“Here’s the good news: In one month, we have the chance—not the certainty, but the chance—to restore some semblance of sanity to our politics. Because there is only one real check on bad policy and abuses of power. And that’s you—you and your vote.”
“What’s gonna fix our democracy is you … The threat to our democracy doesn’t just come from Donald Trump … the biggest threat to our democracy is indifference … ”
BARACK OBAMA
September 7, 2018
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
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.
John Fetterman is a progressive voice for working people on issues like inequality, racial justice, and ending the failed war on drugs.
Dan Williams has been the Senior Pastor of New Life in Christ Fellowship Church in Coatesville for 27 years.
Melissa Shusterman is a mom, a wife, a businesswoman, and a Schuylkill Township resident.
SPECIAL ELECTION: If you lived in US Congress District 7, you have a special election for the 7th on November 6th. In addition to voting for Chrissy Houlahan for District 6, you will vote for Mary Gay Scanlon to represent you from November to January in the US Congress.
Chrissy Houlahan is an Air Force veteran, business leader, and educator. She is endorsed by Vice President, Joe Biden.
Tim Kearney is an architect, a teacher, and a small business owner.
Danielle Friel Otten is a mother, a businesswoman, and a community leader.
Chris Sappey worked for PA representatives Barb McIlvaine Smith and Carolyn Comitta and PA Senator Andy Dinniman for a total of 12 years.
Tom Wolf is a York native, father, business owner and baseball fan. Tom is fighting for better schools, jobs, and government.
Katie Muth is a healthcare provider, an adjunct professor, and a working-class candidate for Pennsylvania.
Carolyn Comitta is a two-term Mayor of West Chester, an educator, and the current PA House Representative for District 156. Carolyn is endorsed by President Barack Obama.
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.
© 2018 Chester County Democratic Committee
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.
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
To read the entire platform, choose a section to jump ahead or scroll down.
Raise Incomes and Restore Economic Security for the Middle Class
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
Make voting easier on yourself. Get familiar with this SAMPLE GENERIC BALLOT FOR WEST CHESTER.
The Chester County Democratic Committee (CCDC) endorses the candidates marked with black ovals.
Consult your precinct committeepersons for information about State and WC Democratic Committee candidates.
To answer questions, Democratic committeepersons are working the polls all day; they are there to help you.
Don’t know your Precinct number or polling place?
The PA Department of State does.
2018 Primary Generic Sample Ballot PDF
for West Chester Borough
Candidates need your vote; your local and state governments need your vote; your nation needs your vote. You choose who you want to run your government, your democracy. “If you stay home, you’re voting for the other side.”
West Chester has eight (8) precincts. Mayor Comitta’s 23-vote-win in the 2009 Primary meant that if just three people (3) from each precinct stayed home, she would have lost.
If you stay at home, you’re voting for the other side. So, don’t vote for the other side. Get up, get dressed, and go to your polling place, which is open from 7AM to 8PM.
This is what your vote means — why each vote counts …
So, don’t vote for the other side. Get up, get dressed, and go to your polling place.
The conclusion of president Obama’s speech at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 2013, commemorating the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” oration:
..Everyone who realizes what those glorious patriots knew on that day — that change does not come from Washington, but to Washington; that change has always been built on our willingness, We The People, to take on the mantle of citizenship — you are marching. (Applause.)
And that’s the lesson of our past. That’s the promise of tomorrow — that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it. That when millions of Americans of every race and every region, every faith and every station, can join together in a spirit of brotherhood, then those mountains will be made low, and those rough places will be made plain, and those crooked places, they straighten out towards grace, and we will vindicate the faith of those who sacrificed so much and live up to the true meaning of our creed, as one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. (Applause.)
West Chester Borough Democrats 
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