Carolyn Comitta is an

American politician The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bic ...

, educator and financial officer. She is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, currently serving in the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

representing the 19th district. Previously, Comitta was the first woman to serve as Mayor of West Chester, the seat of

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially known as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the De ...

, and served two terms in the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

representing the 156th district.

Early life and education

Comitta was born in Buffalo, New York, and her family moved to West Goshen when she was 2 years old, where she has lived ever since. Comitta received her BS in Education from

West Chester University West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle ...

(then West Chester State College) in 1974, and her

M.Ed. The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

from

Widener University Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania. The university has three other campuses: two in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and Exton) and one in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded as The Bullock School for Boys in 1821, the school ...

in 1989.

Professional career

From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, Comitta worked in the

Octorara Area School District The Octorara Area School District is a small, rural–urban fringe, public school district serving Parkesburg, Atglen, Christiana, West Sadsbury Township, Sadsbury Township ( Lancaster County), West Fallowfield Township, Highland Townshi ...

as a special and gifted education curriculum specialist and teacher. Since 1988, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of World Information Transfer, Inc., a non-profit, non-governmental educational organization focused on health- and environment-related issues. She is the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of her husband's firm, Thomas Comitta Associates, Town Planners and Landscape Architects.

Political career

West Chester Borough Council

Comitta was first elected to the West Chester Borough Council in 2005, taking-over the Fifth Ward seat vacated by incumbent Democratic Councilwoman Barbara McIlvaine Smith. While on Council, she served as chair of the Borough Council's Public Safety Committee, and also chaired the Planning Zoning, Business & Industrial Development Committee. She also served as a member of the Parks, Recreation and Environmental Protection Committee, as well as the Finance Committee.

Mayor of West Chester

She sought the office of Borough Mayor in 2009, and defeated Councilman Bill Scott in the Democratic primary. She was elected unopposed in the fall general election, and took office the following January. In succeeding the term-limited incumbent Mayor,

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Dick Yoder, Comitta became West Chester's first ever female Mayor, and its first Democratic Mayor since 1992.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

On January 7, 2016, Comitta announced her intent to run for the

in the 156th District, challenging incumbent

Dan Truitt Daniel Truitt is an American politician and engineer, and member of the Libertarian Party. In 2010, he was elected to represent the 156th District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the ...

. After a lengthy recount, she was declared the winner over Truitt by 25 votes on December 16, 2016. On November 6, 2018, Comitta won re-election against Republican challenger Nicholas Deminski by a margin of 13 points or 4,108 votes. In 2020, Comitta sought re-election to her House seat and was unopposed in the Democratic primary. She ended her House campaign in June 2020 to focus on her Senate campaign and was replaced on the ballot by West Chester mayor Dianne Herrin.

Pennsylvania State Senate

In February 2020, State Senator

Andy Dinniman Andrew E. Dinniman (born 1944) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 19th District from June 2006 until 2020. Early life and education Dinniman was born in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

announced his retirement at the end of his term. Dinniman's retirement as considered surprising as he had been preparing for a re-election campaign for a fourth term and

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

ing had already begun. The day after Dinniman's announcement, Comitta announced her campaign for the

in the 19th District. In a three-way Democratic primary against Dinniman's longtime aide Don Vymazal and local school board member Kyle Boyer, Dinniman endorsed Vymazal, while Comitta was endorsed by Governor Tom Wolf and several labor unions. After Pennsylvania delayed their primary to June 2 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Comitta won the primary with nearly 51% of the vote. In the general election, Comitta defeated Republican Kevin Runey with 57.43% of the vote.

Electoral history

Pennsylvania's 156th Legislative District

2016 election

2018 election

2020 Democratic Primary

Pennsylvania's 19th Senatorial District

2020 Democratic Primary

2020 general election

Personal life

Comitta and her husband, Tom, have two grown children. Tom Comitta is a Planner and Landscape Architect.

References

External links

Carolyn Comitta Campaign websiteOfficial Senate webpage
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Comitta, Carolyn Living people Widener University alumni West Chester University alumni 21st-century American politicians 1952 births Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators Women mayors of places in Pennsylvania Women state legislators in Pennsylvania 21st-century American women politicians People from Chester County, Pennsylvania People from West Chester, Pennsylvania Mayors of West Chester, Pennsylvania