US Congress

Raise the Flag!

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Jim Salvas (West Chester Democratic Committee Chair & Property Management Chair) asked Chrissy Houlahan to have this flag flown over the US Capital as soon as she was elected the first Democrat and woman to win the 6th Congressional Seat in the US Congress! Our flag is thus the first flown at Chrissy’s request. 

Pictured is Dick Bingham (CCDC Chair) and Marsha Peltz (CCDC Vice Chair) raising our flag over Chester County Democratic Headquarters at 37 S. High Street in the Borough of West Chester.

Jim donated the flag; CCDC paid for the flagpole and the solar light above it.

Other constituents can request a flag be flown for them by applying here:
https://houlahan.house.gov/services/flag-requests.htm

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2018 Mid-Term Election Results!

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Congratulations to Chester County Democrats for an Outstanding 2018 Election Result!

See the press release below for County level winners.

Congratulations also to statewide winners:
Governor Tom Wolf and new Lt. Gov. John Fetterman
US Senator Bob Casey

Press release from CCDC:
CHRISSY HOULAHAN MAKES HISTORY AS FIRST DEMOCRAT AND WOMAN TO WIN 6th CONGRESSIONAL SEAT

Two State Senators, Six PA Representatives Including First African American Democrat Plus Special Election of Old 7th Congressional District Confirms Blue Sweep

West Chester, PA (November 7, 2018) – Chester County is known for its rich history and news of a blue wave of historic proportions is being felt this morning. Air Force veteran, systems engineer and businesswoman Chrissy Houlahan spearheaded a Democratic wave that included the entire Democratic ticket from Governor and U.S. Senator to two PA State Senators and six PA State Representatives. The county elected its first Democratic African American State Representative, Dan Williams. The 2018 Midterms brought another stunning first – Democrats now hold the majority of the Chester County delegation in Harrisburg!

“We wake up today to multiple historic accomplishments,” declared Dick Bingham, Chester County Democratic Committee Chair. “With a gap of 11,500 fewer registered Democrats than Republicans, the wins across the county were astounding. Thanks to the coordinated efforts of thousands of volunteers and a dozen strong candidates, we turned the county blue despite the heavy Republican advantage. We went from one to six State House Representatives. We moved from one to three State Senators. And we celebrate our first Democratic Congresswoman, ever, heading off to Washington.”

CONGRESSWOMAN HOULAHAN

Speaking to a standing-room-only audience at Phoenixville’s Franklin Commons late last night, Houlahan began her remarks by thanking her opponent, Greg McCauley for answering the call to run. She then noted the “new and improved” 6th Congressional District where her “people-driven campaign” covered all of Chester County and parts of Berks County.

“This victory is not mine but it is yours, it is ours,” she told the cheering crowd. “Our politics and our government have been turned upside down. Now we can turn it right side up.”

She then touted the five top causes she campaigned on over an almost two-year run including: quality and affordable and accessible healthcare for all; a living wage; a great education that everyone is owed and due; a safe planet, safe community and safe schools; and finally decency, respect and the knowledge that truth matters.

SPECIAL 7th ELECTION

For a few weeks, Chester County will have a Congresswoman in 2018 representing the state’s old 7th District. Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon won the election in Pennsylvania’s 5th congressional district and the special election. The latter district, which includes parts of Berks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster and Montgomery counties, was restructured to the new 5th District. Scanlon won the open congressional seat in the 5th district, which had been under Republican control for eight years but was redrawn by the state Supreme Court.

WAITING SINCE 1855

According to the county’s newspaper, Daily Local News, Democrats would have to go back 163 years to recall a winning election night for a national office.

“A former county district attorney, Hickman, a Quaker, ran on the party ticket in 1855 and was elected to three more terms, first as a Democrat, then as a so-called Anti-Lecompton Democrat opposed to slavery, and finally as a Republican in 1861 when that party led the charge against slavery and elected Abraham Lincoln president. Hickman did not seek a new term in 1863, and the GOP has been winning elections for Congress in the county since, even as it has been split into halves and sometimes thirds because of redistricting.”

HARRISBURG-BOUND

Voters elected the following Democrats to the PA State Senate and House seats:

Tim Kearney – PA Senate District 26
Katie Muth – PA Senate District 44

Dan Williams – PA House District 74
Danielle Friel Otten – PA House District 155
Carolyn Comitta – PA House District 156
Melissa Shusterman – PA House District 157
Christina Sappey – PA House District 158
Kristine Howard – PA House District 167

CONTACT: Bill Phifer, CCDC Communications Committee, PressRelations@chescodems.org, 484-639-2345

Our 2018 Winners!

