Rep. Melissa Cerrato's Biography

State Rep. Melissa Cerrato, referred to by most as Missy, grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and has raised her family in Horsham for over a decade. Her husband, John, is a member of the Steamfitters Local 420 and her four daughters aged 9, 9, 17 and 18 all attend our public schools. Over the years, Melissa has been everything from a nanny to an Uber driver, an elder caregiver and a housekeeper to provide for her family. Melissa understands what it means to live paycheck to paycheck, but also what it means to work hard to build a life for her family that she can be proud of.

Melissa never thought she would work in politics, but when her dear friend Liz Hanbidge won a seat in the PA House of Representatives and asked her to run her District Office, she answered the call. As a caregiver, Melissa had always cherished the ability to make a job out of helping families in need, and her position in Rep. Hanbidge’s office gave her the ability to help those in the community who were facing the same struggles she had faced.

From 2018 to 2022, Melissa worked in Rep. Hanbidge’s office directly serving her neighbors, seniors and veterans in need of support. From helping to put millions of dollars in unclaimed funds back in people's pockets to fighting to end a months-long backlog and getting Pennsylvanians long-awaited unemployment assistance, Melissa’s job was to get results for the community when no one else could. Now, she’s answering the call again – this time to step up and fight for her community, to bring your values and voices to Harrisburg, to give us representation we can trust. 

Melissa is ready to take her background working as a caregiver and public servant to Harrisburg. She is ready to fight for reproductive justice, affordable child care, fairly funded public education, living wages and fully funded public services across our commonwealth. Melissa believes it is time to build a Pennsylvania that works for all of us.