Delaware County Democratic slate for 2023:
Jack Stollsteimer, Dr. Monica Taylor, Christine Reuther, Elaine Paul Schaefer & Rachel Ezzell Berry
County Council Candidates
Dr. MONICA TAYLOR
Dr. Monica Taylor is the Chair of Delaware County Council and was elected to Delaware County Council in November of 2019.
Along with her colleagues on Council Dr. Taylor has led the effort to create Delaware County’s first Health department. She serves as the Council liaison to The Health Department, Human Services, COSA, Office of Housing and Community Development, Veterans Affairs, Workforce Development, Library Services, and Children and Youth Services.
Dr. Taylor is also a professor and graduate program director in the at Temple University. In addition to her teaching, research, and administrative duties, Monica is working on community outreach projects to educate high school students about potential future careers in the health care industry.
Monica resides in Upper Darby with her husband, Jason and their three daughters.
ELAINE PAUL SCHAEFER
In addition to serving on County Council, Elaine Schaefer is the Executive Director of Schuylkill River Greenways National Heritage Area, a non-profit organization headquartered in Pottstown with the mission of connecting the community to the Schuylkill River and the Schuylkill River Trail. She is an attorney with a background and experience in open space, trail development and natural resource protection with a passion for connecting communities with nature.
In addition to her position at SRG, Elaine served as a Township Commissioner in Radnor, PA for eight years and ran for Pennsylvania State Representative in 2015. Elaine received her B.A. from Boston College and her J.D. from William and Mary Law School.
Elaine has three adult children and she lives in Radnor with her husband and Labrador Retriever, Biggie Smalls.
CHRISTINE REUTHER
Christine A. Reuther was elected to a four-year term on Delaware County Council in November of 2019. She was born and raised in Delaware County and brings thirty years of professional experience to her role on Council.
Ms. Reuther graduated from Haverford Township Senior High School and earned her undergraduate degree in government with honors from Harvard University. She briefly migrated to California and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley Law School before returning to the Philadelphia area to start her practice as a tax lawyer at Ballard Spahr. She spent time as in-house counsel at both PECO Energy and CIGNA Corporation and, until she was sworn in as a member of County Council, was a shareholder at McCausland Keen and Buckman, a law firm located in Devon PA; she is now of counsel to the firm.
Ms. Reuther and her husband live in Wallingford. Their three daughters graduated from Strath Haven High School.
District Attorney Candidate
JACK STOLLSTEIMER
Jack is the proud son of a union family who has lived his American Dream in Delaware County.
His father Fred dropped out of Upper Darby High School at 17 to join the U.S. Army during the Korean War. After proudly serving his country, Fred raised his family into the middle class through his hard work as a SEPTA driver and member of the United Transportation Union (UTU).
His mother Henrietta was born in Soviet Ukraine and immigrated to America as a World War II refugee from a Nazi slave labor camp. After the war, Henrietta and her family lived homeless on the streets of war-ravaged Europe until they settled in the City of Chester in 1951 and began their lives as free people.
Inspired by his parents’ pursuit of the American Dream, Jack worked his way through college, graduating at the age of thirty-four by completing his course work at night and on weekends. While still in law school, Jack joined the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office as an intern representing the Commonwealth in pre-trial hearings. In 2000, Jack graduated from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, passed the bar, and was appointed as an Assistant Delaware County District Attorney prosecuting criminals in juvenile and adult criminal courts.
Just one year later, in 2001, Jack was recruited to join the U.S. Department of Justice as the policy analyst and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) gun violence reduction initiative in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In 2004 Jack was appointed Assistant United States Attorney and assigned to lead a gun violence task force targeting the “Badlands” of North Central Philadelphia. Jack had the distinction of earning a 100% conviction rate in his four and half years as a federal prosecutor.
In 2006, Governor Edward G. Rendell appointed Jack as Pennsylvania’s Safe Schools Advocate for the Philadelphia School District. In this unique watchdog role, Jack established a reputation for independence and integrity by publicly reporting the School District’s systemic failure to properly report violent crimes. Because of his work, District officials made changes in policy to better protect children and teachers. In 2012, the Philadelphia Inquirer won a Pulitzer Prize for a series on school violence that based in part on Jack’s advocacy.
Appointed Deputy State Treasurer for Consumer Programs in 2017, Jack worked with State Treasurer Joe Torsella to establish the PA ABLE savings program for people with disabilities and the Keystone Scholars grant program to give every child born or adopted in Pennsylvania after a brighter future by seeding a 529 higher education savings account to encourage every child to reach their dreams through higher education and career training.
On November 5, 2019, Jack was elected as Delaware County’s Thirty-Third District Attorney.
A long time Delco resident, Jack graduated from St. Denis Elementary School and attended Archbishop Carroll before graduating from Ridley Senior High School. He lives in Havertown with his wife Judi, son John, and daughter Sarah, both students at Haverford High School.
Court of Common Pleas Judicial Candidate
RACHEL EZZELL BERRY
As the Delaware County Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court, Rachel is a county-wide, elected judicial officer who regularly rules on legal petitions and presides over hearings at the Delaware County Courthouse and Government Center. She swears in witnesses, admits and excludes evidence, evaluates witness testimony, and has written many Opinions and Orders affecting tens of millions of dollars and making a difference in the lives of Delaware County residents. She is the first Delaware County Register to write an Opinion and Order after every hearing, detailing the applicable standard of law and explaining how she weighed the evidence. To date, she has never been reversed on appeal. This has been an important step forward for judicial transparency in Delaware County. Rachel hopes to bring her commitment to serving the public and promoting judicial transparency to the Court of Common Pleas.
As an elected official who has run and won, Rachel knows what it takes to run a winning campaign. Despite the fact that she was the only first-time candidate on the 2021 democratic slate, she won her race by over 11,000 votes, earning her the distinction of being the highest vote-getter of any countywide candidate on the democratic ticket.