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HD-164: Davidson Beats Old Friend Coles

Margo-DavidsonWhen Margo Davidson faced a primary challenger in 2014, Upper Darby councilwoman Sekela Coles was one of her biggest advocates.

Now the three term State Rep. had to fend off a challenge from Coles. She even lost the Democratic support in her own hometown.

But none of that mattered as the first woman and African American to hold the seat once again fended off a primary challenger.

With 99% of precincts in, Davidson won 54% of the vote to Coles’ 46% (5,139 votes to 4,436 votes). She will face Inderjit Singh Baines in the general election.

The 164th District includes East Lansdowne, Lansdowne, Milbourne and parts of Upper Darby and Yeadon.

32 Responses

  1. If “Robert” is Robert Davidson, I wouldn’t take his advice. He couldn’t pass the judicial qualification test. Slander is spoken and Libel in written. I know that much from my high school education and one year of college. Get back to those books, janitor/fireman/man of leisure. Spell check… Do you use it?

  2. Robert,

    I never actually accused you of anything, but your faux moral outrage says it all.

    Colleen

  3. Colleen, I don’t know where you work or if you are even employed. To say that I have been contacting your employer to have fired is not only false it rises to the level of slander. Any job that you have loss and the jobs you will lose in the future will be based on your on merit. Please stop making slanderous comments on blogs and take your matter to the law enforcement so that this matter may be settled in court.

  4. Mr. Lavagna – What is the People’s Victory Campaign? Is it a PAC? I can’t find any finance reports for it. Can you provide a link?

  5. Colleen — I wasn’t trying to give you advice, I just wanted you to substantiate your claims. I’ve found that during the time I was with Margo’s campaign that many of the allegations against her and her “surrogates” are completely unfounded. I’m just asking you to actually document what these issues are, and I’ll investigate, as you rightly point out that if there are surly activities going on it reflects poorly on me and the Rep.

  6. Mike,

    I have not sought your advice, nor do I need it. Just know that when surrogates of your candidate behave the way they do, it reflects poorly on you, not on me. I look forward to see if Rep. Davidson changes her attitude for her new term. It would be a welcome change.

    -Colleen

  7. Also — to correct an important issue you raised. “and it is why her campaign is largely funded from one special interest super pac”. This “super pac” provided less than 10% of the donations for this election cycle. There were hundreds of individual donations from individuals and a wide array of unions and other groups that supported Marg.

  8. Colleen — to the extent that you are being “attacked in parking lots, having members of my family threatened, my very minuscule minimum wage livelihood threatened, my credibility questioned”, I would document all of these issues and report them to the police and/or hire an attorney if you have an actionable issue. I’m not disputing whether these activities occurred, only that they did not come from me, and they did not come from the Representative to the best of my knowledge. If you have specific examples of these issues occurring, and someone on the campaign had something to do with it, I will gladly investigate.

  9. Ms. Kennedy – My comments were directed to you. To the extent you have been threatened, feel unsafe or have reason to believe anyone is monitoring your online activity from two years or more ago, make a record of it and if necessary alert the authorities. Such strange behavior.

  10. And unlike anyone who has insulted me, I have apologized. This is a good lesson for me, that’s for sure

  11. Please- I just recall facebook posts from 2 years ago- when I was attacked for merely putting out an opinion this week that is what I harkened back to. I also did not put anyone’s name directly on this board, because I was not certain This is getting out of hand- all I am was a Margo supporter who put out an opinion and have been subsequently attacked

  12. Ms. Kennedy – Mr. Radich’s supposed familiarity of the “tone of your writing” on social media is unnerving and odd. I’m sorry to read all that has happened to you. You might want to get a restraining order or a civil protective order.

  13. Ms Kennedy
    Look- all I did initially was post my opinion on the race- to quote you “exercise my 1st amendment” Someone replied with perjorative and untrue facts about my employment. I thought I recognized the tone of the writing. My mistake. I already apologized.

  14. Is it enough Mike or Robert, that I’m facing harassment at my job, even though your candidate won, and even though I’ve completely kept out of this race other than to observe as a citizen of this community, which I have every right to do?

    Anyone reading these comments knows who “CK” is. Don’t fool yourself into not feeling guilty. You might as well have published my phone number, where I work, or my home address, all which have happened in the past.

    These behind the scenes, vitriolic actions are why people find Margo to be a disgusting, monstrous excuse for a human being. It’s why she has no real allies in Harrisburg, and it is why she will not accomplish anything of value or merit for her district. It’s why Margo had three campaign managers during a 5 month campaign cycle, and it is why her campaign is largely funded from one special interest super pac.

