Outgoing Chester County Democratic Committee Chair hands off the gavel to newly elected Chair Dick Bingham, Wednesday night.
WESTTOWN — Dick Bingham of East Marlborough outpolled Lani Frank Wednesday night to become the new Chair of the Chester County Democratic Committee (CCDC) with the goal of turning the county “blue” on November 6 and beyond, despite a 15,000 Republican voter registration edge.
Bignham, the former leader of the Kennett Area Democrats, replaces Brian McGinnis, who chose not to seek reelection.
Leadership of the newly energized Democrats — coming off not only their first sweep of county row offices in 2017, but their first win of any kind at the county level since the Civil War. Frank, the outgoing Vice Chair of the party and Bingham, a former area leader, waged a sometimes contentious battle to lead the party going forward.
The new leadership team faces a challenging 2018 with something new for Chester County Democrats: expectations of winning.
Democrat Chrissy Houlahan is a heavy favorite to win the 6th District Congressional seat — which covers the entire county, over Pennsbury attorney Greg McCauley. Democrats are also expected to pick up seats in the state legislature — currently holding just two, State Representative Carolyn Comitta (D-156) and state Sen. Andy Dinniman (D-19) of more than 10 seats that represent the county.
Bingham laid out his vision for the county’s Democrats in his nominating speech.
“Our goal is to help every one of our 228 precincts become a voter turnout powerhouse,” he said. “Electing Democrats in Chester County will be the norm, never again the exception.”
More than 340 newly elected Chester County Committee Persons gathered at Stetson Middle School for the quadrennial Reorganization Meeting. Their task was to elect the next Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer along with the Audit Committee and Property Management Committee.
After a formal nomination process, speeches and voting, the winners are:
Chair – Bingham.
Vice Chair – Marsha Peltz of Malvern
Secretary – Nick Allen of West Chester
Treasurer – MaryAnn Piccioni of Paoli
Audit Committee – Marianne Johnson of West Chester, Mary McCracken of Wayne, Maria McCabe of Glenmoore
Property Management Committee – Jim Salvas of West Chester, Jim Bannan of Exton, Alan Yockey of Paoli, Linda Scott of West Chester
“I am proud to hand over my gavel to Dick,” said outgoing Chair McGinnis who served with Bingham on the Executive Board. “It’s now off to November 6. Let’s win this!”
The Democrats are poised for another historic win after 2017’s sweep of the four County Row Offices. Houlahan, running for the 6th Congressional District seat, leads a long list of midterm election candidates, a majority of them women.
