Val Facing Insurgency In Chesco? — Our article on Election Night pinned the blame on Pennsylvania’s poor showing squarely on the tail of state GOP Chairman Val DiGiorgio.
We also blamed DiGiorgio for singlehandedly destroying the once-powerful Chester County Republican Party, which he still insists on chairing.
DiGiorgio is a partner with Stradley Ronon, a Philadelphia-based firm whose purpose is to influence politics for its clients who pay high fees.
There were just enough Republican State committeepeople, however, who live in the land of unicorns to back him. He beat the respected and honorable Lawrence Tabas to win state chairman by two votes in 2017.
Yes, there really was a majority of Republican Party animals who though Val was not going to put the interests of Stradley Ronon ahead of theirs much less that of the average citizen.
Regarding his county post, we suggested on Nov. 12 that Donna Ellingsen, who chairs Area 19 and has been the subject of DiGiorgio’s wrath for the last three years due to principle opposition to his party-poisonous policies, replace him. The suggestion seems to be taking root considering some of our feedback. Donna’s not the only one being bandied as a replacement. John Emmons, who chairs Area 28, has been suggested and there are others.
May the replacement come quickly for the sake of the Chesco Republicans.
Hopefully, some are pushing him to step down from his state job as well.
Val DiGiorgio Villain 2018 — How have the Pennsylvania Republicans fallen.
Lou Barletta lost his senate bid, yesterday, Nov. 6, to incumbent Bob Casey by more than 600,000 votes as of midnight and Scott Wagner was crushed by 800,000 in gubernatorial battle with Tom Wolf.
Casey and Wolf were both easily beatable.
Further, three congressional seats flipped to D including the ones representing Delaware and Chester counties.
The congressional losses can be partly blamed on a loaded redistricting order by the state Supreme Court last January giving historical Democrat voters the majority in the Philadelphia suburban seats.
The court acquired its own Democrat majority in the 2015 election.
We are not sure yet if the GOP has lost the state House and/or Senate but in Delaware County, Sen. Tom McGarrigle appears to have lost the 26th District to Timothy P. Kearney, and Alex Charlton seems to have been unseated by Jennifer O’Mara in the 165th District, 15,577 votes to 15,414.
We can’t recall the last time a Democrat held that seat.
Who do we blame for this debacle? The leader of the Pennsylvania Republican Party is Val DiGiorgio, a partner with Philadelphia-based political fixer Stradley-Ronan, whose alums also include Pennsylvania Attorney General — and leading Democrat — Josh Shapiro, with whom Val has beneficial dealings.
It seems Val is doing to the Pennsylvania party what he has done to the Chester County Party, that he still runs. If we were cynics we’d say it was being done on purpose.
When the Tea Party movement exploded eight years ago and previously uninvolved persons became active, DiGiorgio took steps to keep them from participating in his bailiwick .
These decent people angered by waste, corruption and unnecessary taxes were demeaned by professionals and portrayed as things they were not.
Many no longer feel inspired to politics and those that do think the GOP is as much the enemy as the equally (more so probably) corrupt Democrats.
It’s really not unreasonable to think that both parties work in unison against the average citizen.
If there are any decent leaders still left in the GOP, it is something for them to ponder.
Ellingsen, Welsh Seek State Committee Race — A mild medical issue last week has not caused Donna Ellingsen to quit her bid to represent Republican voters from State Committee Region 2 of Chester County on the Pennsylvania Republican Committee. She and her running mate Tim Welshhave put real fear in the party bosses getting rich off cronyism and corruption and they are going pedal to the metal to stop citizen crusaders. We are republishing this article from April 20.
Complaints are common about cronyism and corruption; about unfair taxes and public spending with no benefit for most.
Donna Ellingsen
Most of the time the complainers only vote in major elections if at all.
We aren’t going to judge. The lazy, corrupt, cronyist media likes it like that and fails to report the issues in a way that explains their ultimate consequences.
Tim Welsh
On May 15, Republican voters in State Committee Region 2 of Chester County will have a chance to give a black eye to cronyism.
Two candidates long-sickened by the how-can-we-milk-the-cow-today attitude of the GOP leadership are in the race.
They are Donna Ellingsen and Tim Welsh.
The 351 state committeepeople are elected every four years during a primary election. They determine who the party endorses in state-wide elections and, more significantly, pick the state party leadership.
There are rarely challengers to the people put up by the party leaders.
Chesco Region 2 is a exception hence an opportunity.
