Noone, Ryan split endorsements in Chesco DA race
WEST CHESTER >> Law enforcement groups in Chester County have split on the candidates they support to succeed outgoing District Attorney Tom Hogan as the county’s top prosecutor in 2020.
On Thursday, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 11 in West Chester announced that it had endorsed Democrat Deb Ryan to take over the office that oversees all criminal prosecutions in the county. The organization chose Ryan over her opponent, Republican Mike Noone, in the November election after hearing from both candidates on Wednesday at the organization’s lodge on North Church Street.
Ryan’s endorsement marks the first time that a Democrat running for Chester County district attorney has been backed by the local FOP. Ryan’s campaign immediately labeled the move an “historic victory.” Ryan had earlier secured the endorsement of FOP Lodge 66, which represents state police troopers in the county, prior to Noone entering
the race last month.
But her FOP endorsement comes after the Chester County Police Chiefs Association chose to give its endorsement to the Republican Noone, the current first assistant district attorney and the number two supervisor in the D.A.s office behind Hogan.
That action came on Sept. 11, and followed two other endorsements of Noone by police associations, including the Phoenixville Police Association and the County Detectives Association of Pennsylvania.
Never before have those organizations split on who would best represent the interests of the police and public safety in the county, but spokesmen for both the FOP and the Chiefs Association declined to address their reasons for choosing one over the other, or by what margin the votes to endorse came.
In a statement released by Ryan’s campaign, FOP President Steven Plaugher was quoted as saying that, “Ms. Ryan has proven her commitment to the citizens of Chester County and will lead the district attorney’s office with fairness, integrity and compassion. She has demonstrated a strong allegiance to, and support for, the law enforcement community, police officers and their families in both her personal life and legal career. The law enforcement community holds her in high regard.”
Plaugher said that 110 members had attended the endorsement meeting Wednesday, with a simple majority voting for each candidate.
Plaugher is a retired lieutenant with the Downingtown Police Department. His organizations represents more than 800 members — both active and retired law enforcement officers, county deputy sheriffs, and county probation officers — from its municipal police departments. One source called FOP membership the “voice of law enforcement” since it represents the line officers in the county.
Meanwhile, William Mossman, the president of the Chiefs Association, in a letter about his group’s endorsement, noted that the chiefs “support professionalism in law enforcement and positive community interaction through our leadership, programs, training and outreach.
“We enthusiastically support candidates whose values are ‘harmoniously aligned’ with our principles which support the over 800 men and women in Chester County law enforcement,” wrote Mossman, who is chief of the East Coventry Police Department. His organization, as its name implies, represents the bosses of the county’s 68 municipal police departments.
Both candidates were eager to tout the nods given them in their race to success Hogan, the two-term incumbent who announced abruptly in July that he would not seek re-election to devote more time to his family, after having won the GOP primary in May.
“The multiple endorsements I have received from local, county, and statewide law enforcement agencies are a result of my close working relationship with police throughout my career,” said Noone in a statement Friday. “Whether it is working on an investigation or trial with a local police officer, working on a department-wide policy with a police chief, or working with law enforcement officials across the state to fight the opioid epidemic, I have a proven track record of working together with police to ensure justice is served.
“Law enforcement is the ultimate team endeavor,” he added. “I am grateful and humbled by the support of police and their recognition of my unwavering commitment to justice.”
Ryan stated that she is honored by her endorsement.
“I am grateful for the support of the two largest law enforcement agencies in Chester County,” Ryan said. “Their endorsement absolutely sends a message that they believe change is necessary and they have faith that I will usher in a new era with integrity.”
She promised to repair what she characterized as a deteriorating relationship under Hogan’s leadership with local and state police.
“Change is needed in the district attorney’s office,” the Democrat stated. “We have seen fractured relationships with law enforcement, failure to treat victims with the respect and dignity they deserve, and an alarming opioid and child abuse crisis. I hope to change that once elected.”
Ryan also cited an endorsement by former District Attorney Joseph Carroll, the man who had hired both her and Noone. In a letter he wrote, Carroll characterized Ryan’s “most valuable quality is your understanding of the responsibility that goes with the office. You realize that the power you hold as district attorney belongs to the people you serve and must only be exercised for their benefit. You have a commitment to justice that requires fair, unbiased treatment under all circumstances.”
Both Noone, 44, of West Chester, and Ryan, 48, of Birmingham, are making their first runs for political office. Both have similar backgrounds in the district attorney’s office: Ryan worked there from 2006 until 2016, when she left after having served as the deputy district attorney in charge of the D.A.’s Child Abuse Unit. She now works as a project coordinator for the Chester County Crime Victim’s Center. Noone has served as first assistant in the D.A.’s office since returning to the office in 2012 after having worked there from 2003 to 2007.
The two shared the prosecution of Gary Lee Fellenbaum III, who fatally beat and tortured 3-year-old “Scotty” McMillan at the home Fellenbaum shared with McMillan’s mother, Jillian Tait. Noone oversaw Fellenbaum’s guilty plea to first-degree murder charges in September 2017.
In addition to making the endorsements for District Attorney, both the FOP and the Chiefs Association handed out endorsements for other county offices on the ballot in the upcoming Nov. 5 election.
The FOP gave its endorsements to Republicans Terence Farrell and Michelle Kichline and Democrat Marian Moskowitz for county commissioner; Republican Andrea Cardamone and Democrat Analisa Sondergaard for Common Pleas judge; and Republican Jim Fitzgerald for sheriff.
The Chiefs Association’s choices mirrored the FOP’s, with the exception of endorsing D.A. Chief of Staff Charles “Chuck” Gaza for Common Pleas judge instead of Sondergaard.