Category: Chesco Inquisition

Donna Ellingsen Persecution Back — The persecution of popular Chesco GOP Area 19 Chairwoman Donna Ellingsen has restarted.

Mrs. Ellingsen was subjected to a bizarre purge attempt by allies of County Boss Val DiGirogio  in early 2016 alleging that she violated party bylaws in  supporting a candidate other than the nominated one.

It was thought that her overwhelming re-election in April 2016 and her easy election as area chair in June 2017  put the matter to rest.

Oh well.

Mrs. Ellingsen announced in late December she was running for State Committee. Val’s heart must have been warmed by that bit of Christmas news. In early January, Mrs. E got a letter from the county GOP demanding she appear before a new inquisition on Feb. 19 for something or other. They weren’t exactly clear about what. She is trying to find that out but they aren’t telling her despite repeated requests.

She also got a letter from county voter services — run, certainly coincidently, by Kara Rahn who is wife of Val confident Alex Rahn and previous Area 1 chair– demanding all spending receipts going back to 2014.

Donna notes that she has chaired her area since 2017 but is not the treasurer who is responsible for record keeping and financial filings. She was nevertheless told by Chesco Voter Services not to destroy the records she doesn’t have.

Donna further notes that she will run for the Republican State Committee post whether the party establishment endorses her or not. Obviously Val wants her out. The well-connected operator won his promotion to state GOP Chairman by just two votes a year ago.

For the record, Donna happily endorses Sheriff Bunny Welsh for state committee and points out that she couldn’t run against her if she wanted to as Donna is in Republican State Committee Region 2 and Bunny is in Region 3. Rumors had been spread — who could have done that Val? — that Donna was taking on the popular sheriff.

Donna Ellingsen Persecution Back

Donna Ellingsen Elected Area Chair In Chesco — Donna Ellingsen, the Elks Township committeewoman who was the subject of a bizarre purge attempt by the Chester County Republican establishment in early 2016, was overwhelming elected to lead the county’s Area 19.

The vote taken, June 8, was 11-4.

“A political party is merely a means to providing honest, responsive government,” said Ms. Ellingsen. “It is not as an end to itself and it is especially not a means to a well-paying  job.”

Committee seats and area chairs are non-paying positions.

Ms. Ellingsen’s victory can be seen as strong rebuke to Val DiGiorgio who remains county party chairman, despite his unexpectedly narrow victory in the race to become state chairman.

The Chesco GOP divides the county into 28 areas. Area chairs are basically responsible for managing the campaigns within their area. They are authorized to call special meetings and required to attend all meetings of the Republican County Executive Committee where they “shall at all times state the opinions, polices and positions” of their area committee.

Area 19 consists of Elk Township, East Nottingham, West Nottingham, Oxford Borough East and West, Lower Oxford East and West, and Upper Oxford Townships im Southern Chesco.

Donna Ellingsen Elected Area Chair In Chesco

Val DiGiorgio Fails GOP In Chesco — Chester County GOP boss Val DiGiorgio is reputedly next in line as state party chairman. Hopefully, his fellow Republicans consider Chesco’s performance Nov. 8 before making it official.

Donald Trump lost the county, which Mitt Romney won in 2012, by 25,000 votes. The party pointedly avoided backing Trump.

Congressional candidate and Lloyd Smucker lost the conservative part of the county that is part of the 16th congressional district by more than 4,000 votes. Smucker was not supported by the GOP activists there whom DiGiorgio had alienated.

While Smucker’s margin in Lancaster County was more than enough to carry him to victory, that he lost an area he should have won big speaks ill of those running things.

John Rafferty, whose 44th Senate District includes much of Chester County, won the county by but 50 votes out of 267,000 cast in his failed bid for state Attorney General. Could DiGiorgio’s ties to the Democrat winner have caused him to put forth less of an effort than he should?

One can only speculate.

Dan Truitt won re-election to his 156th District State House seat by less than 80 votes in a strong Republican year. (UPDATE: He lost by 25 votes. Way to go Val.) Jack London lost the 19th District state senate seat, despite much pre-election braggadocio by DiGiorgio, and spending huge amounts of resources.

DiGiorgio has  picked puzzling fights with many of the county’s most staunch Republicans causing what appears to be permanent divisions. The only motive we can figure is to avoid scrutiny by those most concerned about good government to maximize patronage opportunities.

He will be a disaster for the party if he becomes state chairman.

Val DiGiorgio Fails GOP In Chesco

Chesco Cronyists Praised By Politico — The cronyist website Politico has a pompous bit of punditry concerning Chester County, Pa. and how Donald Trump is doomed, doomed, doomed because cronyist Republican Congressman Ryan Costello represents much of it.

Costello votes for big government about 70 percent of the time.

And of course he’s tight with county GOP Chairman Val DiGirogio, who is desperately seeking to become state boss, and, by extension, Montco Dem Boss Josh Shapiro who is this year’s D candidate for state attorney general.

If anti-cronyists learn to start thinking strategically they might start winning. There are certain Democrats with whom they might be wise to start a dialogue. If the party powers get wind that voters (and activists) whom they have taken for granted are negotiating with the other side — and the other side becomes aware that they might be willing to back them with a little give and take — guys like Costello might behave a little better when legislating.

It should be remembered that DiGirogio is more than happy to work with Dems as is Costello, obviously.

What Costello, and DiGirogio and Shapiro have in common is that self-interest is paramount. What conservative activists might find they have in common with some Dems is that the public good comes first although they may have different ways of achieving this shared goal.

Really, ask DiGirogio — or Shapiro — to defend having working people cover $400,000 public pensions. What proves the point is that they will.

Chesco Cronyists Praised By Politico

Donna Ellingsen Thank You — Donna Ellingsen, the independent-thinking Chester County committeewoman who the party powers tried to remove this winter, overwhelmingly won re-election to her post on April 26.

She has sent out the below heart-felt thank you to her many supporters.

 Dear Neighbors and Friends,

In last Tuesday’s Primary Election, I was re-elected as Republican Committeewoman in Elk township by a vote of 195 to 119 votes.  Here is the unofficial report.

I had the distinction of being the only Committee person in Southern Chester County to have a challenger run against me.  Nevertheless, with your help, I easily won re-election to the Republican Committeewoman spot.  Even though I was personally unable to visit everyone as usual this time, voter turnout in Elk Twp was the highest in all of our Area 19 at an unprecedented 61.9% of all registered township Republicans.  

Thank you to all those who came out to vote, inquired about the state of affairs with the GOP HQ, and offered help in whatever is needed. Your prayers and support are a blessing to me.

Gratefully,
Donna Ellingsen

P.S.:  In case you missed it here are the links to:

• My most recent April 12th radio interview; starting at the 1:01 mark
• Copy of the letter received from GOP outlining their terms of the special hearing, apparently held without our participation
• Related items on BillLawrenceOnline.com

Donna Ellingsen Thank You