Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
He’s got ‘write’ stuff for West Chester mayor run
Tommy Ciccarone Jr. wages strong write-in campaign
WEST CHESTER >> Realtor Tommy Ciccarone Jr. has apparently earned a spot on the November ballot for mayor as a write-in candidate.
Of 348 write-in ballots cast for mayor on the Republican ballot, Ciccarone seemingly collected far more votes than any other candidate, according to a summation made by poll workers. No Republican was listed on the ballot.
Dianne Herrin powered her way to strong showing in the Democratic Primary. She earned an overall majority of the vote tally in a three-candidate race. Her name will appear on the general election ballot.
Mayor Jordan Norley is not
running to retain his seat.
The results are not official until certified by Voter Services. Kara Rahn, director of voter services, said Thursday that official tabulation of write-in ballots would start at 9 a.m. Friday and would last from three to four weeks.
This was the first time that Ciccarone has run for an elected office. He did not seriously consider running until it was too late to be listed on the Republican ballot.
“I was asked a month or two ago,” the 37-year old said about seeking the mayor’s job. “I hadn’t put much thought to it until asked.”
Ciccarone is a life-long borough resident.
“I’m excited that I’ll be giving back to the borough,” the candidate said. “I want to do the best I can to help in a public way.”
Ciccarone said he would have enough “constituents on both sides” to receive the nod from voters in a borough where Democrats outnumber Republicans.
Ciccarone works for Precision Realty Group, with offices in Philadelphia, Berwyn and West Chester. His former firm, Parkway Cleaners and its nine locations,
was recently sold to a new owner.
Former three-term mayor Tom Chambers supports the candidate.
“Tom Chambers is guiding me,” Ciccarone said. “He’s a great influence. He sat down with me and discussed his thoughts on the mayor’s role.”
Ciccarone has served, or is still serving, on the Greater West Chester Board, the borough Planning Commission and the Chester County 20/20 Board. He is also a board member of the YMCA.
Rahn said that the voter services office will need to certify thousands of paper ballots.
“We’ll make sure all the ballots are counted and the write-ins are tallied,” she said. “It’s quite a bit of a process.”
The process is a long one, partly due to the different spellings used by voters.
Ciccarone was sometimes
listed as “Thomas,” “Tommy” or “Tom.” Some voters included Jr. after his last name, while others didn’t. The realtor’s last name was spelled several different ways.
“You want to be reasonably sure that “Tommy” Ciccarone is “Tom” Ciccarone,” Rahn said.
On Thursday, Ciccarone submitted a list of names voters had written when intending to vote for him. Voter Services requires that such a list be provided by write-in candidates by Friday afternoon.
During an election where no candidates are listed on the ballot, a plurality, and at least 10 write-in votes, are needed to be placed on the fall ballot.
Ten signatures are required on a campaign petition to be listed on the primary ballot.
Rahn said that the large number of write-in votes is not abnormal.
“Typically when no one is on the ballot there’s a lot of write-ins,” she said.
Barber Tony Polito also received several write-in votes in the Ward 1 Borough Council race. No Republican was listed on the ballot.
Polito might face off against long-time incumbent Bill Scott.