Delaware County Republicans are still scratching their heads trying to come to grips with their stunning defeat in the special election for the 161st state House seat.
A lot of fingers have been pointed at county Republican Chairman Andy Reilly. And he no doubt will have to wear this loss as a bit of ignominy for the once all-powerful Delco GOP.
But a closer look at several other issues reveals some other root causes of the Mullen loss. And they're both located in Ridley Township.
Most people I've talked to believe the Mullen choice was the Ridley GOP's call. They turned to him after the unexpected thunderbolt provided by state Rep. Joe Hackett in announcing - just weeks after taking the oath for his second term - that he was leaving Harrisburg to return to Delaware County and his true love in law enforcement.
That put the Ridley GOP and leader Bob Willert in a bind. I've been told there was a fear that John Kane, the union official who lost a nasty race to Tom McGarrigle for the 26th District state Senate seat, would seek the 161st House seat.
The local GOP turned to Mullen. They got the ward leaders united behind him and took him as their candidate to the county organization. The county offered their imprimatur, setting off a firestorm of protest from the more conservative members of the party.
That sparked a write-in campaign by Penn-Delco School Board member Lisa Esler, representing conservative Republicans who were furious with the Mullen choice given his backing of various Democrats, including Kane.
The GOP knew Esler was going to be a serious issue. They knew she would drain votes. They knew they needed a big showing from the GOP-rich Ridley to turn back twin challenges.
A look at the numbers on election day shows the other problem in Ridley. The GOP didn't get the turnout - and the votes - they needed.
Mullen needed huge numbers in Ridley. He didn't get them.
Yes, he won the township easily, pulling 1,581 votes to just 739 for Democrat Leanne Krueger-Braneky and 208 for Esler, according to unofficial results.
It was one of only two towns that Mullen won. He also prevailed on his home turf in Aston, where he took 1,284 votes to 605 for Krueger Braneky and 287 for Esler.
Krueger-Braneky was the top vote getter everywhere else, including Brookhaven, Nether Providence, Rose Valley, Rutledge, Springfield and Swarthmore.
Mullen needed a big turnout - maybe 3,000 votes - in Ridley to hold off the expected Dem surge in Swarthmore and Nether Providence. He didn't get it.
Turnout just didn't happen in a special election in one of the biggest vacation weeks of the year.
Krueger-Braneky crushed Mullen in Swarthmore, 1,179 to 141. She also cruised in Nether Providence, where she got 1,525 votes to 619 for Mullen.
Would Mullen have prevailed if Esler was not in the race? Maybe. I've had people tell me it's not necessarily so - that many of these hard-core Republican voters may have skipped the election entirely rather than cast their ballot for Mullen.
The final unofficial county count was 4,791 votes for Krueger-Braneky, 4,268 for Mullen, and 988 for the write-in Esler.
That's a difference of just 523 votes. Add a little more than half of the write-ins for Esler to the Mullen tab and he keeps this seat in Republican hands.
Republicans knew that Esler was in the race and, unlike many write-ins, she was going to be a big factor in the race, drawing votes from their guy.
They needed to offset that with votes in Republican-rich Ridley to offset that and Krueger-Braneky's strongholds.
They didn't get them.
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