthcare consultant.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 9
John Kane defeated incumbent Thomas Killion in the general election for Pennsylvania State Senate District 9 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John Kane (D) | 52.0 | 80,198 |
 | Thomas Killion (R) | 48.0 | 74,173 | |
| Total votes: 154,371 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 9
John Kane defeated Brett Burman in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 9 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Kane | 53.7 | 18,839 |
 | Brett Burman | 46.3 | 16,273 | |
| Total votes: 35,112 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 9
Incumbent Thomas Killion advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania State Senate District 9 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas Killion | 100.0 | 25,410 |
| Total votes: 25,410 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Brett Burman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Burman's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Brett Burman, 34, is a former public school teacher and current healthcare businessman. Professionally he has been a strong advocate for healthcare reforms that improve patient care and stop predatory business practices from large industry corporations. Burman is an active member of the Democratic party, serving as an elected member of the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee from Delaware County, where he has emerged as the leading advocate for environmental justice and protecting residents from dangerous gas pipelines.
Burman is currently an elected Auditor in Edgmont Township, Delaware County, and is the first Democrat to serve as Chairman of the Board of Auditor in Edgmont. He was born and raised in the 9th District, and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis.
- We need a fighter, not an insider, someone who's stood on the front lines of our most pressing issues, especially healthcare and education.
- In Harrisburg, bribery isn't a "dirty secret"; it's an institution. PA is the wild-wild-west of unlimited campaign donations and unlimited gifts to legislators. That money warps public policy in favor of special interests, meaning it's the people who pay. We need comprehensive ethics reform as the foundation for lasting change.
- Pennsylvania is in need of a comprehensive re-investment in our common future: to invest in our kids by restoring funding after years of cuts, to invest in our health with a public option and better care for everyone, to invest in Pennsylvania herself by building a green energy future and protecting the purity of our air and water.
My greatest passions arise from my professional experience as a public school teacher and in healthcare. In both areas I saw first-hand the value of investing in people - their education, health, and wellbeing. Having been a teacher in a funding starved school in the Bronx, I also saw the costs of failing to invest. So it hit home to know that my home state of Pennsylvania has the widest wealth gap between rich and poor school districts. Education is always a good investment.
We need to keep it a sensible investment for in-state students at PA's public universities, who are graduating with more debt than any other state's grads.
I have always been passionate about fighting climate change, but the dangers to my community presented by the Mariner East pipelines. I am the only candidate to take a clear and consistent stance against their unsafe operation from day one.
Lastly, I cut my teeth in local politics working to expose the pay-to-play corruption of the Delco GOP. But in Harrisburg corruption is a bipartisan problem, and its costs are born by everyone else. The rules in Harrisburg are rigged to reward interests with deep pockets, and punish politicians who put constituents before contributions. Until we change those rules, we're fighting an uphill battle, so ethics reform is an issue I care deeply about.
I look up to both my parents, but I've learned a great deal about success from my father - both how to achieve it and how to handle it with humility. He has taught me a lot about politics, albeit indirectly, because in truth he hates politics. The examples he has set in business and life are ones I seek to emulate in my own career in public service.
The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi
1) Integrity
2) Respect for human dignity and democracy
3) The ability to accept constructive criticism and assess oneself accordingly.
1) Leadership
2) Bright and hard-working.
3) Flexible thinking and ability to learn about a wide range of different issues.
Put people and principles first. It is the brightest guide-star and makes navigating the political waters more straightforward, but it always promises a more difficult path than the dishonest, easy way forward.
To help pioneer lasting reforms that allow people to live better, more fulfilling lives, and forge a state government that Pennsylvanians can be proud of rather than embarrassed by.
The Oklahoma City bombing first major"historical" event I have clear memories of. I was nine years old.
My first job was as a cashier at the family pharmacy at 21st and Edgmont in Chester.
The Great Gatsby (Fiction) / The Great Transformation (Non-Fiction)
Definitely not Gatsby.
Circles by Post Malone
Until my late 20's I struggle with the truth about my sexuality, and lived in total denial about being gay. It nearly destroyed me. Overcoming that has given me a second chance at life, a gift. Everyone deserves that same opportunity for change and a better life - and right now we are setting too many up for failure with underfunded education and inadequate healthcare.
Aside from the size, the PA Senate has a reputation of being more civil and less partisan.
It's certainly beneficial. I am the only primary candidate who has held elected office (I am the Chief Auditor of my town, which is an elected position in PA).
Investing in our future, from education to healthcare to infrastructure.
Ideally there should be cooperation. The interactions should always reflect that, while the legislature has no single voice, it is a co-equal branch with the executive (ie Governor). Interests and outlook will not always align. Yet each side should be able to trust the other as a good-faith actor and negotiator. Sadly, in PA, the GOP controlled legislature has frequently failed to hold up this end of the bargain.
Of course. Sometimes it's easy to take about plans and policies as though they can be achieved unilaterally, but that's just not the case for a legislator. The only way to get things done is with the cooperation of a majority of colleagues. Therefore relationships based on trust, respect, and shared values are essential.
Health
State Government
Education
I can't rule it out of course. But I firmly believe that when someone is trusted with election to a new office, they owe constituents at least a full term of service before even considering another office. Seeking election to one office solely to attain another means that politician cared more about themselves than the issues they ran on.
Listening to the stories of residents effected by the construction of Mariner East - and now expected to live in unmitigated danger - woke me up to how bad corruption had gotten in PA. Special interests have paid elected officials to sit back while corporations destroy our land, pollute our water, and endanger our lives. It has to stop.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 23, 2020
