Candidate for
State Representative; Pennsylvania State House of Representatives; District 102

Russ was born in Hershey and raised with four siblings in northern Lebanon County. After graduating from Northern Lebanon High School and Lebanon County Vo-Tech in 1981, he entered the work force as a production laborer at O'Sullivan Corporation in Lebanon. Seven years later he chose to pursue a career as a musician.

His experiences as a musician led him to open a recording studio in the Lebanon area in late 1992. The business subsequently gained regional acclaim and was transformed into the nationally known CD and DVD manufacturing and duplication service known as Raintree Multimedia. He continues to own and operate the Annville-based firm today.

Russ is best known for founding PACleanSweep in July 2005 in response to the infamous legislative pay raise. The group recruited over 110 candidates for legislative seats and assisted over 40 percent of challengers during the historic 2006 elections where 55 legislative seats changed hands, more than 12 times the usual turnover rate. Lawmakers in turn ramped up their efforts to illegally use taxpayer funds for campaign purposes, drawing the attention of law enforcement and landing several legislative leaders in prison.

Thirteen PACleanSweep candidates, including Rep. RoseMarie Swanger, were elected to the House of Representatives in 2006. The pay raise was repealed as a direct result of electoral pressure provided by Diamond's group and public outrage. The group was also instrumental in Pennsylvania's first ever non-retention of a Supreme Court Justice.

In 2007, Russ authored legislation to create a limited citizens' constitutional convention. The bill was introduced by Senator Mike Folmer in 2008 as SB1290. Representative Swanger co-sponsored the bill (HB2723) in the House. The bill was re-introduced with bipartisan support during subsequent legislative sessions.

Russ has served as a member of the Lebanon County Republican Committee since 2010 and chaired its By-Laws Committee, which proposed an overhaul of the Committee's endorsement process. The proposals were adopted by the LCRC membership in a near-unanimous vote. He also served as office manager for the LCRC from March 2012 through April 2013, focusing his efforts on modernizing the Committee's bookkeeping practices and upgrading its website.

In 2005 PACleanSweep was awarded the Golden Dot Award for Best PAC or Non-Partisan Internet Campaign by George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management. In 2006 Russ was named one of three Citizens of the Year by the Philadelphia Inquirer for his anti-pay raise efforts. Later that same year, he received the Public Service Achievement Award from Common Cause/Pennsylvania and was named Communicator of the Year by the Harrisburg chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.

A private pilot since 2001, Russ was a member of the Annville Flight Club for 12 years and served as its President for eight years. He is employed as an over-the-road driver for Millis Transfer, Inc. He resides in Annville in a home built by his great-grandparents.