Pete DeCoursey

DeCoursey died on January 1, 2014 at his parents' home in Philadelphia after battling pancreatic and lung cancer. His final column for Capitolwire.com was published the week of his death.

DeCoursey was first to report on the 2011 proposal by Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R), with the support of Gov. Tom Corbett, to change Pennsylvania from a winner-take-all electoral vote system, to a system that awards electoral votes by congressional district. De Coursey appeared on Public Radio International's Whad'Ya Know? in 2005 and CNN's Capital Gang in 2004. He appeared on Inside Politics on CNN in October 2004.

In 2005, he was named one of "Pennsylvania's Most Influential Reporters" by the Pennsylvania political news website PoliticsPA. In 2008, the political website PolitickerPA.com named him one of the "Most Powerful Political Reporters" in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Report named him to the 2009 "The Pennsylvania Report 100" list of influential figures in Pennsylvania politics and noted that his Capitolwire briefing was a "must read for all legislators, staff members, and lobbyists in the state capital", even if it was controversial due to DeCoursey's "attack dog reputation and his sometimes one-sided comments." He was named to the PoliticsPA list of "Sy Snyder's Power 50" list of influential individuals in Pennsylvania politics in 2002.

In 2003, an article in the Lancaster Sunday News speculated that DeCoursey and Charlie Thompson, both then reporters for the Patriot-News, were operating the political website PoliticsPA under a pseudonym. DeCoursey and Thompson both denied any involvement in the site, and reporter Helen Adams later wrote a correction.

During the 2000 presidential election, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge was known to be under consideration as the running mate for Republican George W. Bush. DeCoursey and fellow journalist Albert J. Neri began planning a book about Ridge and contracted with an agent to pursue a book deal in the event that he was selected.

DeCoursey started his professional career as an aide to former Philadelphia City Councilwoman Ann Land. He then worked as press secretary for U.S. Rep. Bob Borski, from late 1987 until late 1990. He first became a full-time reporter for the Reading Eagle-Times in August 1990. He worked as a political reporter and columnist for The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania from March 1997 to 2005 before being hired by GovNetPA to produce original news content for Capitolwire.com, where he became bureau chief.

DeCoursey was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, attended William Penn Charter School, and graduated from Yale College in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in English language and literature.

Peter L. DeCoursey (September 1, 1961 – January 1, 2014) was a prominent reporter of political news in Pennsylvania. He worked in or covered Pennsylvania politics for nearly three decades, serving most recently as bureau chief for the online news service Capitolwire.com.