{"id":9386,"date":"2013-12-12T13:00:42","date_gmt":"2013-12-12T18:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=9386"},"modified":"2013-12-12T12:47:20","modified_gmt":"2013-12-12T17:47:20","slug":"lewis-wants-to-unite-in-run-for-74th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=9386","title":{"rendered":"Lewis wants to unite in run for 74th"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seeks broad coalition to support his campaign<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"HarryLewis\"<\/a>

Harry Lewis Jr. addresses supporters Wednesday night in declaring his candidacy for State Representative.<\/p><\/div>\n

COATESVILLE \u2014 Amidst a crowded room filled with supporters, friends, former colleagues and students, Harry Lewis Jr. said Wednesday night it would take a broad coalition supporting him for him to be elected as State Representative for the new 74th state house district.<\/p>\n

Lewis, the former principal of Coatesville High School and something of a legend as a high school track athlete \u2014 and later as a coach at Coatesville \u2014 announced he would seek the Republican nomination for the state house seat in 2014, which moves to Chester County from Clearfield County in 2014, in front of a packed house at the Lukens House.<\/p>\n

As the third candidate to announce for what is expected to be a highly competitive race \u2014 Democrats Joshua Young and Josh Maxwell previously declared \u2014 Lewis said running in a district that looks to be a Democratic stronghold would be a challenge, and that he would need the help and ideas of a broad spectrum of people in the community if his race were to be successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have all the answers,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cBut I sure as heck have a heart for our community and the demonstrated skills to effectively serve. And here\u2019s another point I need to make: I need everyone \u2014 Republicans and Democrats alike \u2014 the diverse group that has gathered here this evening to support me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although not typically the case in Chester County state house races, at least terms of voter registration, the 74th District would look to be an uphill climb for Republicans. But Republican County Chairman Val DiGiorgio vowed not just to be competitive, but that Lewis would prevail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fighting to win this seat, despite what the pundits said,\u201d DiGiorgio said. \u201cThe message we\u2019re going to put out to this community is that we care and we want to represent you in the state capitol.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, DiGiorgio said, there\u2019s more to it for him personally. What really excites him is the idea of sending an African-American Republican to the state house, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will be my proudest day (as county GOP chair),\u201d DiGiorgio said. \u201cWhen Harry Lewis is sworn into the state legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Lewis has never held or run for elective office, he has been very active in the community, since retiring as principal of Coatesville High School in 2006 \u2014 calling himself \u201cthe quintessential ambassador\u201d for the area. Until earlier this year, he served as chairman of the board of the Brandywine Health Foundation and served on the board of Brandywine YMCA, in addition to a number of more informal efforts in the community he\u2019s been involved with.<\/p>\n

And as he said he knows the district well, he admits that he sees some of the differences \u2014 and even at times, divisions \u2014 in the community. He hopes to help be a unifying force if elected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know we don\u2019t see the world from the same perspective and too often we allow the our differences to divide us,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cAnd change, such as this district change, is usually a bit uncomfortable and sometimes ushers in suspicion and divisiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people in this new district are as different as night and day,\u201d he said. \u201cThey come from every economic level, cultural background, life experiences and our reality isn\u2019t the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the image we have of one another is frequently tainted. Because of our many achievements, especially at the county level, we may discount the need to work together. (but) we cannot afford to disregard any one municipality, or young person or elderly person \u2014 not one neighborhood or cultural group.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement ceremony did bring out a diverse group, ranging from elected officials \u2014 current state representatives Tim Hennessey \u2014 who currently represents the city and some surrounding municipalities \u2014 and Warren Kampf, as well as County Commissioner Terrence Farrell and Coatesville City Council member Ed Simpson \u2014 to those affiliated with some of the organizations Lewis has worked with in recent years, to former teaching colleagues (including former Downingtown East High School Prinicipal Linwood Smith, who introduced Lewis) and former students.<\/p>\n

The new 74th District includes Caln, Coatesville, Downingtown, East Caln, East Fallowfield, Modena, Parkesburg, South Coatesville, Sadsbury and Valley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seeks broad coalition to support his campaign By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times COATESVILLE \u2014 Amidst a crowded room filled with supporters, friends, former colleagues and students, Harry Lewis Jr. said Wednesday night it would take a broad coalition supporting him for him to be elected as State Representative for the new 74th state house […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":676782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2102,1725,24,3091,58],"class_list":["post-9386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-74th-district","tag-chester-county-republican-party","tag-coatesville","tag-election-2014","tag-state-legislature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9387,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9386\/revisions\/9387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}