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The Youngest Councilman Author Presentation
Meet John who, as a teenager in 1989, beat the establishment and became the youngest elected official in Norristown and in Pennsylvania.
“You can’t fight city hall” and “children should be seen and not heard” are two adages tested in The Youngest Councilman. Fed up with the direction his hometown is taking, John McGuigan, a teenage college student, decides to run for the town’s council.
Not only is he running as a teenager, but he is also running against the incumbent president of council, an attorney, who holds a two-to-one registration edge and whose party has held power in the town for nearly twenty years.
Set in the county seat of one of Philadelphia’s neighboring counties, Norristown politics are bare knuckle and in your face. So how would a teenager running his first race even come close to winning? Why would a teenager even want to run?
Find out what's happening in Norristownfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The Youngest Councilman briefly examines the path that led John to his decision to run and then takes us inside and behind the scenes of a political race which sent shockwaves statewide.
This incredible true story highlights that anyone willing to put in the work, look voters in the eye and share their story can win—city hall can be beaten!
Find out what's happening in Norristownfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Join the Historical Society of Montgomery County on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. for a presentation and book signing by author John McGuigan.
The Historical Society is located at 1654 DeKalb Street, Norristown, PA. This program is free and open to the public. For information call 610.272.0297 or contact@hsmcpa.org. For information on this and other programs, visit the Society’s web site: hsmcpa.org.
