Peter Russo (1977-23 September 2013) was the congressman from Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district during the administration of President Garrett Walker. Russo was a candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania for the US Democratic Party in 2013 who led the attempt at passing the Watershed Bill, and he had a controversial track record; he had never voted for a bill, he was known to have abused illegal substances and alcohol, and had solicited the services of prostitutes. He appeared to his people as being a transparent person who was a great success story, but he died in an apparent suicide caused by carbon monoxide asphyxiation in his home's garage on 23 September 2013 after his bill was killed by the US Republican Party and companies such as Sancorp.
Biography[]
Russo in his office
Peter Russo was born in 1977 in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Drexel and Temple universities, and he entered politics, being elected as the 1st congressional district of Pennsylvania's congressman in the US House of Representatives. Russo had many vices while being a congressman, ranging from a cocaine addiction, soliciting a prostitute, and having a sexual relationship with his chief-of-staff Christina Gallagher. One night, he got into a car crash while DUI, but Congressman Frank Underwood gained him as an ally by bribing police chief Barney Hull into letting him go. Russo was used as his pawn and secured Roy Kapeniak's testimony against Michael Kern during the accusations that Kern was anti-Semitic, and he was also tapped as Governor of Pennsylvania by Underwood. However, his popularity declined when he did not testify in the closure of the Philadelphia Naval Yard - which cut 12,000 jobs - as a part of an agreement with Underwood that would allow him to keep the McCudden military base open to gain the Black Caucus' support. The BRAC commission closed down the naval yard, and Russo went back to drugs and alcohol as a result. Due to this, Gallagher broke up with him. Russo went to Alcoholics Anonymous and was supported in the bid to become Governor of Pennsylvania, with Underwood ensuring that Vice-President Matthews was there to support him in his campaign as well as his passing of the Watershed Bill. Russo garnered much support due to Matthews' endorsement of him, although Matthews initially doubted Russo's success and decided to hijack the microphone from him; Russo reminded Matthews that he failed in his first two attempts to become Governor of Pennsylvania and eventually succeeded, despite meeting some failures.
Despite being very popular for his success story, Russo faced opposition in his plan to replace oil drilling with using the Delaware River for power; the big drilling and energy companies such as Sancorp led the charge against him, with Remy Danton as the leader. Underwood assured that the bill would succeed, but it was beaten by 218 votes to 213 votes due to Underwood's wife convincing two left-wing eco-friendly members of the US Democratic Party to vote against the Watershed Bill, which they saw as an inadequate solution to their problems. Russo was angry at Underwood for failing him, and he told him that he no longer feared him; because he was open about his past, he could not have any secrets that Underwood could use to blackmail him, while Russo could talk about Kapeniak and the Kern editorial. Underwood knew that Russo was going to be a threat, so he decided to discredit him. He hired prostitute Rachel Posner to seduce Russo and have him get high on the night before he would appear on the Pittsburgh station WZPZ during his run for Governor. Russo showed up drunk and high on drugs to the interview, which ruined his campaign for good.
He decided to turn himself in to the police to atone for his crimes and corruption after talking with his daughter on the phone, but Underwood's assistant Doug Stamper stopped him, and Underwood drove him home. They chatted in the garage, but when Russo fell asleep on the passenger side of the car, Underwood removed all traces of himself and guided Russo's finger to the ignition, starting the car. Russo died of carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage in what appeared to police and the media to have been a suicide, preventing him from revealing Underwood's corruption.