{"id":15108,"date":"2015-02-20T16:05:49","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T21:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=15108"},"modified":"2015-02-20T16:05:49","modified_gmt":"2015-02-20T21:05:49","slug":"democrats-back-malloy-good-cozzone-and-scott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=15108","title":{"rendered":"Democrats back Malloy-Good, Cozzone and Scott"},"content":{"rendered":"

Democrats make endorsements for judicial races, commissioners, row offices
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Kyle Carrozza<\/strong>,\u00a0Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"State<\/a>

State Senator Andy Dinniman offers advice to candidates in the upcoming elections. “Just like you would talk to a neighbor, talk to the voter,” he said.<\/p><\/div>\n

WEST CHESTER \u2013 The Chester County Democratic Committee selected Julio Malloy-Good for a second run at Chester County Court of Common Pleas, Kathi Cozzone and Bill Scott for county commissioners; and Tom Purl for district attorney at Thursday night\u2019s endorsement convention.<\/p>\n

The endorsements were as follows:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Chester County Commissioners \u2013\u00a0Kathi Cozzone, Bill Scott<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kathi Cozzone has been a county commissioner since 2008. Cozzone called income equality the defining issue of the decade and climate change the defining issue of the century.<\/p>\n

\"Cozzone\"<\/a>

Kathi Cozzone addresses the Chester County Democratic Committee. “We are Democrats are the best and only choice to move our communities, our county, our commonwealth, and our country forward,” she said.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe Democrats also know that it\u2019s good jobs, not the rich or billionaires that create the strong middle class our economy needs to make a real recovery,\u201d she said. She said that she has worked to work for better public transportation and to reduce energy usage by the county. She also helped to create a pipeline information center to help inform citizens and local governments about the risks and rewards of pipelines in Chester County. She also advocates Planned Parenthood, pro-choice policies for women, and ending legal discrimination against the LGBT community.<\/p>\n

Bill Scott is an attorney who has represented domestic abuse victims, low-income residents, and elderly people in the county. Scott, running for commissioner for the third time, said that he agrees with Cozzone on all the major issues. He has also served as president on West Chester\u2019s Borough Council.<\/p>\n

Chester County District Attorney: Tom Purl<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>

Tom Purl makes his case for Chester County DA.<\/p><\/div>\n

Tom Purl is a lawyer based in Downingtown where he has handled criminal cases, civil cases, family law, and dependency law. He also prosecuted tribunal cases in the military. Purl said that the DA\u2019s job is to make sure laws are enforced equally for everyone. He wants to see breathalyzer ignitions installed in cars after the driver\u2019s first DUI.<\/p>\n

Chester County Court of Common Pleas: Julia Malloy-Good<\/strong><\/p>\n

Julia Malloy-Good is an attorney out of West Chester who beat out Danette Dean and John Carnes for the committee\u2019s endorsement. She was the Special Master in the Court of Common Pleas, making decisions regarding child support and spousal support issues. She has been a lawyer in Chester County for over 20 years. She lost a close race in 2013 for the same post.<\/p>\n

Other Chester County endorsements<\/strong>: Prothonotary \u2013 Tisha Brown; Recorder of Deeds \u2013 Hans Von Mol; Register of Wills \u2013 Lani Frank<\/p>\n

Local Endorsements<\/strong>: District Justice \u2013 Gregory Hines, Jaquelyn Carter; Coatesville City Council \u2013 Carmen Green; Coatesville Area School Board \u2013 Greg Wynn, Chris Taylor.<\/p>\n

Statewide Judicial races:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Democratic Committee selected three candidates to endorse for the state Supreme Court for elections this fall. Christine Donahue also received the 55% needed for endorsement, but as three seats are up for grabs, the committee endorsed the top three vote getters.<\/p>\n

Dougherty, whose May 19 birthday falls on primary day this year, is an administrative judge in Philadelphia and former assistant district attorney for Philadelphia County. He said that his experience in the Philadelphia Family Court allowed him to protect the constitutional rights of defendants, and his experience in the DA\u2019s office allowed him to protect the community at large. He thinks that the state\u2019s justice system needs to undergo changes similar to those in Philadelphia. \u201cWe\u2019re never going to incarcerate our way out of crime,\u201d said Dougherty. His decisions in Philadelphia have helped reduce human trafficking, provide services for the LGBT community, and give legal access to hormones for transgender citizens.<\/p>\n

Lazarus is a Pennsylvania Superior Court judge who previously served in Philadelphia\u2019s Court of Common Pleas. She is also an adjunct law professor at Temple and Widener Universities. \u201cEvery problem that people have eventually ends up in the Supreme Court,\u201d she emphasized. Lazarus said that her history has allowed her to teach, advise, and as the chair of the judicial conduct board, prosecute judges. On the judicial conduct board, her work will forbid common pleas and superior court judges from serving on for-profit boards that could be a conflict of interest and judges\u2019 relatives from working in the court system. She said that she would not make any promises about how she would rule on decisions but would serve with honesty and integrity.<\/p>\n

Wecht is also a state superior court judge with experience as an administrative judge for the PA Supreme Court\u2019s family division. He was elected as a common pleas judge for PA\u2019s Fifth District 2003-2012 after being selected for both the Democratic and Republican ticket. As a family division judge, he designed the Unified Family Court program, which ensured that each family would get one judge for all of their cases. At the superior court level, Wecht designed an ethics and transparency plan unveiled a few days ago that bans judges from receiving gifts, puts cameras in the courtroom, and tightens nepotism policies. He thinks that the top issue that Supreme Court judges will have to rule on is reapportionment.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Superior Court \u2013 Alice Dubow<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alice Dubow, who beat out Robert Colville for endorsement, is a judge in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and practiced law publicly and privately for 23 years. Dubow\u2019s mother, Phyllis Beck was the first woman elected to the PA Supreme Court. She said that the most gratifying part of being involved in the judicial system is giving a voice to those who would not otherwise have one. \u201cI hope that I always did the right balance in terms of getting people off the street but also understanding people\u2019s backgrounds, trying to predict future behavior,\u201d said Dubrow. She believes one of the important factors in choosing a candidate for endorsement is electability. She pointed out that 12 of the last 13 judges elected to the superior court have been women.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court \u2013 Todd Eagan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Todd Eagan is a Harrisburg-based attorney who practices state wide. A Scranton resident, Eagan earned the committee\u2019s nomination in an uncontested vote. As a lawyer, he represents organized labor and works on discrimination cases. In 1999, he represented a woman in the first Family Medical Leave Act jury ruling in Pennsylvania\u2019s Middle District. \u201cThat\u2019s a snapshot of what I do. I\u2019m proud to say that I\u2019ve been the voice of organized labor, I\u2019ve been the voice for working men and women in this commonwealth for the last 18 years as a practicing attorney,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democrats make endorsements for judicial races, commissioners, row offices By Kyle Carrozza,\u00a0Staff Writer, The Times WEST CHESTER \u2013 The Chester County Democratic Committee selected Julio Malloy-Good for a second run at Chester County Court of Common Pleas, Kathi Cozzone and Bill Scott for county commissioners; and Tom Purl for district attorney at Thursday night\u2019s endorsement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[5897,3958,5846,1888,638],"class_list":["post-15108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-bill-scott","tag-chester-county-democratic-committee","tag-election-2015","tag-julia-malloy-good","tag-kathi-cozzone"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15110,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15108\/revisions\/15110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}