Jacqueline Crahalla

Jacqueline R. Crahalla is a former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving from 2003 to 2006.

Biography She is a 1958 graduate of Collingswood High School in Collingswood, New Jersey. She worked in Merck Sharp & Dohme and other corporations before retiring to "stay home and raise a family". During that time, she worked part-time as a columnist for a local newspaper. The new configuration was intentionally drawn to handicap Lawless as punishment from Lawless' former caucus. That November, Crahalla defeated Lawless by razor thin 168 vote margin. Following the loss, Lawless destroyed many constituent-related documents, rather than surrender them to Crahalla.

In 2005, James T. Stewart, Crahalla's former chief of staff who was fired and indicted in Montgomery County for stealing $15,000 in campaign money, filed an ethics complaint against his former boss, telling the state State Ethics Commission and Judicial Conduct Board that he was "routinely required to perform political and campaign-related work" in Crahalla's district office. The complaint also alleged that Crahalla's husband, a magistrate judge violated judicial conduct rules by handling her campaign donations.

Retirement In January 2006, Crahalla announced her retirement, effective following the 2006 election, stating that her decision was to "spend more time with family" and that it had nothing to do with Stewart's accusations.