What to know about Eileen Hartnett Albillar

Hartnett Albillar, 52, grew up in Warminster Township. She is currently the Bucks County clerk of courts, a position she’s held since January 2024. She previously served on the Warrington Township Board of Supervisors, from 2018 to 2023.

As a licensed social worker, she has nearly 30 years of experience in both governmental and nonprofit positions, primarily working with low-income families and people experiencing food insecurity, as well as supporting seniors on a fixed income. She has worked on housing issues, evictions and homelessness, among other issues.

It’s this experience as a social worker, she said, that spurred her to run for office and motivates her bid to represent her district in the state Senate. As an elected official, Hartnett Albillar told WHYY News she applies the same skills she honed in social work: “advocating, listening and problem solving.”

“I’ve sat with families who are not sure if they’re going to be able to keep a roof over their heads, where they’re going to get the money for their next meal, with seniors who are making decisions about if they’re going to buy lifesaving medication or if they’re going to pay their utility bill and keep the lights on and keep the stove on,” she said. “Right now in Pennsylvania, in my district, across the country, people, not just low-income families, are really feeling the squeeze and feeling the pressure of being able to meet their basic needs, and this is experience that I have and I want to take to Harrisburg.”

As a Warrington Township supervisor, Hartnett Albillar said she worked with fellow board members to build a new police station and grow the police force to keep up with the burgeoning community’s public safety needs.

The project included both short-term and long-term considerations, including obtaining accreditation for the police department and adding solar panels to the station’s building.

Hartnett Albillar also counted among her accomplishments as supervisor the police department’s implementation of the co-responder program, which pairs social workers and police officers in responding to calls related to mental health crises and substance abuse.

Hartnett Albillar is a board member of NOVA, the crime victim assistance organization for Bucks County.

“I’ve loved all the ways that I’ve been able to advocate for people in my community,” she said. “Whether it’s neighbors, whether it’s victims of crime, whether it’s somebody with a disability, whether it’s a senior who doesn’t know how they’re going to … pay their mortgage.”

Hartnett Albillar has two school-aged children and currently lives in Warrington Township.