Coatesville Council member objects to being listed on campaign materials
Updated: 12 p.m. 5/16/14 to add comment from Teamsters 384 official.
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
COATESVILLE — The city’s Democratic Party leader and a City Council member are calling foul over a mailer sent out by State Representative candidate Joshua Young, saying that some of the individuals cited as supporting Young aren’t, while campaign officials attribute the issues to a miscommunication — a dispute that could be signaling new stress on a long-standing fault-line among county Democrats.
Based on conflicting information presented by various parties, it is difficult to determine the exact sequence of events, but concerns about who did and did not endorse Young appear to be fraying tempers among local Democrats surrounding the 74th District State House race between Young and Downingtown Mayor Josh Maxwell. Although the 74th is centered around the Coatesville and Downingtown areas, some political observers say that the race has become a proxy fight between two factions of the county Democratic organization, which have been at odds for more than a decade.
While Young is backed by County Party Chair Michele Vaughn, Maxwell is supported by State Sen. Andy Dinniman. Vaughn and Dinniman have often clashed since a bruising — and at times personal — battle for County Commissioner in 2003.
After the mailer started hitting the mailboxes of registered Democrats in the 74th State House district Tuesday, city Democratic Party leader Khadijah Al-Amin said her phone began ringing non-stop with people complaining about the mail piece.
City Council member Marie Hess took to her Facebook page Wednesday to immediately dispute the mail piece — making it clear that she was not supporting Young.
“A mailer came out yesterday with my name on the endorsements. I am not endorsing any candidate publicly in the upcoming State Representative race in the 74th District,” she posted.
She said Thursday that she was caught off guard by seeing her name on the mailer.
“I was surprised,” said Hess, elected to her first term on City Council last November. “I hadn’t done anything. The biggest thing was that I wanted to remain neutral.”
Hess said she initially agreed to support Young — at the prompting of Vaughn, “I thought it was something I was supposed to do as a newly-elected official” — but she said she wasn’t aware there was more one candidate running or how the county party endorsement process worked. She said when she learned that the race was contested and that Maxwell had won the formal party endorsement, she said that she informed Young and Vaughn that she did not want to take sides.
She provided copies of an email she wrote to Vaughn, dated March 10, 2014 where she said she would not be able to support Young in the primary.
As a counter — and buttressing their contention that the use of Hess’ name was a simple misunderstanding — sources in the Young campaign offered copies of text messages from Hess right up until that point where she was discussing collecting signatures for Young’s nominating petitions.
Misunderstanding or not, Al-Amin argues that Vaughn and Young campaign manager Adam Thomas are violating the bylaws of the Chester County Democratic Committee by actively working against the officially endorsed candidate — which Maxwell won by a narrow vote at the February convention. She said that has the potential for growing a divide in the county party that could weaken Democrats efforts — no matter who wins Tuesday’s primary — to defeat Republican Harry Lewis Jr. in the fall.
But upon further investigation by The Times, it appears that Hess’ support may not be the only one that is of questionable validity. Sources provided a copy of a letter sent on May 5 to the Young campaign from Teamsters Local 384 asking the campaign to cease listing an endorsement from the Norristown local of the union. The organization’s Secretary/Treasurer Matthew Condron wrote:
“Our letter did not say we were endorsing you as a candidate. Our organization supports the Democratic process and may give support to more than one (1) candidate at the same time. The purpose of this letter is to request you refrain from making statements of our “endorsement” on any campaign material of internet Website.”
Again, Young’s campaign manager, Thomas, said that letter was the result of a misunderstanding and that the Teamsters local had offered financial backing to the campaign, indicating support. When finally reached Friday morning, Local 384 president Michael Bonaduce confirmed that the union had contributed to Young — and Maxwell.
“We like and support both Joshs,” he said.
Young issued a statement on the issue Thursday evening:
“I am proud to have the support of Teamsters Local 384, the Philadelphia Pipe Trades and IBEW Local 98 as well as the other local and state officials who are supporting me,” the statement said. “Their support should send a strong signal to the voters of the 74th that I am the best candidate to fight for the issues that matter most to them.
“I am confused about my opponent, his campaign and his supporters challenging my endorsements from individuals and organizations that have been with me throughout this campaign. I am even more confused about their focus on the opinion of political insiders when they should be concerned about the opinion of the voters. After all, that is who I am going to Harrisburg to represent, the residents of the 74th District.
“The ultimate decision now rests with the only endorsement that matters in this stage of an election, the endorsement of the Democratic voters in the 74th. It is that endorsement on which I am focused now. Political insiders have had their say, and it is time for the real decision maker to make their voice heard. I am confident that the voters will stand with me and my message of standing up for public education at all levels, working to create more and better opportunities for working men and women and fighting for equality for everyone. Whatever the outcome on Tuesday, I know that after the Primary we can all come together as Democrats to support the nominee in the 74th District.”
An even more murky area appears to be a claim on the mailer that the Caln Township Democratic Committee was supporting Young. Whether that is accurate depends on who you speak to about the subject. Young’s colleague on the Caln Township Board of Commissioners, Lorraine Tindaro, takes exception to that claim on the mailer. She issued a brief statement Thursday contesting that claim — suggesting that a majority of the Caln county committee members had voted to back Maxwell.
“The Caln Democrats formed 11 years ago,” she said in the statement. “Nearly four years ago, (I) was re-elected Chair by the Elected Caln Committee People attending: Adel Mclennan, Rita Alton, Lorraine Tindaro, with any remaining Committee Person(s) not voting at The Caln Democrats reorganization Meeting. The Caln Democrats, or The Caln Democratic Committee, formally endorsed Josh Maxwell for the 74th State Representative Primary along with the remaining Voting Democratic Committee People in the 74th at the 2014 Chester County Democratic Nominating Convention, and again at our local nominating meeting held on Feb. 25, 2014.”
When contracted for comment, Maxwell and his campaign had little to say about the issue.
“Josh Maxwell is proud to have been endorsed by the Chester County Democratic Party, Senator Andy Dinniman, Commissioner Kathi Cozzone, and the vast majority of local Democratic elected officials in the 74th district,” said Maxwell spokesman Eddy Foster. “We are looking forward to primary day on Tuesday, May 20th, and we urge everyone to get out and vote.”
