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DelCo Dem chairman not worried about a PA-7 primary

DREXEL HILL—Many Democrats in Delaware County readily admit to being terrified at the prospect of a bloody, contested primary in the 7th Congressional District. Republicans, who are widely seen as having a stronger local party organization, still outnumber Democrats in the district. It took one of the worst political climates for the GOP in decades for the Democrats to finally win the seat in 2006. And the local GOP leadership seems to have already cleared the field for former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan, a candidate party insiders don’t hesitate to admit they fear. Using up money and energy against each other doesn’t seem appealing.

But county Democratic Party chairman Cliff Wilson isn’t buying into the quiet, but still palpable, signs of panic.

“A primary can energize the party,” Wilson told pa2010.com during an interview here Monday. “We’re an open party. I’d like to see a primary that involves the voters.”

His comments came while attending the campaign announcement of E. Teresa Touey, who he called “a new face.” Touey may have been the candidate of the hour, but many party insiders see the primary as a race between state Representative Bryan Lentz (D-Delaware), who has already said he’ll run, and state Representative Greg Vitali (D-Delaware), who is still on the fence.

And while Wilson acknowledged that different factions of the party are already picking candidates, he’s been encouraging insiders to focus their energy on the coming municipal elections in November. Incumbent Congressman Joe Sestak, he noted, didn’t enter the race in 2006 until February of that year. He mostly played down any emerging divisions.

“Most of the people talking to me aren’t against Lentz or against Vitali,” he said. “They’re interested in both.”

If there comes a time for the party to make a choice, that will be at its convention in February. Whether or not that party will make a formal endorsement, Wilson said, remains to be seen.

September 28, 2009 at 1:56 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

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  1. parent of deaf child

    Sep 28th, 2009

    Any candidate running for Governor will have a big problem left behind from Rendells cut backs in education. Thats for the deaf students of Eastern Pennsylvania. Governor Rendell took a line Item for the Scranton State School for the Deaf from the current lack of a settled budget. After 130 years this Governor got to decide that educating prisoner is more important then providing a basic one for the deaf students of Pa. To make things even worse the Department of Education in junction with the Governor brought in a charter school. This private charter school will charge more to property tax payer throw raising the cost and provide less for the students. By closing the residental programs for the students that travel long distance’s and cutting out the Hight school program in the Scranton location after June 2010. But they have offered to bus any student that wants to attend one of only two High School programs in Pennsylvania to the Pittsburgh school. The other one in Philly doesn’t offer a residental program so the students would have to travel from Scranton area to Philly daily. Now last time I checked Pittsburgh is still 300 miles away a 6+ hour ride on a bus. He will have to leave his home around 8am on a Sunday and returns late Friday night after 9pm. With out Weather issues or traffic problems. This gives us about 12 waking hours a week with our son. My wife and I would have to do all apointments and family evens on Saturdays in that 12 hours. This is not even acounting for school events. Gas up the mini van thats a 12+ hour round trip. How can this be an adequate and appropriate Free Education in Pennsylvania? What was Ed Rendell thinking? Or was he????? The bigger question, the Department of Education there supost to be helping our childern with a Free and appropriate and adequate Education. The Deaf commuitte needs someone to stand up and help these students with a High School program in the North East and mandate something to the New Private Charter School or restore the old program that was providing the needs of all the deaf students under one roof for less to tax payers and the state. If House Bill 1318 would have been reveiwed the truth would have came out, the state was providing an education for less.

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