Chester County Blues

From Nathaniel Smith [nathanielbsmith@earthlink.net] http://chescodems.org

Dear local Democrats, progressives, and others interested:

Well, you could say: the less said about this election the better. But we can always learn. And it wasn’t all bad: Andy Dinniman, always appreciated by voters as PA Senator (district 19) and before that as County Commissioner, won once again, this time with 56% of the vote.Hillary Clinton carried Chester County 52% to 43%, with a very large margin of 25,000 votes over her R. competitor (president Obama won Chesco by 23,000 votes in 2008, 54% to 45%, and in 201 he lost by 500, or by .2%).

Joe Torsella for PA Treasurer carried the County 48% to 46% (Green and Libertarian candidates had an influence in some of these races).Josh Shapiro essentially tied (losing the County by 50 votes) for Attorney General. Eugene DePasquale, incumbent PA Auditor, lost the County by 10,000 votes and I have no idea why he did less well here than the other 2 statewide candidates. Anyhow, all 3 of them won statewide and that is very important to help Gov. Wolf balance the R-dominated PA General Assembly.

And finally: Carolyn Comitta for PA House 156 is too close to call! When anyone tells you, next time, that their vote doesn’t matter, tell them about this one. Recounting and scrutinizing ballots has been going on since the election. Shades of the same seat in 2006!