There are no major local seats up for grabs on this month’s primary ballot for the Democratic Party in Chadds Ford Township. No party members are looking to run for supervisor and there are no school district seats open in the region.

So, it was a small group of Delaware County Democrats who met at a private residence in Chadds Ford Sunday, May 3. And only a handful of 14 or so were from the township.

They heard from two people seeking countywide seats, Nancy Rhoads Koons who is running for the Court of Common Pleas and from Keith Collins, running for County Council.

Koons is facing Linda Cartisano, a Republican member of council who is cross-filed to run for the judgeship. The seat on the court they are seeking is a new one, and one that was created for Cartisano, Koons said.

“I’m hoping to be the first Democrat ever elected to the bench,” Koons said. “It’s been 159 years and there’s never been a Democrat elected to that bench and it’s about time.”

As a judicial candidate, Koons said, she can’t share her views on certain issues. She said all she can do is share her ideas and background.

She said the Delco Courthouse could be run more efficiently by implementing a case management system. There are more sheriffs' sales in Delaware County than in other counties in the state because other counties give property owners more time to catch up if they’re in arrears on mortgage payments or taxes.

As a result, she said, “People lose their homes and the county loses transfer taxes.”

But, she added, “The court is run by a machine for the machine. … People are not being treated equally.”

Koons said U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak is doing more to help people keep their homes than the county is doing.

Sestak, she said, has helped people find attorneys who can request a delay in sheriff’s sales, but the court can also request those delays, but hasn’t.

When people go to the courthouse and asked for an extension, they’re told, ‘No,’” Koons said. “The effects are devastating. People lose their homes and investors lose money.”

According to Koons, Delaware County sheriff’s sales have increased 150 percent.

Collins took a similar track when he referred to the county government as “a monolithic … basically an oligarchal (sic) structure based on privilege and cronyism.”

Collins said that Delaware County has been a one-party county since the mid 1970s and is the only county in the state without any minority political representation on its council.

He said that while Philadelphia – where he grew up – is considered a Democratic Party stronghold, “There was never the type of intimidation or lack of access to services in Philadelphia for Republicans as it is in Delaware County for Democrats.”