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ELECTION RESULTS INDICATE DEMOCRATIC MOMENTUM CONTINUING

Municipal odd-year elections usually have little good to report for Democrats in Delco. This year is strikingly different.

Analysis of the county wide results and the local races shows that the momentum of the past Presidential and Gubernatorial elections is continuing and Delaware County and its 424 precincts continue to turn shades of blue.

COUNTYWIDE RESULTS

Nancy Baulis and John Innelli for County Council, Mike Shaw for Sheriff, Larry Healy for Controller and Ann O’Keefe for Register of Wills received record percentages of the vote: 41, 41, 42 and 43 percent, respectively. These are the highest percentages recorded by Democratic county candidates since the advent of the home rule charter in 1976. And for the first time, all our candidates crossed the 40% threshold. Even more significantly, they came within points of carrying major municipalities.

Upper Providence 48%

Haverford 47%

Radnor 46%

Chester 45%

10 other municipalities cast over 40% for Democrats including Upper Darby (42%).

In the red Republican west, our slate garnered 41% in Bethel, 40% in Chadds Ford and 44% in Brookhaven and Chester Twp. Our county candidates carried 8 municipalities with increased margins from 4 and 2 years ago (Swarthmore, Yeadon, Darby Borough, East Lansdowne, Lansdowne, Colwyn, Media and Nether Providence). And a quick review of preliminary figures indicates that our county candidates carried over 1/4 of the precincts in the county (at least 115 of the 424).

MUNICIPAL RACES

There were eighteen Democratic candidates elected to positions that were formally held by Republicans, including 8 Township Commissioners/Council; 5 Borough Council members; 4 school directors and 1 district justice.

In Haverford Township, Democrats Tom Broido and Larry Holmes were elected, giving us three of the nine township commissioners; in Aston, Gary Robinson joins the Township Board; in Marple, Charles Sammartino becomes the second Democratic Township Commissioner, joining incumbent John Butler who was re-elected. Nether Providence now again has a majority of Democratic township commissioners with the victories of Lin Floyd, Deena Beard and Sallie Anderson.  And in Upper Providence, the “Delco” Bill Clinton was elected to the township council.

In Darby Borough, Democrats Patrick McKenna and Marie Howells won the two First Ward council seats that almost always go Republican. In Colwyn, Joe Thomas picked up a Council seat; Mike Ruggieri defeated a Republican incumbent councilman in Brookhaven; and Swarthmore Dems added to their Council control by ousting the lone Republican incumbent.

In Radnor Township, Eric Zajac and Brucie Rapoport became the 2nd and 3rd Democrats ever elected to the school board (the 1st was elected in 1991.) And Democratic endorsed District Judge Candidate Tuten defeated a long time Republican incumbent. Carol Carr picked up a seat for Democrats on the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board (where incumbent Democrats Jon Auritt and Mark Kuperberg were re-elected). And other school board candidates like Jeff Shapiro of Marple/Newtown had won cross-filed primaries in May and couldn’t lose.

INCUMBENTS PREVAIL

Most Democratic incumbents prevailed on election night. Some, like the municipal officials of East Lansdowne, were unopposed; Then there’s Media, were the entire Democratic slate led by Frank Daly beat back a massive Republican effort (with the finances of a state campaign), and Lansdowne, which saw total Democratic victory after a successful five-month battle to get our school director candidate Charlotte Hummel’s 275 write-in-vote victory recognized and her name on the November ballot.

In Darby Borough our council incumbents were reelected as were Democratic newcomers, despite the outgoing Mayor's attempt to use the Republican Party to retain power. We didn’t just keep a Democratic Mayor in Darby - we actually elected a real Democrat - Helen Thomas. Incumbent Democrats prevailed in Brookhaven, and even in Norwood, were Republicans managed to defeat our council members, Democratic Mayor George McCloskey was re-elected.

Perhaps the sweetest of all was in the Borough of Yeadon, where Democrats handily beat back an attempt by Republicans, led by our former local “turncoat” chair. While overwhelmingly reelecting District Judge Elkin Tolliver, Yeadon Democrats reelected the Mayor and took all council seats and row offices.

COMING UP SHORT

Sure we’re disappointed that our candidates lost by a handful of votes in Millbourne and Colwyn - coming closer than ever before in replacing Republican rule.  And the well-financed, Ron Raymond-directed effort to take over Norwood is unfortunate, more so for the citizens of that borough than for our party. We can and should point with pride to the tremendous Democratic campaign in Upper Darby with record percentages cast for our candidates in every contested race. And Democrats organized and fought HARD against Republicans in Sharon Hill and Morton. Rich Aldred in Thornbury and Harold Eder in Newtown campaigned for township supervisor in townships that rarely have seen local Democratic candidates.

In Ridley Park, newcomer Jeane Franz ran a strong race, garnering over 40% of the vote, and carried 1 precinct out of 4 against an incumbent Republican mayor. In the City of Chester, our council candidates continued the every two-year incremental gain, reducing the Republican margin to just 250 votes (out of 5000+). With a voter registration advantage now favoring Democrats, control of the city government can be expected in 2007.

The problem with this report is there isn’t the room to tell of the 150 Democratic candidates of 2005 - their campaigns and stories and their 70 victories. But know this -- more Democrats sought office in Delaware County in 2005 than in other odd years and more of those waged serious hard fought campaigns (in fact 140 of the 150); more of those won, and 1/3 of those defeated did better than 40%. We forced the Republicans to spend more money and make a greater effort than they ever have in an odd-year and their percentage of the vote in this county dropped by 10 points.

Delaware County is a Democratic county in even numbered years and it’s turning increasingly blue in the odd.

JUDGES AND INSPECTORS

36 Democrats were elected JUDGE OF ELECTION this year with ½ of them in precincts where we are behind in voter registration. In 71 precincts, our candidate was elected MAJORITY INSPECTOR, again including many where we are outnumbered by Republicans. So in the future 1) don’t ever tell anyone “Oh, just run for Judge of Elections you can’t win anyway” and 2) don’t tell your inspector candidates that they can only win minority - it ain’t necessarily so.)

PS -- Newest Registration data now shows Democrats up to 34%, with Republicans continuing to lose and now down at 55½ %. 

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