Courtesy photo             Former State Rep. Eric Roe has announced his candidacy for the Chester County Commissioners.

By Richard L. Gaw, Staff Writer

Eric Roe, who served one term as a State Representative for Pennsylvania’s 158th Legislative District from 2017 to 2018, announced his candidacy for the three-person Chester County Commissioners, in a release posted last week.

In a race that will be determined next November, Roe begins his campaign for commissioner on the heels of a political career that saw the Republican elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in November 2016 after defeating Democrat and current Avondale mayor Susan Rzucidlo with 53.2 percent of the vote.

During his tenure in Harrisburg, Roe, 35, voted for $60 million in grants to make Pennsylvania schools safer; co-sponsored anti-violence legislation that toughened firearms laws; voted to give more than $11 billion to public schools in the state; helped reform the state’s employee pension system; and appeared at more than one dozen town halls whose topics included property/school taxes, school violence and the elimination of gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. Together with Democrat Steve Samuelson, Roe sponsored House Bill 722 to establish an independent citizens commission to redistrict Congressional as well as State House and Senate districts.

In November 2018, Roe lost his bid for reelection to Democrat Christina Sappey by eight percentage points, and in a rematch with Sappey to regain his seat in the House in 2020, Roe lost the election by a narrow 485 votes.

“I love this county, and I want to see its residents flourish,” Roe said in a statement. “Chester County is a great place to live, work, raise a family, and retire, but it takes hard work to keep it that way. Our quality of life must be fought for and protected, and that’s just what I will do in county government.

“My goal is to preserve the character of our community. I want to pass on to future generations a Chester County with an abundance of preserved open spaces, so that the overdevelopment and urban sprawl we see in neighboring counties does not take over Chester County, too.”

Roe’s official announcement will take place on Dec. 3 at the Historic Courthouse steps in West Chester beginning at 9:00 a.m., rain or shine.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].