Edward W. McNally was an American politician from Cambria County, Pennsylvania

Cambria County, Pennsylvania

Cambria County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It comprises the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 143,679....

. A member of the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, McNally served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....

 from 1961 until his death in 1968.

Professional career

After graduating from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon University) in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

, McNally served in a variety of managerial positions. He served as president and treasurer of McNally Tire and Rubber Company, and was a past director of Johnstown

Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County...

 Hockey Company.

Political career and death

McNally originally represented Cambria County in the State House (by holding one of the county's allotted at-large seats). While serving in the House, he sat on both the Liquor Control and Highway Committees.

Following the constitutional changes of 1968, which reorganized House seats into numbered districts, McNally was elected to represent the new 72nd District

Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 72

The 72nd Pennsylvania House of Representatives District is made up of parts of Cambria County and Somerset County. The district includes the following areas:* Cambria County** Blacklick Township** Cambria Township** East Taylor Township** Ebensburg...

. However, he died on November 21, 1968, sixteen days after his election to the seat, following a heart attack. The ensuing special election for the seat was won by Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 John Murtha

John Murtha

John Patrick "Jack" Murtha, Jr. was an American politician from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1974 until his death in 2010....

.