Andy Reilly Covers For Mullen

Andy Reilly Covers For Mullen
Delco GOP head Andy Reilly apparently thinks Paul Mullen (right) really didn’t want Democrat Joe Sestak (left) to win in 2010 when he strongly endorsed him. Apparently, the Delco GOP boss thinks that shows principle or something.

Delaware County Republican Chairman Andy Reilly appeared on the Dom Giordano show, Monday, (June 15) to defend the man the GOP picked to fill the vacant 161st District Seat in the Pennsylvania House.

Why the candidate himself couldn’t appear is certainly a point of wonder especially as Andy couldn’t answer questions about where the candidate stood.

The candidate is Paul Mullen, who is business manager of  IBEW Local 654 and until very recently was president of the county AFL-CIO. Mullen was a personal supporter of Joe Sestak, Toomey’s opponent, five years ago.

This is what Mullen said  in 2010 about Sestak: A lot of politicians say they’ll support you when they run, then they turn their backs on you. Joe’s the opposite. He stands tall with the IBEW. Members here—they know Joe. He’s been to the hall several times and he’s toured our training facility. He’s definitely one of us.

Will Mullen support Toomey this time? Andy  replied “I’ll bet you a steak dinner at a restaurant of your choosing that he will”.

Um, that’s not a yes.

Will Mullen support liquor privatization?

Andy: “I believe he does . . . it depends on how you define (privatization). What does that mean?”

C’mon Andy. Really?

One glaring issue that reveals why many of the loyal party workers are getting disgusted with the bosses is the claim that Mullen was picked by the grassroots.

“There is some kind of suggestion that the process of the endorsement of Paul Mullen was undemocratic,” Andy, who counts IBEW. Local 654 as among his law clients, told Dom. “The decision was made by the elected Republican committeepeople, one man and one woman from the neighborhoods in the district. Both candidates were provided with a list of committeepeople and addresses. They each sent a letter to the committeepeople along with their resume. We held a forum whereby both candidates were able to give their speeches, and then we handed a secret ballot,  and both candidates were there to witness the tabulation. This wasn’t a decision made by the party bosses. This was a rank and file election by committeepeople.”

The  forum and election tabulation was held 7 p.m., May 28 at Barnaby’s Heritage Ballroom in Ridley.

The results had been announced an hour earlier on Facebook.

The interview is 12:27 long and can be found here in Dom’s archives from June 15.

The 161st District seat was vacated by newly re-elected Rep. Joe Hackett, a Republican, on April 30. The election is Aug. 4.

Lisa Esler, the Pat Tooomey-supporting Republican, who  went door-to-door for our Senator and made phone calls for him in 2010 and stayed up nervously watching returns and is going to happily support his re-election, is also seeking election to the seat.

She is more than willing to personally take questions from Dom on the air.

Mrs. Esler won election to the Penn Delco School in 2011 and developed a reputation for tackling the corruption and  cronyism prevalent in state politics.

In  this year’s May 19 primary election, Mrs. Esler was the top vote-getter on both Republican and Democrat ballots to retain her seat.

She is running as a write-in candidate, something the new machines make easy to do.

The non-GOP supported Democrat in the race is Leanne Krueger-Braneky of Swarthmore who lost to Hackett last fall.

Andy Reilly Covers For Mullen

 

 

 

3 thoughts on “Andy Reilly Covers For Mullen”

  1. This whole process of Mullen’s endorsement smells very bad. That he wouldn’t go on a talk radio show himself and that he has a reputation for avoiding the press tells me that there are things in his life that he does not want to talk about. That Andy Reilly would promote the endorsement of Mullen–and let’s not even start with the democratic process–I’ve lived in Delco practically my whole life and the Delco GOP has always been suspect–has caused me to lose a whole lot of respect for him. For a GOP County Chair to go on the radio and lie is reprehensible. Mullen openly supported both Sestak and John Kane and there are no questions about it. I have no doubt Mullen supports Republicans who run for County Council. Those are the only positions the Delco GOP cares about–the Courthouse and County Council are and have always been its empire. As for any other candidates–they don’t care. If they did, they never would have endorsed an ardent Joe Sestak supporter. Pat Toomey faces a very tough race and the Delco GOP has given Sestak’s people some great ammunition.

  2. Andy Reilly and Delco GOP made a disgraceful choice in endorsing Paul Mullen. As a union boss representing his members, how can he possibly vote for issues like Paycheck Protection, Pension Reform, Liquor Privatization and Prevailing Wage when the unions are on the NO side of every discussion? One thing we know about union members is that they will protect their positions tooth and nail regardless of the impact on the taxpayers! Paul Mullen will not represent Republican positions…his allegiance is to the union!

  3. Mr. Reilly is being very disingenuous when he says the decision was not undemocratic.

    People must realize that the commiteepeople who voted for Mr. Mullen have county-controlled jobs and were pressured to support Mr. Mullen.

    As only 40 of the district’s 74 committee seats were represented at the candidate meeting, there was barely a quorum.

    Mr. Mullen was asked one question that he could not answer. Mrs. Esler was asked three that she answered in detail.

    The decision was not democratic Mr. Reilly. It was soviet.

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