Rep. Sean M. Dougherty's Biography

Sean Dougherty was elected to serve as state representative for Pennsylvania’s 172nd Legislative District in Northeast Philadelphia in November of 2024.

A native of Northeast Philadelphia, Sean was raised in the Pine Valley section of the city.

As a child, he attended St. Albert the Great School, where he played multiple sports but fell most in love with basketball. He spent his Saturday mornings playing in the N.E.S.A.C league at George Washington and Northeast high schools, as well as CYO basketball for St. Albert’s.

Sean went to LaSalle College High School where he found his calling for public service. He participated in a week-long service mission to St. Michael Indian School on the Navajo Nation Reservation in Arizona. There, Sean worked with classmates to maintain the foundations of the buildings, fix dilapidated churches and worked on improving the grounds. High School instilled in Sean the LaSallian way of “Entering to Learn” and “Leaving to Serve.”

After high school, Sean attended Chestnut Hill College. He played four years on the Chestnut Hill College men’s basketball team and was named Team Captain his senior year. During his tenure, Sean orchestrated canned food drives during Thanksgiving for the less fortunate. He graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Political Science and a minor degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology. He obtained his law degree from Temple University in 2019.

As a lawyer, Sean worked as a law clerk on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania for then-Superior Court Judge Daniel D. McCaffery. In November 2020, Sean became an Assistant Public Defender at the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Before being elected as state representative, he worked as an associate attorney at The Duffy Firm under mentor and firm owner, Thomas J. Duffy.

As state representative, Sean will fight in Harrisburg to:

· Keep Northeast Philadelphia safe and the justice system fair

· Properly fund public schools in the district and across Pennsylvania

· Increase good-paying jobs with fair wages

· Protect reproductive freedom