Wynnewood Resident Will Take On Briggs for 149th

Perrin “Perry” C. Hamilton Jr., a Lower Merion Republican, told Main Line Media News on Thursday that he will challenge Democrat Tim Briggs for his Pennsylvania State House of Representatives seat, representing the 149th District.

Hamilton, of Wynnewood, told Main Line Media News that he'd bring “real-world” business experience to the job, “while also returning representation in the General Assembly to Lower Merion Township for the first time in a decade. Since 2002, none of Lower Merion’s three state house seats, including the 149th, which runs from Ardmore to Upper Merion and West Conshocken, have been held by a Lower Merion resident.”

Briggs, first elected in 2008, is an Upper Merion resident.

In a letter announcing his candidacy sent to MLMN, Hamilton said he'd use “sensible regulations and common-sense fiscal management of our state budget” to help steer Harrisburg “toward creating an economic environment that is conducive for prospering private sector businesses while maintaining a healthy and wholesome environment for all of us to live. ... To meet this challenge, we need stronger leadership from our state representative.”

Hamilton, a Haverford School graduate and a Penn Wynne native, was a territorial representative for sales and credit risk management for 30 years at the Alan McIlvain Co. The MLMN report says he also served as a member of the board of the Wynnewood Civic Association from 1989 to 1991 and again from 2003 to the present, serving as president of the civic's board from 2003 to 2006 (he is currently vice president).

Hamilton was also a founding member of the board of directors of Public Access Television of Lower Merion and Narberth, and currently serves as PATV's chairman.

He has also served as a local Republican committeeman.