Shae Ashe, First To Drop Out Of SD-17 Race. Endorses Linda Fields
Shae Ashe, President of the Norristown School Board, announced tonight that he was dropping out of the race for the 17th District Senatorial Seat, and that he was endorsing the candidacy of Linda Fields.
Fields is a former labor organizer and negotiator. According to her website “she worked for 28 years as a National Organizer & Business Agent for the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees, District 1199C, AFSCME, AFL-CIO until 2018.”
In 2018 she ran as the Democratic candidate in the 24th Senatorial District and raised more than $500, 000 in an unsuccessful campaign against Republican Bob Mensch.
Ashe’s announcement comes just two nights before the Montgomery County Democratic Committee (MCDC) holds its Endorsement Meeting, on January 30. Even with Ashe’s endorsement, it is unlikely that that Fields will win the committee’s endorsement, but she could play a key role in determining whether or not the committee endorses anybody, or winds up with an Open Primary (no endorsesment).
Most of the Montgomery County Democratic Leadership is backing Amanda Cappelletti, but to win the Committee’s endorsement she will have to get 60% of votes at the endorsement meeting. If Cappelletti fails to get 60% on the first ballot, according to MCDC rules, she will have a runoff against the candidate with the second highest number of votes on the first ballot. And that person is probably going to be the incumbent, Daylin Leach.
So before the second ballot, Fields will have a tough choice to make. She can drop out, and throw her support behind Cappelletti. That could very likely enable Cappelletti to win the endorsement. Or she can ask her supporters to vote for Leach. Even with Fields’ support, it’s unlikely that he could win the endorsement, but with Fields’ support, it would significantly reduce Cappelletti’s chances of being endorsed.
This morning Leach released the following list of current and former government officials who have endorsed his candidacy.
Governor Ed Rendell
Senator Connie Williams
Congressman Joe Hoeffel
Montgomery County Jury Commissioner Joanne Olszewksi
Chairman Marcel Groen
Bridgeport Mayor Mark Barbee
Whitpain Auditor Robert Brunner
Haverford Commissioners Gerry Hart, Larry Holmes, and Dan Siegel
Haverford Schoolboard Member Larry Feinberg
Lower Merion Commissioners Dan Bernheim, Rick Churchill, Anna Durban,
Andy Gavrin, Josh Grimes, David McComb, and Todd Sinai
Norristown City Council Members Tom Lepera, Heather Lewis and Sonya Sanders
Norristown School Board Member Turea Hutson
Plymouth Township Supervisor David Gannon
Radnor Township Commissioner Damien Enderle
Upper Merion Supervisors Tina Garzillo, Dr. Bill Jeneway, Carole Kenney, Greg Phillips, and Greg Waks
Upper Merion Schoolboard Members Maura Buri, Dr. Gary Ledebur, and Eric Wellington
Wissahickon School Board Member Ronald Stolo
The other “challengers” still in the race are Jamie Mogil, Sara Atkins, Elvira Berry and Parthenia Izzard.
They all appeared at the Whitpain Challengers Forum, last Wednesay (January 22).