It consists of Coatesville, South Coatesville, Modena, and Valley from Area 14; Atglen, East Fallowfield, West Fallowfield, Highland, Parkesburg , Sadsbury and West Sadsburgy from Area 15; Elk, East Nottingham , Lower Oxford, Oxford Borough, Upper Oxford and West Nottingham from Area 19; and Caln and West Brandywine.
Conservative Power Blasts Pennsylvania Republicans (And Val)
Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania, which has become a major power in state politics, has released a flyer (above) bitterly blasting the State GOP and its legislative lapdogs.
He is “example 3” as to why you should not donate to the party and is, fairly, described as “lobbyist.”
Did you know that Val worked with state Attorney General and Dem bigwig Josh Shapiro at the political fixing firm Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young and that Val’s wife got a $105,000 a year job with Josh’s fiefdom better known as Montgomery County.
Enough Republican state committeepeople apparently didn’t else two more votes would have been flipped to keep Val from winning the chairmanship.
He’s been doing a heckuva job hasn’t he? The Democrats certainly think so.
By the way, Donna Ellingsen, whose integrity has made her Val’s nemesis, is running for state committee along with Timothy Welsh of Oxford in Chester County this May 15. If you live in the area and care about fighting cronyism, vote for Donna and Timothy. Better yet, volunteer to help them get elected.
Her area consists of Coatesville, Modena, Valley North & South, Atglen, East Fallowfield, Highland, Parkesburg, Sadsbury, West Fallowfield, West Sadsbury, Elk, East Nottingham, West Nottingham, Oxford Borough, Lower Oxford, Upper Oxford, Caln and West Brandywine.
Usual Republican Suspects Stop Anti-Corruption Bill — On Dec. 12, the usual Republican suspects in Chester and Delaware counties voted against a bill that would have banned political contributions from automatically being deducted from the paychecks of public employees.
There is no morally justifiable reason for a nay vote. You doubt this? Name one. Give us one reason why money promised to a person for his labor should be taken without his consent and given to back a cause with which he may not agree.
SB 166 was an extremely mild bill. It only applied to public employees and allowed for deductions for union matters including salaries.
And it still couldn’t pass.
The usual Republican suspects are, from Delco, Steve Barrar (R-160), Nick Miccarelli (R-162), Jamie Santora, (R-163), Alex Charlton (R-165), and Chris Quinn (R-168), and. from Chesco, Harry Lewis (R-74) Becky Corbin (R-155) and Duane Milne (R-167).
The Usual Republican Suspects sounds like a great movie. Maybe we can get Bryan Singer to direct it. Who would Kevin Spacey play? Maybe Val DiGiorgio. We can call him Keyser So So.
By the way, if you care about the labor movement and if you care about workers — which union bosses obviously do not — crusade to end automatic deductions for union fees for everyone.
Automatic paycheck deductions hurts labor . Why do the massive amount of money obtained from these involuntary deductions go to causes and candidates such as lobbying for unfair trade pacts and stopping pipelines, which are obviously against the interests of labor?
Hmmm?
Without this guaranteed income the union leaders would actually have to heed the will of those they claim to represent.
The most successful lobbying group in America is the NRA. Suppose if its officials got paid no matter what it did? You think they’d work as hard?
They’d work about as hard as the union bosses do for their constituents, and private access to firearms would have long ended.
Usual Republican Suspects Stop Anti-Corruption Bill
Stradley Ronon Boasts About Val — Stradley Ronon, the Philadelphia-based octopus that can be a poster child for the Deep State, has put out a release about how one of its trusted officers now heads the Pennsylvania Republican Party.
“Stradley Ronon Partner Valentino F. DiGiorgio III was elected Chairman of Pennsylvania’s Republican Party during the state party’s convention in Hershey, Pennsylvania,” they bragged. “. . .Val is co-chair of Stradley Ronon’s public finance and banking practice groups. He handles all legal aspects of financial services, including commercial lending and tax-exempt financing for 501(c)(3) entities, governmental units and other entities.”
Before Democrat Josh Shapiro was elected Pennsylvania Attorney General last November he had been a counsel at Stradley Ronon. You think he might still be on their quick dial?
Wonder whose interests are Shapiro and DiGiorgio more inclined to consider in making policy: The law firm/lobbyist with whom they are connected or the average citizen?
OK, we don’t wonder.
The Trump voter still has work to do in taking back the country.
The votes were cast by members of the Republican State Committee. Every county chairman is automatically a member of it with the rest being elected to four year terms during a municipal party primary.