    It’s also why Margo couldn’t get an endorsement from the county party, and even last cycle when she did, it was because she and her former campaign manager used actual brute force on video to score a tiny margin of victory, which she of course called a landslide. Everything is a landslide for Margo. And then she got angry that I posted the video, as if I didn’t have every right to expose her deplorable actions. This time around, a DNC representative had to be the leader and observer of endorsements, because otherwise, who knows what would happen? And still Margo saw me as the problem, trying to have me removed from the meeting, rather than acting like anything other than who she is – a liar, a crook, and a self-entitled politician in every sense of the stereotype.

    It’s why the only articles written about her include lines clearly fed by Margo, like 1st woman, first African American, etc. etc. How about legislator who fixed the funding crisis? How about legislator who supports LGBT people without the need for public pressure. How about legislator who can be counted on to even show up to work? Well, we can’t say those, because none of those would be true.

    I am tired. Tired of being harassed, attacked in parking lots, having members of my family threatened, my very minuscule minimum wage livelihood threatened, my credibility questioned, my motives maligned, all because Margo Davidson does a crappy job and feels threatened by the example I and so many others set for what it means to be a community leader. She should feel threatened. She is a disgrace to our community. I am ashamed. And I’m done being quiet. Threaten me, contact me, lie about me, hurt members of my family, and I’m filing a police report.

  15. Ms Kennedy
    My mistake- apologies although I did not use your actual name because I was not sure. Have a good day

  16. Robert,
    No, I’m not Delco Socialist. See, unlike you, when I have something to say, I say it publicly with my actual name attached. It’s that little thing called integrity. I’ve never said a single thing about Representative Davidson that wasn’t completely true and with evidence, and I did it out of a duty to the public, because she works for the public. Over the past few months I’ve pretty much avoided all public discussion about this race. Why? Because I’ve been facing harassment of a personal nature that no human being deserves. I’ve got good evidence to believe that Representative Davidson’s husband has been campaigning to my employer to fire me, for exercising my first amendment rights, in public, without anonymity. I haven’t exercised that right in months, because of the harassment I’ve faced.

    Grow up. If you had integrity, you wouldn’t be defiling my name without evidence in the freaking comments section of Politics PA. You’d be doing something to help your community, which I’ve at least been trying to do for the past 10+ years.

    Your investigative journalism skills are top notch, buddy!

    Sincerely,
    Colleen Kennedy
    (A Person With 1st Amendment Rights Whose Grasp for Facts is Stronger Than Yours)

  17. Mr. Lavagna – I know in this cycle I read somewhere where she said that Coles running had to do with her being a jilted lover. In the last cycle I personally heard her make reference to the fact that Smith was married to a “white lady” so how could he be for the people… Petty stuff. Congrats on wining your campaign. You had a tall task and you pulled it off. Ask for double whatever you were paid in 2016 in 2018.

    Philly Steve – I didn’t get the sense that the overriding theme of Coles’ campaign was about abortion. She talked more about school funding issues.

    Mr. Radich – I don’t care if you got a job based on connections to Davidson. Wouldn’t be the first or last time something like that has happened. I do question why someone who is seemingly intelligent and in finance would turn a blind eye and support a candidate with such a horrid financial background. With her credit history she couldn’t get a teller job at a bank.

    I don’t hate Ms. Davidson. I just want better for our community. What she did to Upper Darby Dems after 2014 was selfish and irresponsible. The things she said about Lansdowne “elites” was bordering on racism. Supporting an unqualified candidate (albeit her husband) for judge was a bold slap in the face to the intelligence of everyone in that district. Alas, this is how our democracy works.

  18. Hey Delco Socialist
    Ironic that you say Margo uses “lies and personal insinuations” and you post lies about my employment- without the guts to use your own name. Have a decent idea of who you are though. The tone reminds me of what you posted on facebook- CK

  19. Hey Delco Socialist — I’m Margo’s Campaign manager — I’d like to know what you specifically mean by “Margo Davidson ran a nasty campaign full of lies and personal insinuations and represents the worst that we have to offer.” I really want to know what you think constitutes a “nasty campaign full of lies and personal insinuations?”

  20. I don’t know Davidson that well, but most of the information I’ve seen in relation to this race has been regarding abortion. If you want to dump Davidson because she’s a bad person, that’s totally legitimate. You might want to make your campaign about that instead of abortion though next time.

