Thomas Wingett Corbett Jr.[1] (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician, lobbyist, and former prosecutor who served as the 46th governor of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015.

Born in Philadelphia, Corbett is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College and St. Mary's University School of Law and served as a captain in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

Corbett then joined the U.S. Department of Justice as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, serving from 1980 to 1983, upon entering private practice.

In 1988 Corbett was first elected to public office as a Township Commissioner in the Pittsburgh suburb of Shaler, before serving as the United States Attorney for Western Pennsylvania from 1989 to 1993 in the George H. W. Bush administration.

[3] He received his Bachelor's degree at Lebanon Valley College and was employed as a 9th grade teacher for one year at Pine Grove Area School District[4] Corbett then earned his J.D.

In 1989, Senators John Heinz and Arlen Specter recommended to President Bush that he nominate Corbett as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

In 1995, Corbett was appointed to the position of State Attorney General by Governor Ridge to fill the remainder of the term left by the conviction of Ernie Preate.

While Attorney General, Corbett's office received multiple allegations of sexism and derogatory treatment of women.

In October 2008, Corbett prosecuted four individuals who were part of a $9 million meth ring in Berks and Montgomery County.

[14] Corbett convened a grand jury in 2009 to investigate longstanding allegations of child sexual abuse by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Corbett has been criticized for the three year time span between the grand jury investigation and Sandusky's indictment, and for his gubernatorial staff approving a $3 million grant to Sandusky's Second Mile charity for children, which, according to the grand jury findings, served as a repository for potential sex-abuse victims.

[16] On March 23, 2010, Corbett, along with 13 other state attorneys general, filed a lawsuit against the mandates in the just-signed federal Healthcare Bill, claiming it is unconstitutional.

[19] In 2010, Corbett subpoenaed the social media app, Twitter, in order to "testify and give evidence regarding alleged violations of the laws of Pennsylvania".

[20] On March 17, 2009, it was reported that Corbett had formed an exploratory committee and had begun filing the paperwork necessary to begin a run for Governor of Pennsylvania.

[22] In the general election, he faced Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, who won the Democratic primary with 45% of the vote.

In May 2010 Corbett filed a criminal subpoena against Twitter ordering them to divulge "any and all subscriber information" of the person(s) behind two accounts that were criticizing the Republican candidate.

[25][26] In September 2010, at the first gubernatorial debate, Corbett again gained attention for seemingly violating his "no-tax pledge" in suggesting that he would consider raising the payroll contribution tax.

[29][30][31] According to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, between January 2011, when Corbett took office, and June 2014, Pennsylvania gained a net 124,800 jobs during that period.

Economist Tara Sinclair noted that Pennsylvania suffered fewer job losses during the recession from 2008–2010, so it might be expected to experience a "less robust recovery".

Corbett has said, however, that he will not attempt to limit collective bargaining, as have Republican Governors John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

[38] In October, after the state's response to Tropical Storm Lee, another Quinnipiac poll found that Corbett's approval rating was 50 percent, up six points from August.

[43][44][45] In February 2011, Corbett repealed a four-month-old policy regulating natural gas drilling (including hydraulic fracturing) in park land, deeming it "unnecessary and redundant" according to a spokesperson.

The Pennsylvania Democratic Party called the repeal a "payoff" to oil and gas interests which donated a million dollars to Corbett's campaign.

[48] The law helped gain access to land for new pipelines,[50] one of which transports natural gas from Pennsylvania to export terminals in Maryland,[51][52][53][54] from which it will be shipped to Europe and Asia.

[58] The Marcellus Shale Law (House Bill 1950) also contained a provision that allows doctors in Pennsylvania access to the list of chemicals in hydraulic fracturing fluid in emergency situations only, but forbids them from discussing this information with their patients.

[60] The bill also reduced the legal responsibility of vendors, service providers, and operators regarding the identity and impact of contents of the hydraulic fracturing fluid they use.

[60] In an interview broadcast on October 4, 2013, Corbett was on WHP-TV in Harrisburg when an anchor asked a question regarding a member of his staff comparing the union of gay couples to that of 12-year-old children.

"I explained that current Pennsylvania statute delineates categories of individuals unable to obtain a marriage license," he said.

[71] In the general election, Corbett faced Democratic nominee Tom Wolf, a businessman and former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.

She served as Assistant Producer and then Executive Director of Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures and Vice-President for Programs and Development for the Gettysburg Foundation.