Meet the countywide slate of Democrats
ELECTION 2017
The Republicans aren’t the only ones seeking a variety of county seats in the Nov. 7 election. Democrats have their own full ballot from business owners to their own attorneys to a former deputy sheriff in Philadelphia/minister.
County Council
County Democrats are running candidates for each of the available county council seats up for grab and they are Kevin Madden and Brian Zidek.
Third-generation Delaware County resident, Madden was born and raised in Media and is co-founder of NightOwl Technologies, a mobile technology for nightlife activities in various metropolitan locations. He is also an investing partner in StartUp Health, an organization that invests in early-stage health technology companies.
The Haverford resident had been vice president of KPS Capital Partners, an investment firm with $5.5 billion of assets. His campaign said KPS is known for working with management, labor and other stakeholders to assist businesses in trouble.
Previously, he worked at Credit Suisse First Boston and was a National Merit Scholar at Vanderbilt University.
He is married and shared his reasons for running for the county seat.
“Forty years of Republican dominance on county council has created a political machine that wastes taxpayer money through corrupt pay-toplay schemes and elected officials lining their pockets,” he said. “It was clear that something had to be done. I couldn’t stand by while (Republican incumbent county councilman) Dave White and the Republican machine enrich themselves with Delco’s taxpayer money. We already pay the highest property tax rates of any county in Southeastern Pennsylvania and so I decided to do something about it.”
Madden outlined the issues he would prioritize if elected to county council.
“The first thing we must do is eliminate the corruption that wastes our tax dollars,” he said. “We must also increase efficiencies and transparency so Delco has a 21stcentury government utilizing the best practices and tools to bring new and better jobs to this county.
“I believe that by eliminating the waste and corruption of the current administration, we can offer real property tax relief to Delco’s citizens,” he said.
Brian Zidek was born and raised in southern New Jersey and has lived in Delaware County for almost 17 years.
He is president of Excess Reinsurance, a selffunded medical reinsurance company and is president of Argo Capital Group Ltd.
Zidek began his professional career as a lawyer at Duane Morris LLP, prior to being hired as Vice President and General Council of Excess Reinsurance Underwriters.
He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Dickinson College and earned his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University, where he was co-founder of the Georgetown Journal on Fighting Poverty.
He also serves as managing director of the Zidek Family Foundation, a private foundation that seeks to better the lives of children.
He and his wife and their three children live in Nether Providence, where he has coached soccer and t-ball teams.
Zidek spoke he’s running.
“Delaware County has been my family’s home for three generations, it’s where I was raised and where my wife and I choose to raise a family,” he said. “But, the world is changing rapidly and we’re being held back by a local Republican machine stuck in the past – run by elected officials who prioritize lining their own pockets and those of party insiders over what’s best for the future of all its residents. We must end it now.”
Zidek said his first priority would be to implement standard ethics reforms and transparency measures.
Then, he would work to create public-private partnerships with world-class colleges and universities to aggressively attract the jobs of the future.
“I’ve spent the last five years helping to launch small businesses in the about why technology sector, and I will bring that experience to Delco government,” he said.
Common Pleas Court judge
Kelly Eckel, a commercial litigator and hiring partner at Duane Morris LLP, is running for the Common Pleas Court Judge position.
She has represented clients in a variety of situations from commercial fraud to complex contracts to intellectual property to employment litigation to bankruptcy hearings.
She also was appointed to the American Arbitration Association’s Roster of Neutrals for commercial cases in 2010 and in that capacity, she presides over pre-trial and evidentiary hearings, resolves discovery disputes, issues rulings and awards and resolves disputes between parties.
A daughter of German immigrants, she lived in many places, moving around with her father, a U.S. Army colonel.
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