Dems see two frontrunners in race for the 5th nomination
At its largest nominating convention ever, the Delaware County Democratic Party got one step closer to backing a candidate in the 5th Congressional District race with two frontrunners emerging.
Although the party was unable to endorse one candidate through four rounds of committee voting Sunday, Mary Gay Scanlon and Ashley Lunkenheimer took a majority in the final round with Molly Sheehan’s supporters firmly remaining committed to her.
“I thought the process was about as good as it could possibly have been,” Delaware County Democratic Chairman David Landau said. “We had an unprecedented situation with the number of candidates.”
And, he added the 512 committee members were the most the party has ever had at such an event.
“We never had that kind of turnout before,” Landau said. “Most of them stayed for four hours. It was very good for the party.”
The convention at the Upper Darby High School started issuing credentials at 5:45 p.m. Sunday and the proceedings started at 7 p.m., not finishing until about 10 p.m.
Landau said even with various people trying to adjourn the meeting or trying to stop it, the event went well.
“At least within the party, Mary Gay Scanlon and Ashley Lunkenheimer have the most support,” he said.
Scanlon, an attorney and former Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board member, former U.S. Assistant Attorney Lunkenheimer and scientist Dr. Molly Sheehan joined teacher and environmental advocate Lawrence Arata of Haverford; George Badey, chairman of Radnor Township’s Democratic Committee; former CIA intelligence officer Shelly Chauncey of Glen Mills; Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland; former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor for Labor Rich Lazer; American Association for Cancer Research trustee Lindy Li of Philadelphia; attorney Dan Muroff of Marple; state Rep. Greg Vitali, D-166 of Haverford; state Rep. Margo Davidson, R-164 of Upper Darby; and journalist/entrepreneur David Wertime of Lower Merion in seeking the endorsement. Entrepreneur Theresa Wright of Norristown was absent from Sunday’s meeting.
The process now moves to the municipal level, Landau explained, adding that some municipalities have a significant Democratic presence that could be meaningful to either candidate. On Monday, Lansdowne’s Democratic committee endorsed Scanlon.
“We’re moving forward,” Landau said. “We’ll see where we are in the next 10 days.”
That’s when the municipal party committees will have made their own individual decisions about their pick for the seat.
Voters have their say in the May 15 primary election.
The Delco Dems made the announcement regarding Sunday’s outcome on their Facebook page.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have two accomplished, progressive women as the leading contenders in this historic 5th Congressional District primary, the first-ever in a new, fair congressional map,” Landau said. “The 2018 election cycle is shaping up to be a historic one for Democrats and a transformative one for the nation. Delaware County Democrats continue to build organizational strength that led to historic county-wide victories in 2017 and I am confident Ashley Lunkenheimer or Mary Gay Scanlon will be elected our next representative in Congress.”
Democratic Vice Chair Beth Alois thanked the committee people and volunteers who helped with the convention before saying the energy must now go toward the candidates.
“Having so many great candidates run to represent Delaware County has made our party stronger,” she said. “It’s now time to get to work to make sure Ashley Lunkenheimer or Mary Gay Scanlon is elected to fight for us in Washington.”
At the convention, 512 committee people cast votes for their favorite candidate. Then, the top six vote getters moved to the next round, where it was whittled down to three.
In order to have an official endorsement, any one of the candidates must secure 55 percent of the vote. In the absence of that, the voting could potentially continue. In the fourth round, Scanlon received 218 votes and Lunkenheimer received 155, both short of the required 55 percent.
“(Sheehan) told all of her supporters not to vote, to abstain,” Delaware County Democratic Party executive director Shelly Rahman said. “Once they abstain, there’s no way to get the 55 percent.”
At that point, Rahman said Lunkenheimer and Scanlon agreed there was no need to go to the fifth round, particularly with Sheehan’s voters abstaining.
So, after almost three hours of voting, the convention ended.
Afterwards, Scanlon and Lunkenheimer commented on the process.
“I am humbled to have received the support of committee members from across Delco through multiple rounds of voting at the Delco Dems convention,” Scanlon said. “Our campaign has always been about uniting Democrats to send someone to Washington who will not just stand up to the Trump administration but who will promote a progressive agenda on civil rights, voting rights, criminal justice reform, economic justice and other issues.
“I appreciate that the committee members stuck by me during the tumultuous convention process and I won’t let them down,” she continued. “We want to unify Democrats going forward to May 15 and we will be taking our campaign to all parts of the Pennsylvania 5th district with a positive message to flip this seat for Democrats in November.”
On her Twitter page, Lunkenheimer shared her own comments.
“Thank you to all who came out to the #DelCoDems convention to support my candidacy,” she tweeted. “So encouraged to have emerged as one of two candidates to make it to the final round of voting and to have received the endorsement of my good friend Shelly Chauncey at the convention!”
At Sunday’s event, Chauncey and Badey ended their campaigns.
On Monday, Chauncey announced her withdrawal from the race while describing Sunday’s meeting as a heartening display of enthusiasm.
“I am buoyed by the support which took me as far as it did, remaining extremely competitive in a field of 14 candidates, most with significantly more money, connections, and resources,” she said. “Despite my hope to be your voice in Washington, this was, unfortunately, not my time. For all those who confided in me, who placed their trust in me, who worked to get me as far as I did, I will truly be forever grateful.”
She then gave her support to Lunkenheimer.
“(M)y most sincere desire is still to see the people of this district receive real, effective representation in Washington,” Chaucey said. “We need a candidate with strong credentials and thoughtful stances to take our fight and our voice to Washington. For these reasons and more, I wholeheartedly endorse Ashley Lunkenheimer. She has fought for underserved populations in this district for decades and I am confident that Ashley will represent our district with honor, integrity, and tenacity.”
Attempts to reach Badey Tuesday were unsuccessful.