Head Of Chester County GOP Seeks Statewide Chair

The head of GOP in Chester County is seeking the top office in the party's statewide leadership

Chester County GOP Chairman Val DiGiorgio will seek the position of Chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, he announced Wednesday.

"I have always believed in the servant model of leadership," DiGiorgio said in a statement. "Therefore, as State GOP Chairman, if I am so honored, I will approach each day with one mission - giving county chairmen and state and local committee members the tools they need to be successful in electing qualified, conservative Republicans to office."

In a letter written state committee members, DiGiorgio called the GOP the nation's "last, best hope" and laid out his dedication to the job at hand. DiGiorgio has been active in Republican politics since he was 17. He served as a GOP Committeeman for four years before holding a variety of positions in Republican administrations, ranging from Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge to State Sen. Melissa Hart.

Although Pennsylvania was won by Donald Trump and Sen. Pat Toomey in the recent election, Chester County voted for Hillary Clinton and Katie McGinty.

Chester County as a whole also represented a decisive victory for Hillary Clinton, who won 140,188 votes to Trump's 115,582. Gary Johnson won 7,818 votes, good for a 2.89 percent chunk.

Given how close the race was statewide, the 15,000-odd votes that were cast for third party candidates in Chester County took on a renewed importance.

County-wide, Pat Toomey's margin of victory over Katie McGinty was slightly larger than it was statewide. Toomey won 133,277, while McGinty won 126,588.

Voter turnout was up significantly in numbers in 2016 within the county. 272,580 voters, or 76.90 percent, hit the polls this year, compared to 253,009, 74.8 percent, during the 2012 presidential election.

Image courtesy Val DiGiorgio.