US Senate: Bob Casey (incumbent)

US Senate: Bob Casey (incumbent)

Bob Casey was raised to believe that “all public service is a trust, given in faith and accepted in honor,” and he has brought that to every office he has held, including Pennsylvania Auditor General, State Treasurer, and U.S. Senator.

read more

Pennsylvania House, District 167: Kristine Howard

Pennsylvania House, District 167: Kristine Howard

Kristine Howard is a mother and Rutgers Law School grad currently working in child protective services. She seeks to improve state programs for education, healthcare and career opportunities for all, including two-income families and single women. She has recently been endorsed by President Barack Obama.

read more

County commissioner Kathi Cozzone seeks re-election

by | November 20, 2018 | CCDC Blog, Chester County Commissioners | 0 Comments

Daily Local News, 11/20/18 WEST CHESTER—Chester County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone has announced she is seeking re-election as Commissioner. “I am honored the citizens of Chester…

Read More

© 2018 Chester County Democratic Committee

Honoring American workers

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Email from Chrissy Houlahan, Dem candidate for US House PA-06, 9/5/18

Earlier this week, we observed Labor Day, a time to honor America’s workers and their families who, generation after generation, have carried this nation forward on their shoulders.

Labor Day was started in the 1880s, a time when many Americans worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week just to cover their basic needs. Many states without meaningful child labor laws saw 5 and 6-year-olds working in dangerous conditions in mills, factories, and mines all across the country.

America’s labor movement brought an end to many of these practices, banding together to bargain collectively for the 40-hour work week, safer working conditions, fair pay among other employment protections we take for granted today.

Despite this progress, Labor Day remains as important as ever. Workers and workers’ rights remain the backbone of the middle-class, something I’m committed to protecting in Washington — sign your name if you agree.

I am proud to have the support of the labor community and I am proud of the hundreds of quality jobs I have helped bring to Southeastern Pennsylvania over the course of my career.

I am now running for Congress to fight for middle class families and bring more good paying jobs to our community. Thousands of American workers still die on the job every year. Many workers are forced to put in overtime hours for no additional pay. Female workers and workers of color too often work for less than their counterparts. And if you account for inflation, our middle-income families haven’t gotten a meaningful pay raise in more than 40 years.

We have real work to do to build up the middle class, and I can’t think of a better way to honor the men and women who sparked this movement that made this progress possible than to continue building on their work in Washington.

Remarkable First-timers

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Screen Shot 2018-09-03 at 8.07.44 PM
Screen Shot 2018-09-04 at 12.16.30 AMBy Frank Bruni and Liriel Higa

 

Usually you only get to dream about a candidate like Chrissy Houlahan. People in the Philadelphia suburbs actually get to vote for her.

She’s brainy: a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Stanford, a master’s in technology and policy from M.I.T. She’s bold: service in the U.S. Air Force. She has entrepreneurial bona fides from her years as the chief operating officer of an athletic wear company but also had a top job for a group promoting childhood literacy. She’s a wife and mother, with two grown daughters.

So why, at 51, has she set her sights on the House of Representatives, when she never ran for any office before?

The answer is Nov. 8, 2016. To vote for Hillary Clinton, she put on a pantsuit. Her gay daughter wore all white, honoring suffragists. That night they broke out the Champagne. “I thought that history would be made,” Houlahan recalled.

When it wasn’t, her father, a Holocaust survivor, cried, fearing what Donald Trump’s victory could mean for the vulnerable and the powerless. Her daughter panicked about L.G.B.T. people. “Unnerving,” Houlahan called it, and her response was “to be part of the solution.” She has since raised about $3 million and emerged as one of the Democratic Party’s best bets to turn a red seat blue.

There are many ways to measure the urgency with which Democrats are approaching the 2018 midterms but perhaps none better than the mettle, motivations and number — much larger than in recent congressional elections — of first-time candidates who have jumped into the fray.

They’re creatures of an atypically tense moment with especially high stakes. They’re mirrors of the anxieties that so many Americans feel. They’re emblems of a yearning for new faces and approaches. They’re the year’s biggest stars and stories.

Full Story • Links to New York Times article

THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM

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The Chester County (Pennsylvania) Democratic Committee believes in Freedom, Fairness, and Opportunity for all Americans, regardless of what they believe, who they are, and where they came from. Join CCDC in making Chester County a better place for all!

We have a chance to fundamentally shape the future of our country.
But that will only happen if all of us work together — starting right now.

Watch Our Video!

Every four years, the Democratic Party puts together our party platform, the ideas and beliefs that govern our party as a whole.

What follows is our 2016 platform — our most progressive platform in our party’s history and a declaration of how we plan to move America forward. Democrats believe that cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, empowerment is better than resentment, and bridges are better than walls.

