Some things don't change

How Sweep it is! At least if you’re a Republican in Delaware County.

The powerful county GOP has taken its lumps in the last few elections. They watched as the county backed the Democratic standard-bearer in the last four presidential elections.

And they got on board as the Ed Rendell juggernaut, backed by some serious GOP defections in the Philly suburbs, captured the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg.

Then last year came the TKO, a stunning defeat for 10-term incumbent Republican Congressman Curt Weldon. Delco Republicans took a standing 8 count.

They looked wobbly, wounded. And the Dems moved in.

But what they discovered Tuesday is that a wounded animal is very dangerous. Delco Republicans took a page out of the Flyers book and decided to "come back with a vengeance."

They crushed their Democratic opposition in every county-wide race.
One thing the GOP could always count on, even as their mighty edge in registration slipped, even as several towns went Democratic, even as the popular Weldon fell on his shield, was that they could always count on controlling the County Courthouse.

Some things don’t change.

For months Democrat David Landau, sensing for the first time in more than two decades the possibility of a Democrat being elected to County Council, made his "Case Against the Courthouse."

On Tuesday the jury returned its verdict. Attorney Landau – and Delco’s Democrats – lost again.

Republicans Christine Fizzano Cannon, Andy Lewis and Tom McGarrigle swamped their Dem counterparts Landau, John Innelli and Ann O’Keefe.

It wasn’t particularly close. Fizzano Cannon got almost 59,000 votes. McGarrigle was next with more than 56,000, Lewis collected a little better than 55,000.

Landau did win something. He was the top Dem vote-getter with 41,926, all according to unofficial returns.

The Democratic candidates for the other two county-wide jobs up for grabs, a couple of seats on the Court of Common Pleas bench, didn’t fare any better.

Frank Daly and Mike Farrell got clocked by longtime District Judge Greg Mallon and current County Council member Mary Alice Brennan.
Democrats offered no opposition to District Attorney Mike Green.

The courthouse remains firmly in the grip of the Delco GOP. Whether or not that’s a good thing is something that can be debated. What can’t be is that the people – at least the embarrassingly small percentage who bothered to go to the polls – have spoken.

And they rejected Landau’s argument.

I pretty much predicted that one yesterday. But I was wrong about one thing. Brennan was not the county’s top vote-getter. Fizzano Cannon was.

Congratulations to the GOP.

Now Democrats must mull a new strategy to do something they haven’t done since 1980, get a Democrat seated on Delaware County Council.

Good luck. They’ll need it.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Phil, when will you and the staff at the Daily Landau drop your arrogant and smug attitude towards the voters of Delaware County. You continue to say that it is debatable whether it's a good thing the Republicans "control the courthouse". Isn't that debate what this election was about!?!? Be a man and insist to your editorial board that tomorrow's headline read, "MANDATE!!!"
Anonymous said…
Yeah!

And suck it, Landau and Daly! We The Delco told you to F off.