Comitta, Runey vie for 19th Senate seat

Who might be the person to fill the seat in the state Senate left open by the retirement of its longtime Chester County incumbent remained an open question Tuesday, as early returns painted a vague picture for those waiting to see final voting results.

At 10: 30 p. m., Democrat Carolyn Comitta led Republican Kevin Runey by a margin of 24,154 votes to 13,161 votes of more than 37,000 ballots cast.

Comitta, 68, of West Ches

“I think on balance we have done very well.” — Democrat Carolyn Comitta

ter has served as state representative for the West Chester area since 2017, after having served two terms as mayor of West Chester and a member of the borough council. She worked as a teacher of special education and gifted students in the Octorara Area School District for 12 years, and for a planning consulting business she ran with her husband, Thomas Comitta.

Her opponent, Runey, 43, is operations director for Specialty Care, a national health care services firm. A pro- life conservative, he was elected in 2019 to the township supervisors board of London Grove, where he resides with his wife and three sons.

The 19th District is the largest of the four state Senate districts in Chester County, its boundaries holding 40 of the county’s 73 municipalities, and extending from the rural areas of the southern end of the county to urban areas including Coatesville, West Chester and Phoenixville, as well as suburban strongholds like Tredyffrin and West Whiteland.

It is a solidly Democratic district in terms of voter registration, with the party holding a 44 percent to 37 percent edge over its GOP counterpart.

Comitta maintains that in large part, the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf acted reasonably and responsibly in tackling the virus outbreak, which has killed almost 400 people since March and infected more than 7,600, while Republican Kevin Runey contends Wolf acted arbitrarily in refusing to reopen the state more pro- actively.

“I think on balance we have done very well,” said Comitta, who currently represents the West Chester area in the state House of Representatives and is running to replace outgoing state Sen. Andy Dinniman. “When you look nationally at our numbers, I think we’ve done well. But when you ask individuals who are suffering and out of a job, that is another story.

“Do I agree with all of the governor’s policies?” she said in a recent interview. “No. But on balance we really need to create a safe and responsible reopening plan so we can manage the number of cases so that we don’t end up in another shutdown.”

Runey, on the other hand, leveled blame at Democrats for not building a stronger coalition in Harrisburg to better manage the economic fallout from the pandemic.

“I think we all understood and supported decisions made in the early days of the pandemic when much was unknown,” said the current member of the London Grove Board of Supervisors. “I am disappointed in the governor’s ongoing refusal to build and work with a coalition of legislators, county officials, the medical community, small businesses, citizens and other stakeholders as we move through the pandemic.

“I believe transparency and coalition- building would have been a better way, and how we should move forward,” he said in an email statement. “Sadly, my opponent played a part in the partisan games in Harrisburg that have prevented a transparent, bipartisan and collective- thinking approach to the issue.”

Comitta said her goals if elected would be to push for reform of the state’s redistricting process, and to continue her fight for environmental protections, including the state’s participation in the quest for strengthening of renewable energy.

But she said her greatest goal would be to work for more inclusion in government. “I love all the people I meet, and how people surprise me — the generosity of people. It is so uplifting. It is really, that’s what I love about it. What is really important to me about the job is bringing the community together. I know that is something I will continue to focus on. Now more than ever.”

Runey staked out his own set of issues, among those being the protection of the Octoraro Reservoir from sale, and making health care more accessible.

“As senator, my vision is for a Chester County where health care is more accessible and affordable for all, where we support our police and ensure safe communities, where all children receive a quality education regardless of where they live, where we protect our natural resources like the Octoraro Reservoir, and — most importantly — where we return life safely to normal to save jobs, small businesses and our economy,” Runey said in an email statement.

“I will use my 18 years of health care experience to fix the health care system by working for lower costs, increased access and ensuring pre- existing conditions are covered,” he said.

As in all elections, these results are not official until they are certified by the Chester County Board of Elections. That process is likely to take longer this year because the state has allowed counties to process and count mail- in and absentee ballots that are received by the county Office of Voter Services by Friday, if they are postmarked by 8 p. m. Tuesday.

The county has suggested that it will have results of those ballots cast in person and those mail- in ballots received by 8 p. m. Tuesday sometime early Wednesday.