Ciliberti challenges state Rep. Lawrence in 13th District

WEST GROVE » Two candidates are vying to win the Republican nomination for the 13th Legislative District this Tuesday, Primary Election Day, May 17.

Incumbent state Rep. John Lawrence, R-13th of West Grove, is running to keep his seat against political newcomer Carmela Ciliberti of New London.

Lawrence has held the seat since 2011.

“I ran for state representative as a reformer looking to lead by example,” Lawrence said. “I declined the ridiculous perks previous legislators granted themselves — saying ‘no’ to a state pension, a state car, per-diems, and other freebies.”

The 13th Legislative District spans much of Southern Chester

County including the boroughs of Oxford and West Grove and the townships of East Nottingham, Elk Township, New London, Franklin, Highland, London Grove, Londonderry, Lower Oxford, Penn, New London, West Nottingham, West Fallowfield, Upper Oxford and London Britain.

Due to recent redistricting changes, after the General Assembly’s current legislative session ends, the 13th District will no longer include Atglen Borough in Chester County and Christiana Borough and Sadsbury Township in Lancaster County.

“This session, I serve on seven committees, more than any other member of the House, including Agriculture, Professional Licensure, Transportation, Appropriations, Rules, Government Oversight, and the Committee on Committees,” Lawrence said on Wednesday. “Serving on these committees gives me the opportunity to speak directly into the legislative process at pivotal moments, and provide critical oversight over executive branch agencies like PennDOT and the Department of Revenue.”

The Daily Local News asked the state representative what were his greatest accomplishments while serving in office for the 13th Legislative District.

“We moved a constitutional amendment, approved by voters, to limit the governor’s executive powers,” Lawrence said. “I was a ‘yes’ vote on legislation that gave parents more choice and more oversight over their children’s education, and I have led the fight to allow parents to opt-out of Keystone Exam testing for their children.”

Lawrence said he is very concerned about Pennsylvania’s fiscal outlook.

“I wrote a new law reforming how the state issues debt, saving taxpayers $1 billion in interest costs,” he said. “I voted to reform the state pension system and pushed back against Governor Wolf’s reckless proposals to dramatically increase state spending.”

This session, Lawrence has written several bills on a variety of topics. These include, he said: “requiring elected officials to submit to a drug test, prohibiting vaccine passports, blocking the sale of Chester Water Authority, removing prohibitions on the sale of electric vehicles in Pennsylvania, and several bills to help our struggling dairy farmers.”

Lawrence highlighted three challenges facing Southern Chester County and District 13.

“The biggest issue I hear about on people’s front porches is that folks are fed up over Wolf’s shutdowns and Biden’s inflation,” Lawrence said.

“A trip to the gas station or the grocery store can be nearly twice what it cost a year ago,” he said. “While I was a ‘no’ vote on the big gas tax hike a few years ago, the federal government must get out of the way of the development of natural resources to lower gas prices.”

Lawrence shares two daughters with his wife, Becky. The pair have been married for 21 years.

“Parents should have good options when it comes to the education of their own children,” Lawrence said. “I’m proud to have voted in favor of charter schools, homeschooling parents, the (Earned Income Tax Credit) EITC program that gives scholarships to students attending Christian and catholic schools, and record funding for our local school districts in Southern Chester County.”

Lawrence said he has led efforts to fix the Red Rose Inn intersection at Route 796 and Old Baltimore Pike in Penn, and recently secured funding to fix the intersection at Route 272 and Old Baltimore Pike in Nottingham, a project that will begin in the near future.

And after getting PennDOT to finally address Route 41, north of Cochranville, and Route 1 between West Grove and Avondale last year, PennDOT added Oxford Road, parts of Route 896, south of Jennersville, and Chesterville Road, east of Chesterville, to this year’s paving schedule, he said.

Longer term, Lawrence said he is working to have a left turn lane installed on Route 896 for drivers turning onto Chambers Rock Road in London Britain, and to fix the Route 1 and Route 841 interchange at West Grove to extend the merge lanes as one enters onto Route 1.

“As a lifelong resident of our area, I watched for years as other parts of the state saw major road improvements, while Southern Chester County was largely forgotten,” Lawrence said. “As state representative, I am working every day to fix this historic imbalance to get our community the attention it deserves.”

The Republican Committee of Chester County has endorsed Lawrence. Ciliberti is an attorney. “I am offering a constitutional conservative option to the voters in my district in contrast to the representation we have had over the last several years,” Ciliberti said on Friday.

“I will put my extensive private sector experience dealing with government bureaucracies and my legal education to use fighting for and defending the liberties of my fellow constituents,” she said.

Ciliberti worked for FlightSafety International, the largest commercial aviation training company in the world, for 20 years. During high school, she worked at New Garden Flying Field.

The Daily Local News asked Ciliberti what led her to run for office in this year’s primary.

“My experiences in the highly regulated aviation industry, the impact of the September 11th terror attacks on this industry and the loss of two acquaintances to homicide inspired me to get involved in politics,” she said.

“I familiarized myself with the works that inspired America’s Constitutional Republic which protect our natural right to ‘life, liberty, and property.’ The past few years have shown that our Country and Commonwealth are on the precipice of eliminating these natural rights,” Ciliberti said.

A graduate of Avon Grove High School, Ciliberti has lived in Chester County since 1989.

Ciliberti said her top three qualifications include: “a 20-year career in a highly regulated private sector focusing on regulatory compliance, during which I successfully dealt with unelected and unqualified government bureaucrats;” as well as being a member of the Pennsylvania Bar and receiving a Juris Doctor from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law; and a history of volunteer community service and political activism for the cause of liberty.

In terms of the top three challenges facing Southern Chester County and the district, Ciliberti said there is distrust of elections due to the unconstitutional Act 77 which gave the voters no-excuse mail-in ballots and unsecured ballot drop boxes.

Another challenge, she said, is the erosion of parental rights, and the radicalization and sexualization of children in public schools

Ciliberti said a third challenge includes taxes and inflation resulting in higher costs for food, energy, and supplies.

Chamir James is running unopposed in the primary to win the Democratic nomination for the 13th Legislative District seat on May 17. James will then face off

against the Republican nominee in November.

SUBMITTED PHOTOS Incumbent state Rep. John Lawrence, R-13th of West Grove, left, is running to keep his seat against newcomer Carmela Ciliberti of New London, right.