New Chesco D.A. makes history with long list of ‘firsts’
In 2019, no one made history quite like Deborah Eisenbud Ryan.
A former chief prosecutor for the Chester County District Attorney’s Office, she made the decision to run for the seat against the man who had defined the office for eight years, incumbent Tom Hogan, her one-time boss.
She has never run for political office before, let alone such a high-profile position in a booming county and she would do so as a Democrat in a territory still holding a Republican Party voting edge. But she did so citing the inspiration of her grandparents, survivors of the Holocaust, and determined to re-establish the primacy of victims of crime and cooperation with local law
enforcement and the focus of the District Attorney’s Office.
To say she succeeded would be an understatement.
In the aftermath of the Nov. 5 election, Ryan stood as the candidate who had received more votes than any other countywide candidate in history. Not only that, but she became the county’s first Democratic District Attorney, the first female District Attorney, and the first candidate to best a former colleague at the ballot box.
Ryan received 54 percent of the vote, more than any of her Democratic counterparts in the party’s historic sweep of county offices. She won 45 of the county’s 73 municipalities — 61 percent — and 165 of its 228 individual precincts — 72 percent.
In January 2020, Ryan will take over the office of more than 100 prosecutors, investigators, and staff
members and command the apparatus that has an immediate impact on the lives and safety of people in the county.
“I don’t know that it has sunk in quite yet,” Ryan said in an interview last week. “I’m processing it. I’m excited that the voters came out to support me and my campaign, and I’m really proud of the campaign we ran. We did a positive, clean campaign. We just promoted my experience and shared my vision for a different and better office and I think that resonated with voters. I’m incredibly grateful for all the support I’ve received.
“Now, I look forward to getting into office and doing great things for the community,” she said.
Asked if she was surprised by the events of Election Day, she answered without hesitation. “Yes.
“I was surprised at the overwhelming results in my favor,” she said. “I was surprised at the whole Democratic sweep. I was very grateful, but I think I am still in a little bit of shock.”
In her campaign for the office, Ryan, 48, of Birmingham stressed that fundamental changes need to be made in the way the District Attorney’s Office is run, to re-establish its reputation among victims, community members, and police, a reputation she claims has faltered in the years in which Hogan led the office.
“We need new leadership,” Ryan said in an interview prior to the election. “Tough on crime doesn’t work. Smart on crime does.”
In the election, she actually ran against First Assistant District Attorney Mike Noone, the office’s second in command. Hogan had abruptly and unexpectedly withdrawn from the race in July, citing his successes in office and a desire to spend more time with his family.
Ryan said the idea of running against Hogan had not entered her head until she
was prompted by others.
“It came initially from my friends in law enforcement,” she said. “They were the ones who had planted the seed. And initially I was not receptive to it, because I am not a politician. I think politics is a very difficult game. I am an honest person, and navigating that whole process was going to be something very challenging to me.
“And then, my brother died, and that had a huge impact on my life,” she remembered. Daniel K. Eisenbud, a journalist and war correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, died in February 2018, a day after they spoke about a possible campaign. “He and I discussed the idea of doing it, and his position was that it was an important thing to try to achieve. The the mark I would make would be so far reaching that it would be helpful to many people. That was probably one of the more pivotal things in my decision making.”
She said she expected a hard fight against Hogan, who indicated that he would attempt to tie her to controversial Democratic figures like former Attorney general Kathleen Kane and current Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner.
“Because I’m a novice I really wasn’t sure what was going to happen,” she said. “But I ran a clean campaign. I anticipated a challenging campaign, but I vowed from the beginning and maintained with my committee and the people that were behind the scenes that I wold not go negative. I think in this climate of going negative against someone does not further the cause. People are sick and tired of seeing negativity in politics.”
The lessons she said she learned for the experience are simple.
“As a woman and as a Democrat I am excited to have been able to achieve this level of success,” she said. “But I also know that I am highly qualified for this job, that I’ve earned this job. It’s sad that it has taken us this long to get to here.
To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.