{"id":792,"date":"2014-02-18T12:51:50","date_gmt":"2014-02-18T17:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=792"},"modified":"2014-02-18T16:05:50","modified_gmt":"2014-02-18T21:05:50","slug":"cozzone-announces-run-for-44th-senate-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=792","title":{"rendered":"Cozzone announces run for 44th Senate seat"},"content":{"rendered":"

County commissioner plans to take on two-term Sen. Rafferty<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cozzone\"<\/a>

Kathi Cozzone<\/p><\/div>\n

UWCHLAN \u2014 Just weeks after opting not to run for Congress, County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone announced plans to run for the state Senate against long-time incumbent Sen. John Rafferty in the 44th District.<\/p>\n

Cozzone, a county commissioner since 2007, said she was motivated by the state government \u2014 the legislature and Gov. Tom Corbett \u2014 failing to address the needs of local communities and school districts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud to be a constant advocate for the people of Chester County and I\u2019ve worked hard during my time as Commissioner to make this county an even better place to live and work,\u201d Cozzone said. \u201cHowever, time and time again we\u2019ve seen our local communities devastated by the Governor\u2019s budgets, and we need a Senator in Harrisburg that will stand for the people of Pennsylvania, instead of being yet another \u2018yes\u2019 vote for Corbett\u2019s disastrous budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some might find it a bit curious that she opted into the state Senate race just weeks after saying no to a Congressional race. But, she said, the issue comes down to family time with her husband and middle-school student son.<\/p>\n

“Harrisburg is much more amenable to to my family life, than would be serving in Washington, D.C.,” she said.<\/p>\n

She promised to be an independent voice for the people of the 44th District \u2014 and vote her conscience, rather than her party, when it comes to the issues that matter to local families.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile in Harrisburg Sen. Rafferty has voted with his party instead of his constituents on every major issue and in the past few years we\u2019ve seen Harrisburg Republicans force too many cuts to education, lead too many attacks on working families, and not focus nearly enough on getting Pennsylvania\u2019s economy back on track. It\u2019s time for new leadership in Harrisburg, and I\u2019m ready to fight for the families of Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rafferty has served in the seat since replacing Jim Gerlach \u2014 who ran for Congress \u2014 in 2003, winning reelection in 2006 and 2010. Currently, he serves as chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and is vice chair of the Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n

Cozzone, currently vice-chair of the board of County Commissioners, is in her second term, having won re-election in 2011.<\/p>\n

Over the past six years, Cozzone said she has worked hard to fight for the citizens of Chester County and is excited for the chance to continue to serve the people of Southeastern Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

Before serving as a Commissioner, Cozzone spent almost 25 years in financial business management, where she managed complex budgets for major corporations, and she plans to bring that business experience to Harrisburg.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania\u2019s 44th Senatorial District covers parts of Berks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

County commissioner plans to take on two-term Sen. Rafferty By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times UWCHLAN \u2014 Just weeks after opting not to run for Congress, County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone announced plans to run for the state Senate against long-time incumbent Sen. John Rafferty in the 44th District. Cozzone, a county commissioner since 2007, said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,8],"tags":[110,74,649,360,650],"class_list":["post-792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-chester-county","tag-election-2014","tag-john-rafferty","tag-kathi-cozzone","tag-state-senate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}