Abigail Salisbury is the incumbent State Representative for District 34. She was elected in the February 2023 special election. She previously served on Swissvale Borough Council for five years, where she focused on improving police hiring practices, governmental transparency, environmental initiatives, and activities for children.

Abigail is also a small business owner. She started a solo law practice for nonprofits and small businesses in Wilkinsburg in 2015. She worked in the field of international human rights and academia prior to starting her law practice, and later taught an undergraduate course on First Amendment Law at Pitt as an adjunct for two years, during which time she participated in the unionization efforts.

She graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 2004 with a B.A. in French and Art History, completed her law degree at Pitt Law School in 2007, and finished her Master’s in Public Policy and Management at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs in 2013 while employed at the university.

In her first year as a state representative, Salisbury worked to deliver on her commitment to the 13 municipalities in her district, working to increase availability of grant information, providing grants training, and hosting inter-municipal meetings of elected officials.

Building on her past experience counseling nonprofits and her tenure as an executive director of a nonprofit, she founded the PA Charitable Nonprofit Caucus, a bipartisan and bicameral entity aimed at improving the state’s relationship with and services to charities in the Commonwealth. Salisbury passed bills aimed at fighting blight and providing grant writing assistance to municipalities with low-income census tracts in 2023, among other legislative initiatives. She hopes to continue building on these successes in 2024 and beyond.

Salisbury’s State House Committee assignments are Appropriations, Liquor, Environmental Resources & Energy, Commerce, and Local Government. She is the first Jewish person to serve in District 34 and is the only Jewish woman in the PA House. She is also the first openly-identifying non-neurotypical person to serve the district and the first openly-identifying LGBTQIA person to serve the district.