Tabas noted in a public letter that many of those leaning in his direction were threatened by paid operatives of DiGiorgio.
The close vote shows a serious divide and problem for the state party. DiGiorgio’s win was to due to overwhelming numbers in the Philadelphia region. He lost the rest of the state, especially the Pittsburgh area.
Lawrence Tabas, Pennsylvania Republican Party general counsel.
Tabas Requests Secret Ballot — In an open letter to Val DiGiorgio, Lawrence Tabas has condemned attacks by all sides and requested a secret ballot for tomorrow’s (Feb. 4) vote for the Pennsylvania Republican Party chairmanship that the two men are seeking.
I understand why you’re upset, and rather than ignoring these attacks, I have been actively trying to stop this among my supporters.
Unfortunately, I cannot speak to people who are anonymous, and neither can you. Therefore, I have issued an open letter regarding these attacks, which I am attaching.
I vehemently deny that these attacks have been by my paid supporters. I have also been attacked in numerous ways, and many of the people supporting me have been threatened on your behalf, and I have proof that these attacks have often been perpetrated by your paid supporters. I agree that this has gone too far and ask that you also stop the negative attacks by your supporters, paid or not.
Val DiGiorgio, Chester County GOP boss
We both can stand on our records of service to the Party, and we each have our plans for making the Party better and that is what people should focus on when they are voting. I have built my reputation on integrity, and I know that you have also. Let’s therefore end this election on a positive note.
I believe it would be most effective and positive for our Party if we issue a joint letter condemning all attacks, threats, and repercussions, either pre- or post-election. As part of that letter, we should jointly urge the State Committee members to vote for a secret ballot so that there is no fear of reprisal on either side.
WCNS Discusses Tabas — Tricia Cunningham who hosts Chew on This for 1480 WCNS in Latrobe had a show concerning the Pennsylvania GOP chairman battle between Chesco party boss Val DiGiorgio and respected attorney Lawrence Tabas.
Her guests were Lynn Ryan and Cheryl Freedman.
It’s worth listening to and is pasted below.
BTW, here are the results of the straw poll of state caucuses prior to the official Feb. 4 vote.
DiGiorgio
Tabas
Central Caucus
No Vote Taken—107 total caucus members
Southeast Caucus
68
9
Northeast Central (NECRA)
10
13
Northeast Caucus
12
10
Southwest Caucus
19
40
Northwest Caucus
11
28
Total
120
100
DiGiorgio has a 20 vote lead according to the unofficial poll, which is meaningless since the Central Caucus is holding its 107-vote preference close at hand.
By the way we hear that conservative “hero” Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-12) is making calls for DiGiorgio. Big league mistake, Daryl if true.
Val DiGiorgio False Negative Attacks –The vote for Pennsylvania’s next Republican Party Chairman is Feb. 4 with the leading candidates being Chester County boss Val DiGiorgio and Lawrence Tabas who is the state party’s widely respected general counsel.
Unsuccessful party boss Val DiGiorgio
The decision will be made by members of the Republican State Committee. Every county chairman is automatically a member of the committee with the rest being elected to four year terms during a municipal party primary.
Respected attorney Lawrence Tabas
Sheila Sterrett, who is chairwoman of the the Northwest Caucus, and who is part of Pat Toomey’s senate staff, sent the below email to her fellow committee members:
Good evening! I hope everyone enjoyed the swearing-in ceremonies and I know we look forward to the next 4 years to make some major changes with President Trump!!!
I know there have been a flurry of emails over the past month regarding the race for Chairman of the Party. As a caucus, we will be hearing from both Val and Lawrence and have the opportunity to ask them questions.
As a state committee member, I wanted to share with you that I have been made aware of some disappointing and frankly disturbing news. Opponents of Val DiGiorgio are planning an email and media blitz of false, negative attacks against him centered around President Trump’s election campaign – many of these contacts may be emailing or phoning us directly who don’t even live in Pennsylvania – those who have never been involved in our local elections – those who have not work for our judicial or statewide candidates. If you are like me and tired of the negativity in this race, please don’t stand for it. Let the people behind it know that we abide by Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment. This is what Val and his team have done.
To preempt these attacks, please take a moment to review the email below which outlines Val DiGiorgio’s and Chester County’s efforts on behalf of our President. If you have any question about Val’s efforts to help move the Republican ticket to victory please visit Setting the Record Straight: Val DiGiorgio and the Trump Campaign
I look forward to seeing you this weekend.
Thank you very much
Sheila
OK Sheila, what are these “false, negative attacks” to be made against DiGiorgio?
