Chester County Common Pleas Candidates

Please click the links on the candidates’ names for the full Q&A. Those without a hyperlinked name have not provided responses.

Deborah Ryan

Running as both Democrat and Republican, Ryan has been the Chester County District Attorney since 2020, and served in the prosecutors office for more than a decade before assuming her current role.

Fredda Maddox

Before becoming an attorney, Maddox served as a State Trooper, and has spent time as a public defender, assistant county solicitor, child advocate attorney, and private attorney. She is running on both the Republican and Democratic tickets.

Sarah Black

Chester county native, and longtime public defender, Black has represented clients in Montgomery, Berks and Chester counties, serving for the last nine years with the Chester county Public Defender’s Office. She is running as a Democrat.

Andrew Rongaus

An attorney at Siana Law, Rongaus has previously worked as a deputy chief counsel for the Pennsylvania State Police, and as a chief deputy attorney general. He is running as a Republican.

David Black

With more than eighteen years of practice in commercial law and civil litigation, Black, who is running as a Republican, is currently a shareholder at Riley Riper Hollin & Colagreco.

Donald Kohler Jr.

Kohler, who is running on the Republican ticket, worked as both prosecutor and public defender early in his career, and has been practicing for more than 25 years. Currently he is a general practitioner.

Nicole Forzato

Forzato is currently on the Chester County Court of Common Pleas and is now running for a full 10 year term. After her appointment to the court, Forzato served as the first female Chester County solicitor. Prior to her time with the court, she worked as a prosecutor, both as assistant district attorney and senior deputy attorney general. She is running on the Democratic ticket.

Louis Mincarelli

Mincarelli currently serves as a judge on the Chester County Court of Common Pleas, where he was nominated by Gov. Tom Wolf, according to his campaign website. He is running as a Republican.

PJ Redmond

Redmond is currently the Public Defender for Chester County, where he has spent three decades working as a private attorney. Redmond is running on the Republican ticket

Thomas McCabe

McCabe currently works as a private lawyer, handling civil litigation matters. McCabe has also worked as an assistant public defender in Chester County, and was selected by the president judge of Chester County’s Court of Common Pleas to be a private practitioner on the conflict counsel list. He is running as a Democrat