{"id":8242,"date":"2016-07-25T12:04:12","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T16:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=8242"},"modified":"2016-07-25T12:07:00","modified_gmt":"2016-07-25T16:07:00","slug":"county-democrats-display-passion-at-local-office-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=8242","title":{"rendered":"County Democrats display passion at local office opening"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crowds pack new Kennett Area Democrats’ campaign facility<\/em><\/h2>\n

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

\"KADOpen1\"

Democrats from around Chester County gathered Sunday to celebrate the opening of the Kennett Area Democrats’ new campaign office on East Linden Street in Kennett Square. From left: State Rep. candidate Susan Rzucidlo, Chester County Democratic Chair Brian McGinnis, Attorney General Candidate Josh Shapiro, Kennett Area Democrats Chair Dick Bingham, 7th Congressional District candidate Mary Ellen Balchunis, 9th District State Senate candidate Marty Malloy and 16th District Congressional candidate Christina Hartman.<\/p><\/div>\n

KENNETT SQUARE \u2014 Republican Donald J. Trump may be surging into the lead over Democrat Hillary Clinton in national polls for the presidency, but you would never know it from the enthusiasm shown Sunday at the opening of the new campaign headquarters of the Kennett Area Democrats (KAD) on the eve of the opening of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new East Linden Street HQ was packed with supporters \u2014 and area folks had to wait in line to sign up to volunteer to help with the fall campaign, as there were so many wanting to help \u2014 even more folks were outside in the blistering afternoon heat to hear local and statewide candidates speak.<\/span><\/p>\n

Five candidates \u2013 including Attorney General candidate Josh Shapiro \u2014 addressed the gathering of local Democrats. The one theme: how crucial Pennsylvania would be in the upcoming election both for the presidential race, but also for statewide races and area congressional races. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Josh

Josh Shapiro tells the assembled crowd that Chester County could well decide how Pennsylvania goes in the presidential election.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, the race might well come down the Philadelphia suburbs,\u201d Shapiro told the crowd. And noting that counties such Montgomery \u2014 where Shapiro currently serves as Chair of the Board of County Commissioners \u2014 and Delaware continue to be seen as \u201csafe\u201d Democrat in presidential elections, Chester County isn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a real question what will happen in Chester County,\u201d he said. While Barack Obama carried the county in 2008, Republican Mitt Romney won narrowly in 2012, making Chester County arguably the swing county in what looks to be a key swing state.<\/span><\/p>\n

County Democratic Chair Brian McGinnis made brief remarks before needing to head to Philadelphia for the DNC \u2014 said the office opening was a great way for the county\u2019s Democrats to kick off the DNC and help get local voters fired up for the fall election. He made it clear he agrees that Chester County is the pivot point for Pennsylvania \u2014 and maybe the entire presidential election.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhomever wins Chester County will win the state of Pennsylvania,\u201d McGinnis said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The

The new Kennett Area Democrats’ campaign office on East Linden Street in Kennett Square.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dick Bingham, chair of the Kennett Democrats, expressed excitement at the strong turnout for the event and the clear enthusiasm that seems to be building for the Democratic ticket. He cited the growth in the area in terms of local elections, with the Kennett Square Borough Council having a Democratic majority for the first time in recent memory, along with all three Kennett Township Supervisors being Democrats, plus growth in the local organization and fundraising.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of the candidates lavished praise on KAD \u2014 noting that the group has become one of the better organized local party organizations in southeast Pennsylvania.<\/span><\/p>\n

Christina Hartman, running for the 16th District Congressional race \u2014 a race where Hartman and GOP candidate Lloyd Smucker are close both in terms of fundraising and polling, party sources say \u2014 said she really loved working the the KAD folks, who are passionate and committed.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the 16th has long been a GOP seat \u2014 typically held for decades by one person, most recently Rep. Joe Pitts \u2014 Hartman said things are changing, and changing quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNever before have we had such a chance to flip this seat,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mary Ellen Balchunis \u2014 challenging U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan for the 7th District \u2014 offered thanks to KAD rank and file for their support during the primary, where Balchunis easily defeated a candidate inserted into the race by the Democratic Congressional Campaign, Bill Golderer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI will never forget KAD,\u201d she said, noting that national progressive groups are starting to get behind her race \u2014 a boon to campaign and fundraising help. \u201cIt\u2019s really revitalized our whole campaign.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Marty Malloy, who faces a rematch against state Sen. Tom Killion in the fall after losing to him in an April special election, expressed confidence that the November election would have a very different outcome across the 9th Senatorial District.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be fighting every single day,\u201d he said, noting that turnout and get out the vote (GOTV) efforts will be crucial to his race and that of Democrats up and down the ticket.<\/span><\/p>\n

Susan Rzucidlo \u2014 making her fourth run for State Representative in the 158th District \u2014 said with the seat now open, she actually enjoys an experience advantage over Republican Eric Roe. A longtime advocate for the rights of disabled children, she worked to create and implement the Pennsylvania Premise Alert System \u2014 which warns law enforcement of people with disabilities or special needs at homes registered in the program. She pointed to the incident in North Miami last week where a caregiver for an autistic man was shot by police \u2014 an incident that might not have happened had police been better informed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, she noted that getting the state to adopt PA Premise Alert took many years, many trips to Harrisburg and working with elected officials of both parties \u2014 the kind of real-world political experience she says her opponent lacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

State Sen. Andy Dinniman \u2014 pressed with other events in the county \u2014 came too late to address the crowd, but offered warm praise for KAD, noting that he has worked with many of the local Democrats for decades, going back to his time as a County Commissioner. Dinniman (D-19), who faces a challenge from Republican Jack London, said he saw Chester County as pivotal in the presidential race and was enthused to see so many Democrats turn out for the event, and more importantly, sign up to help with the coordinated campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crowds pack new Kennett Area Democrats’ campaign facility By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times KENNETT SQUARE \u2014 Republican Donald J. Trump may be surging into the lead over Democrat Hillary Clinton in national polls for the presidency, but you would never know it from the enthusiasm shown Sunday at the opening of the new campaign […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[4053,2800,3162,3739,2033],"class_list":["post-8242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-donald-j-trump","tag-election-2016","tag-featured","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-kennett-area-democrats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8242","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=8242"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8246,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8242\/revisions\/8246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}