State Senator Daylin Leach’s (D-17) beleaguered re-election effort got a huge boost this week. Leach won the endorsement of his predecessor, Connie Williams. And Williams went one step beyond just endorsing Leach. She sent out an invitation to a fundraiser for him, to be held at her home in Haverford. The fundraiser is scheduled for December 18.
Some familiar names in Lower Merion Politics are also listed on the invitation as members of the host committee. They include Lita Cohen, a former state representative who ran against Williams as a Republican in 2001, the year Williams was first elected to the Senate; Jane Delheim, a former Lower Merion Commissioner; and Eva Ray, a member of the Democratic Committee of Lower Merion/Narberth (DCLMN) who serves as one of four DCMLN members on the Montgomery County Democratic Committee. Bill Madway is also listed as one of event’s hosts. He is a former DCLMN member and also ran for Township Commissioner in 2015.
Williams won election to the State Senate for first time, in a special election in 2001, following the resignation of Richard (Dick) Tilghman. Tilghman was the last Republican to represent the 17th Senatorial District. He was first elected to that seat in 1968.
At the time of Tilghman’s resignation, Williams was serving as the State Representative fron the 149th District. She was elected to The House for the first time in1996, and was the first Democrat to ever to represent the 149th District.
Williams was opposed in the 2001 special election by Republican Lita Cohen. Cohen was also a state representive. She lived in Merion and represented the 148th District.