This party platform was voted on and passed by our membership at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in 2016. The platform will be updated and re-approved at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Download 2016 Party Platform PDF

Platform Contents

To read the entire platform, choose a section to jump ahead or scroll down.

Preamble

Raise Incomes and Restore Economic Security for the Middle Class

Create Good-Paying Jobs

Fight for Economic Fairness and Against Inequality

Bring Americans Together and Remove Barriers to Opportunities

Protect Voting Rights, Fix Our Campaign Finance System, and Restore Our Democracy

Combat Climate Change, Build a Clean Energy Economy, and Secure Environmental Justice

Provide Quality and Affordable Education

Ensure the Health and Safety of All Americans

Principled Leadership

Confront Global Threats

Protect Our Values

A Leader in the World

Monitoring Congressman Ryan Costello, 6th District of PA, Sunday 11 Mar 2018 Edition

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A week in the political life of congressman Ryan Costello (R-PA 06). One of his dedicated constituents is doing the massive research needed to record speeches, mentions in the press and social media, and votes.

Actual votes are particularly important, as they are on the record. In fact, they are the record.

What is the PA-06 incumbent saying and doing? What is Congress voting on?

See it all by downloading this week’s report here: Costello 11 March 2018.

CNN poll: Democratic advantages grow ahead of 2018 midterms

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By Jennifer Agiesta, CNN, 2/26/18

Washington (CNN)Democrats once again hold a wide advantage in a generic congressional matchup, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, backed by a base of supporters who are more enthusiastic than Republican partisans and more motivated by core issues.

The poll finds 54% of registered voters say they back a Democrat in their congressional district, 38% say they back a Republican. That’s a shift in favor of the Democrats since January, bringing their advantage in a hypothetical generic matchup to about the same level as early 2006, a year in which the party won control of both the House and the Senate….

Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents remain more enthusiastic about voting this fall than Republicans and Republican-leaners. Overall, 51% of that Democratic base say they are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting in November compared with 41% of the Republican base. …

keep reading at CNN

keep reading at

Help Chrissy by tomorrow night!

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Tomorrow night is our first major fundraising deadline of 2018. Here is why it is important:

In the coming weeks we’ll need to make critical budgeting decisions as we head into petitioning season and get Chrissy’s name on the ballot. If we miss tomorrow’s fundraising deadline, we may have to scale back our plans.

Speaker Paul Ryan knows the fate of his House majority lies in our district — that is why his super PAC already set up a field office here and why he’s gearing up to spend whatever it takes to defeat us.

It can sound intimidating, but Nathaniel, they’re panicked for a reason. We have a real shot of flipping this critical battleground district and electing Chrissy, not just because she’s a strong candidate, but also because of all of you.

We can’t control the dark money that’s sure to funnel in to back Costello. What we can control is whether we have the resources we need to run a first-rate campaign, and that starts by hitting tomorrow night’s fundraising goal. We’re still $3,883 behind.

Make a donation of any amount to move us toward our critical goal.

If you’ve saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:

Our race has been named a tipping point district for the House majority. What happens here will either spell victory or defeat for Democrats across the country. Let’s make sure we come out on top.

Thanks,

Rahul
Campaign Manager
Chrissy Houlahan for Congress

Here’s a comprehensive agenda for Congress!

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Calling on Costello (R-PA 6), 21 W. Market Street, West Chester PA
Friday, Jan. 22, 11:30am to 1pm

THIS WEEK’S FOCUS: WE THE PEOPLE DESERVE BETTER; DO YOUR JOBS!

Good governance has 8 major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and follows the rule of law. Good governance is responsive to the present and future needs of our country, exercises prudence in policy-setting and decision-making, and that the best interests of all citizens are taken into account. We expect our representatives to follow these simple rules.

1. Rule of Law
This does not include bribing mistresses, using the government as an ATM machine or making false allegations against opponents.

2. Transparency
Transparency means that information should be provided in easily understandable forms and media; it does not mean remaining silent and complicit when your party’s leader approves of the KKK.

3. Responsiveness
Good governance requires that our elected officials serve the best interests of their constituents and LISTEN to them.

4. Consensus Oriented
Good governance requires consultation with experts and constituents, NOT blocking them on Social Media.

5. Equity and Inclusiveness
Government that works for all people, not just certain races.

6. Effectiveness and Efficiency
Good governance means that the representatives don’t shut down the government because they are anti immigrant.

7. Accountability
Accountability is a key tenet of good governance. Our elected representatives will be held to account for their actions.

8. Participation
Participation needs to be informed and organized, including freedom of expression and assiduous concern for the best interests of society in general.

If you cannot attend but would like to submit a letter, email it to us at contact@ccag-d6.com and we will deliver it for you.

Host: Concerned Constituent Action Group
Location: 21 W. Market Street, West Chester

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