Some Post-Election Thoughts:
The Bethlehem City Controller Race: Republican Meg Holland defeating Democrat Dave DiGiacinto may be the most shocking result. I thought Meg would lose. I am glad the voters looked at more than R and D behind their names and looked at the substance of the candidate. Once they did that, it was a clear choice. Some may try to spin this race as a referendum on the Old Guard losing their grip in Bethlehem. It may be, but I would not go that far yet. I think Schweder just picked the wrong guy to run for Controller.
The Bethlehem City Council Race: The voters gave Bob Donchez and Gordon Mowrer another term, which was a good thing. They are the most rational and steady individuals on council. J. William Reynolds joins them as the voters elected him to be the youngest councilman in the history of Bethlehem. Reynolds worked hard in the primary to unseat incumbent Maggie Szabo, which was another blow to the Old Guard in the City. Reynolds is the aide to popular State Rep. Steve Samuelson and we the voters can only hope that Reynolds will follow the example his boss has set. Note to Reynolds: We are watching young man, do not screw up!
Lehigh County Commissioners: The voters elected 2 Republicans and 2 Democrats. The Republicans will still hold control of the board. Andy Roman was the lone incumbent seeking to keep his seat and was re-elected. Fellow GOPer Dean Browning joins him. Gloria Hamm and Bill Leiner are the two Democrats who will join the board. While the Republicans maintain control, it is not as bad as it appears. Cunningham has been able to work with the Republicans in the past and I am sure that he will in the future.
Northampton County Council: Unfortunately for Joe Long, the Republicans gained a seat, which may be fortunate for the taxpayers. Voters rejected more of Tony Branco in the changed Council at large seat.
Northampton County Controller: Voter’s showed their desire of having a full-time Controller by narrowly electing Stephen Barron. Hopefully, Stephen lives up to the expectations. Time will tell if the County needs a full-time Controller, if it does hopefully the Charter can be changed to pay him like a full-timer.
Lehigh County Row Offices: Democrats sweep. No real surprises except in the Controller race where the incumbent Peter Shaffer lost to Tom Slonaker in a close one.
Local Judges: Barrata and Steinberg were retained in landslide votes. Republican Jim Anthony took third in the Lehigh County Judicial Race over Dan McCarthy. Personally, I thought McCarthy would win, since Anthony had previously lost when he ran a few years ago. Anthony joins fellow winners District Judge Michelle Varrichio, who gets a seat on the big bench, and Maria Dantos, who is already sitting on the big bench.
UPDATE: Slonaker has apparently lost his bid to unseat Shaffer as Lehigh County Controller. I relied on http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1-5clerk.6127061nov07,0,3412390.story for my information...but it is now wrong. The mcall.com has Shaffer with a 99 vote lead and wfmz.com has a 78 vote lead for Shaffer. I thought both men were well-qualified for the post and thought both would do a good job.
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7 comments:
After looking at the result percentages, my semi-educated guess is that only about 4% of the voters ignored D and R. I have nothing to back this up with except for my own observation and theories.
It was enough to get Meg elected, and for that I'm happy!
I attempted to figure that out, but do not think it is possible.
It may be possible once Lehigh and Northampton County put the results online.
The registration advantage in the city is somewhere near 2-1 to 3-1 Democrat. To overcome that you need low Dem turnout and some crossover.
From looking at the precint by precint results in the paper, I think there was a lower Dem turnout than in the primary. There also appeared to be some crossover.
The other thing I noticed, was that fewer people voted for the Controller race than the City Council race.
Another thing, where I vote at Bethany Church on 5th Ave, the turnout was less than the primary, at least when I went to vote at midday. I just think it will be hard to tell what type of cross party support Holland got.
She may have also got alot of indy/3rd party support.
Shaffer won the Controller seat, both wfmz and the morning call polls list him as beating Slonaker. Where are you getting your numbers from?
I got my information from the Morning Call. In this article:
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1-5clerk.6127061nov07,0,3412390.story
I will check into it.
Sam, you appear to be correct. Shaffer apparently has a slim lead of under 100 (99 from mcall.com and 78 from wfmz.com). Most likely without the absentee and overseas ballots counted.
I will update my post.
I am probably more old guard than not. However, I think Holland deserved the seat. Aside from qualifications, she will not be anyone's puppet. That being said I believe you are right about the choice of a candidate. It has little to do with old or new guard. If Delgrosso would have chosen to run, Holland would have not had a chance. He's old guard but he'd be in no one's pocket.
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