Lani Frank
Lani Frank, Vice Chair of the Chester County Democratic Committee (CCDC), announces her candidacy for CCDC Chair. The election, to be held in June, will be decided by Chester County Democratic committee people.
A 19-year resident of Chester County, Frank became politically engaged after the controversial 2000 presidential election result in favor of Bush over Gore.
Frank said she knew she had to get involved to make sure the next president was not chosen by the Supreme Court. She jumped in with both feet, becoming a volunteer for local candidates and, in 2002, a committee person in Easttown. She learned the ropes from veterans of political campaigns and worked her way up to Zone Leader, eventually serving as campaign manager for the 2006 and 2008 winning campaigns of former State Rep Barbara McIlvaine Smith; West Chester Mayor Carolyn Comitta in 2009; and State Rep Carolyn Comitta in 2016.
Frank was instrumental in the effort to switch Chester County ballots from the punch card to the current optical scan paper ballot. Frank ran for Register of Wills in 2015 and currently serves in her second term on the PA Democratic State Committee, for which she is Progressive Caucus Chair. She was an integral part of the leadership supporting the 2017 Democratic sweep of Row Officers and was a senior advisor for a candidate who ran and won as the first Democrat elected to the East Goshen Board of Supervisors. Frank is a regular participant at local anti-war, gerrymandering, and Ryan Costello protests, and she advocates for commonsense gun reform and pipeline safety.
As CCDC Chair, Frank said she will bring the strength of her campaigning skills to forge a clear path for winning elections in 2018 and beyond.
She said she believes in collaborative leadership, and that “a good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit,” Arnold H. Glasow (1905-1998). She said she will never ask anyone to do what she isn’t willing to do herself and has participated in a wide range of political activities — from stuffing envelopes to running for office. Inspiring others to do their best is how Frank said she will lead CCDC to prove that the wins of 2017 were not flukes.
Frank said she believes in dealing with things and people head on. She prides herself on being honest and forthright and believes that people respond well to others when they know where they stand. She describes herself as very approachable and has mentored many newly involved CCDC members into positions of leadership. She noted that she has the confidence of many local leaders and elected officials and believes that will be instrumental in helping the party ride the new Blue Wave to victory.
To match her activist credentials, Frank has selected Bill Phifer, resident of East Bradford, and Chair of the CCDC Communications Committee, to run as her Vice Chair, and believes their partnership will be second to none. Phifer is a well-respected member of CCDC and former East Bradford Zone Leader. He is a retired HP Fellow with an MBA degree and brings a Fortune 500 corporate-level approach that emphasizes accountability, rigorous processes, performance measurement and robust communication. Frank and Phifer are running on the pledge of Honesty, Leadership and Results.
Campaign literature for the pair are available on https://www.facebook.com/LaniFrank4Chair/
