Cozzone plans run for state Lt. Gov.
WEST CHESTER » Citing a desire to bring issues affecting local governments to attention in Harrisburg and to give the governor an advocate to work with both political parties, Chester County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone intends to announce her candidacy for Pennsylvania lieutenant governor on Tuesday.
“I think the governor needs a partner who understands how to work across the aisle for the benefit of the residents of Pennsylvania,” Cozzone said in an interview Monday with Digital First Media. “And local government needs a voice” to combat the “systematic cuts” that have been forced on communities by the General Assembly, from counties to municipalities to school boards.
“That isn’t the way to do things,” Cozzone declared. “I think we can do it better, and I think I’m the one to do it.”
Cozzone will make her announcement in an event at 2 p.m. Tuesday on the front steps of the Historic Chester County Courthouse, where she began her political career in 2008 after two decades in private business. The Democrat is expected to be joined in person or by letter by other politicians and supporters who endorse her candidacy. The election is in 2018.
“The governor needs an accomplished elected official who knows how to work in a bipartisan manner to produce real results, to serve with him in Harrisburg,” the Democrat said in a statement announcing her candidacy. “He, and our party, need a strong ticket in the fall to ensure our success at the ballot box and to help advance the governor’s agenda in the hearts and minds of Pennsylvanians. I believe I have the skills and the record to serve on that ticket, and be that partner for Governor Wolf.”
Her decision comes after the current office holder, Lt. Gov. Mike Stack, faced unprecedented backlash from Wolf after reports surfaced that he had verbally abused security staff assigned to his state residence at Fort Indiantown Gap.
It also comes as one state legislator, state Sen. David Argall, R-Berks/ Schuylkill, has offered a bill that would fundamentally change the way in which lieutenant governors are elected. The bill, introduced in June, would allow gubernatorial nominees to pick their running mates, replacing the current system under which candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately in primaries and as a team in November. There are rumors Argall will also run for lieutenant governor in 2018.
Cozzone listed three issues she would present to voters as evidence of her accomplishments while in office in the county: workforce development, behavioral health matters in the criminal justice system, and natural gas pipeline regulations.
As commissioner, Cozzone helped initiate the county’s “Platform to Employment” program, which helps retrain out-of-work residents and restore their hope in finding new and productive jobs. She has also supported the initiatives in the courts that take a new approach to treatment of offenders to decrease recidivism, pointing to the prize-winning Women’s Reentry Assessment & Programming (WRAP) initiative.
And finally she pointed to the work she had done on Wolf’s statewide pipeline infrastructure initiative, for which she serves as head of the county government work group. As part of that program, she helped develop a set of recommended guidelines that she believes would help local governments address issues related to the pipelines that cross the state, she said.
Cozzone has made it a hallmark of her years as commissioner that she works in a collegial fashion with her Republican colleagues, who dominate the board. She is the first Democrat in Chester County to be given the position of vice chairwoman, a notable — though largely ceremonial — honor.
Asked to address how she would run a campaign against a sitting incumbent inside her own party, Cozzone said her goal is to present an assist to Wolf.
“I’m in this race because I think the governor needs a new partner,” she said. “I am prepared to do what I need to do to win the primary. For me, this isn’t about the sitting incumbent; it’s about what is best for the Commonwealth.”
Stack has vowed to seek the office again next year, even as his support from key Democratic Party players was in doubt. That Cozzone would seek to replace an incumbent in her own party illustrates how vulnerable he may be.
G. Terry Madonna, professor of Public Affairs and director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, said Cozzone faces an uphill battle in her quest for the office. “The second spot is about visibility,” he said Monday. “It also takes tons of money to raise your statewide profile, not to mention party support which can be invaluable.
“Who knows what Wolf will do with Stack?” Madonna said. “It’s hard to believe he will endorse him, and maybe he will find a running mate given their relationship or lack of one.”
In April, Wolf stripped Stack and his wife of state police protection following complaints about the Stacks’ treatment of troopers and other state employees who tended to their taxpayer-funded residence. The move dropped jaws in the state Capitol, since lieutenant governors have had state police protection for decades in Pennsylvania, and have occasionally had to step in to serve as governor.
Wolf and Stack were elected on the same ticket in 2014, but candidates for governor and lieutenant governor in Pennsylvania run independently in the primaries and, once elected, hold what are considered independent offices. The men have never been close, and yanking Stack’s police protection all but seals that for the future, including 2018, when both men are expected to run for a second term.
Cozzone is in the midst of her third term as commissioner. Before her election in 2007, she spent 20 years in various private sector finance roles.
The 55-year-old lives in Uwchlan with her husband, Victor, and their son, Victor.