  21. My involvement with Delco Dem politics goes back to the late 80’s. I knew who Rep. Davidson was before she was elected and I know exactly who she is now. We would have had stability in this seat, if we had someone who was qualified, honest, and hardworking on a consistent basis. Rep. Davidson will continue to be challenged by Democrats who think we can do better. I will continue to support any qualified D who runs against her. We let a lawyer with public service experience as a DA slip through the cracks in 2014 and now a person with a PHD who educates people for a living.

    Who won? A former radio employee with a string of failed “non-profits” to her credit.. All of which had their non-profit status revoked by the IRS. Real leadership…

    The greatest predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Davidson accomplished NOTHING prior to lucking out and winning in 2010. She will ride this until the wheels come off. It’s all she’s got.

    Delco Observer, Radich, Philly Steve… If you knew your kid could do better and only came home with C’s are you ok with that? If so, ok.. I’m not. I know we can do better and I am embarrassed by our State Rep. We are actively recruiting opponents for the next cycle. I hope we have more than 4.

  22. Delco Socialist
    Again your facts are muddled. I was connected to my employer by an Executive Recruiter. I am an MBA with 25+ years of experience. I can find my own employment. Try posting something factual if you are going to use my name.

  23. I didn’t say you were employed by her, only that she connected you with your current employer. As for the pseudonym, I don’t wish to expose myself to the kind of vengeance that Margo has employed on others in Upper Darby. As for the rest, the legal wheels are already turning.

  24. Into this atmosphere came Margo Davidson telling people that she was going to run for State Rep. There was no vetting and most people felt that she was going to finish the campaign with our usual result.

    I supported her even in spite of some of her votes but when Council Member Sekela Coles said she was interested in running I was happy to join her campaign. She was a breath of fresh air.

  25. I largely agree with Delco Socialist’s comments. I will say that I don’t have information about the allegations regarding Mr. Radich and will reserve judgment.

    2010 was a time when the UD Democratic Committee was just becoming a force to be reconded with. Up until that time the joke was that if you put your name on the ballot you would get 33% and if you worked really hard you would get one third. It was difficult to recruit candidates.

  26. To Delco Socialist
    I am not going to dignify a lot of the drivel you posted. However, rest assured that I am not now, nor have I ever been in Rep Davidsons employ. In addition I do not hide behind pseudonyms

  27. It wasn’t just about her abortion votes, and it had nothing to do with ego. This was about Davidson’s habitual dishonesty, the fact that she is participating in a for-profit takeover of our public schools by con-artists, her long history of shady financial dealings, her unpaid taxes, her bullying of people in the district, her drunken antics at polling places, her routine betrayals of people who she used to advance her career at various times, and the fact that she basically dismantled the Upper Darby Dems and hobbled their efforts to run an effective local campaign in 2015 while she tried to get her husband elected to a judgeship that he would not have been able to assume if he had won. That’s not to mention a long parade of just terrible votes on the floor of the General Assembly and her blatantly illegal campaign finance activity. Robert Radich only supports her because she got him a job and he’s happy to support a crook as long as he gets his cut. I can’t wait until all her new friends get to know her like all her old friends, who supported Sekela, now do. As long as Margo Davidson is in office, Democrats in Delaware County will have no way to challenge the Republican argument that electing Democrats in the suburbs will bring Philadelphia’s brand of political corruption westwards. Sekela Coles ran a tough campaign with dignity and integrity and represents the best that Democrats in Delaware County have to offer. Margo Davidson ran a nasty campaign full of lies and personal insinuations and represents the worst that we have to offer.

  28. Unfortunately what it shows is that the DEMS made a horrible mistake in 2010 when they selected her to win a race that even the most unqualified, inept, financially insolvent, irresponsible, uncouth candidate couldn’t lose. Most that support her have their hand out and were promised or actually received jobs is the word around the campfire. That’s not democracy. Its grift. The only thing that will get that burrowed tick out of office now is an indictment. I won’t be surprised by that either.

  29. Philly Steve:
    Could not agree more. Just one more example of the lack of Party leadership at the County level, and some really bad decisions at the local committee level. Very unfortunate

  30. This was an unnecessary race. Democrats fighting in this District is just about ego. Rep. Davidson may not be perfect, but she is formidable. Delco Dems should be focused on picking up GOP seats.

  31. The fact that the Democratic Party has become so militant on abortion that they are willing to attack one of their own for voting for commonsense regulations after her own family died in the Gosnell butcher mill is sad. Democrats are often complaining about how Republicans won’t accept any “reasonable restrictions” for gun rights, but they can’t see the plank in their own eyes on abortion. Sad.

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