Altoona Council member seeks District 21 seat
Altoona City Council member Joe Pirillo recently announced his candidacy for the Iowa Senate, District 21, which includes most of Jasper County and the southeastern part of Polk County. Pirillo will run in the June 8, 2010, Republican primary for the right to challenge Lynnville incumbent Dennis Black for the senate seat that Black has held since 1995.
Pirillo, a Certified Public Accountant, has been involved in a variety of business, community, and youth activities in his career. He has remained extensively involved in many church and youth community activities in the Altoona area. Pirillo is a combat veteran from the Vietnam era, having served in the U.S. Marine Corps from July 1962 to July 1968. He has been involved as an Altoona civic leader, including serving on the Altoona City Council for 22 years.
Pirillo, a life-long Polk County resident, defines himself politically as one of the original “Reagan Democrats.” Pirillo is strong on national defense and supportive of sound fiscal policy. Pirillo stands in line with President Ronald Reagan, a former Democrat himself, who once stated that “the Democratic Party left me – I did not leave it.”
Pirillo, too, believes that the Democratic Party of today has abandoned the people of Iowa with its support of excessive State spending, proposed job-killing tax hikes, and a complete refusal by Democratic leaders to allow the people of Iowa to vote on the same-sex marriage issue.
A consistent conservative, Pirillo has joined the Republican Party in the effort to restore fiscal sanity and common sense to the legislature. Pirillo is encouraging other independent-minded voters to join him and other Republicans, Independents, and Democrats in working toward getting the State of Iowa back on a sound financial track.
“It is time to take back our government,” Pirillo said.
Pirillo and his wife of 40 years, Judy Pirillo, have three grown sons, one grandchild, and twin grandchildren on the way. Pirillo is a 1962 graduate of Dowling High School and, with the help of the GI Bill, a 1973 graduate of Ferris State University of Michigan.
Pirillo is seeking community input on the issues that are most important to the residents of Senate District 21 and can be reached at (515) 967-5840 or via e-mail at joe@pirillo.com.
