EAST GOSHEN — Democrat Barbara McIlvaine Smith, who is running for the state’s 156th Legislative District, won the endorsement of the Sierra Club’s Southeastern Pennsylvania group on Tuesday.
"Floods are occurring more frequently and that is due to climate change, but it is also due to sprawl," she told a group of a few dozen supporters who came out for the announcement at Chester Creek Park on Reservoir Road.
Sierra Club Endorsement Ceremony at Chester Creek Park, Reservoir Road, East Goshen (left to right):
Bill Scott—former Council President, Borough of West Chester; District 156 Leader, Chester County Democratic Committee
Jane Fava—Watershed Watch Coordinator, Brandywine Valley Assn.; member Sierra Club and CRC (Chester-Ridley-Crum) Watersheds Assn.
Robin Mann—Sierra Club Board of Directors; Wetlands Committee Chair, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter
Richard Whiteford—Chair, Chester County Sierra Club Committee
Bill Brainerd—Political Chair, Sierra Club Southeastern Pennsylvania Group
Barbara McIlvaine Smith—Candidate for State Representative District 156
Andy Dinniman—State Senator
Pat O'Donnell—Chester County Commissioner
Her opponent, Republican Shannon Royer, said he was chagrined, but not surprised by the group’s announcement Tuesday.
"Despite the fact that I have a clear record on environmental issues and support their efforts on issues such as mercury reduction, protection of our drinking water, preservation of open space and controlling sprawl, the Sierra Club has once again chosen to follow the path of partisan politics, giving their endorsement to the Democratic candidate," he said in a statement.
The Sierra Club -- and its affiliates -- have traditionally endorsed Democratic candidates over Republican candidates in races all across the country, Royer added.
Organization officials and other activists praised McIlvaine Smith for a depth of commitment to the environment.
"She has been a member and is active (with the group)," Richard Whiteford, chairman of the Chester County Sierra Club Committee, said Tuesday. "We’re a non-partisan organization, but we support candidates who have a strong commitment to saving the environment.
"All of the land we’ve lost in this county over the years we’ve lost under Republican leadership that claimed that they were environmental," he added later.
McIlvaine Smith, 55, a former borough councilwoman, runs Brandywine Water Systems, a privately owned business that sells, installs and services water treatment systems, with her husband, Bob.
"It is rare to find a challenger who has the credentials to prove that she is as environmentally conscious as she is," Bill Brainerd, political chairman of the club’s Southeastern Pennsylvania group, said of McIlvaine Smith.
While on borough council, from 2002 to 2006, McIlvaine Smith became an advocate for improving recycling and composting systems to cut down on solid waste disposal.
She has also worked to teach children the importance of environmental responsibility as an educator at the Brandywine Valley Association and a master compositor.
On Tuesday, McIlvaine Smith decried drinking water that had a higher chlorine content than that of a swimming pool.
And she said she picked the site of the announcement, an East Goshen park where the Chester Creek had been revised and the banks rebuilt, because it represented not the landscaped design of man-made public spaces, but the rugged, natural beauty of the marshlands.
"We're not saving it from someone, or protecting it from someone," McIlvaine Smith said. "We're saving it for people."
In 2004, McIlvaine Smith took 45.3 percent in an unsuccessful challenge to unseat state Rep. Elinor Z. Taylor, R-156th, of West Goshen.
Last summer, McIlvaine Smith announced she was quitting politics altogether, but when Taylor, 84, of West Goshen, announced plans to retire months later, she jumped into the race at the urging of her supporters.
Royer, 38, of West Goshen, served as Taylor’s campaign manager in 2004, when she defeated McIlvaine Smith.
Royer, who was McIlvaine Smith’s predecessor on council representing the borough’s Fifth Ward, now works for the House leadership in Harrisburg.
He defended his record on the environment Tuesday.
"I am not surprised that the Sierra Club chose to follow its pattern of partisan politics again this year. Despite their efforts at tipping the scales, I know that voters will respond to my record of real results and smart ideas on the issues that affect the West Chester area," Royer said.
While on borough council, he worked for downtown revitalization -- preventing the need for new development by making older communities more attractive places to live.
As the president of the West Chester Area Senior Center, Royer was also involved in the development of the senior center’s new facility, located on a former brownfield site.
By the numbers, McIlvaine Smith is the underdog in the 156th District, which is comprised of East Goshen, West Goshen, West Chester and part of East Bradford.
According to the county Office of Voter Services, there are 20,950 Republican registered voters, 12,131 Democratic registered voters and 6,725 other registered voters in the district.
However, Democrats say McIlvaine Smith’s chances were given a boost by the recent success of Andrew Dinniman, the first county Democrat to be elected to the state Senate in more than a century.
Dinniman upset fellow Commissioner Carol Aichele with more than 55 percent of the vote in the May 16 special election -- taking 21,614 votes to Aichele’s 16,822, according to official election results.
Dinniman will serve out the remaining two-year term of the late Sen. Robert Thompson, who died earlier this year.
The victory marked a chink in the armor of the county GOP -- one that Democrats hope to capitalize on in November, but that Republicans contend was a moment, not a movement.
Dinniman, who was on hand for the announcement Tuesday, said the groundwork had been laid for another Chester County Democrat in assembly
"It’s lonely being the only member of the delegation who happens to be a Democrat," he joked.
Dinniman also outlined his strategy for winning, saying that the base of independent-minded voters who put issues before politics are out there.
"They’re out there. All you have to do is get to the same people ..You figure out the places where Democrats tend to have a hard time ..You’ve got to go door-to-door," he said.
To contact staff writer Adam Cirucci, send an e-mail to acirucci@dailylocal.com.
