Astonishment has boiled over into action for local Democrats dismayed by the election of President Donald Trump last November, as their field of candidates for local committees, school boards, and courts has nearly quadrupled since Election Day, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report by Maria Panaritis and Laura McCrystal.

Among the most contested races in an off-year election season that typically turns out fewer than 20 percent of voters are for four seats on the school board at Owen J. Roberts School District surrounding Pottstown.

Two years ago, not a single Democrat applied; now, there are three candidates, all backed by the Chester County Democratic Committee.

“We’ve got volunteers everywhere doing literature drops,” said committeeman Stephen Schur. “We’ve got thousands of pieces of materials, and we’re running out.”

But it’s not phasing Republicans.

“I don’t care what they’re doing,” said Chester County’s Val DiGiorgio, chairman of the state Republican Party. “We have a better ground game, we have more money, we have better candidates, and we have a county and school districts that are run very well.”

Read more about the Democrats’ surge in local candidates in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.