There will be no repeat of the nightmare four years ago, when attorney David Oh was ahead on election night for one of two City Council at-large seats set aside for the minority political party but lost after absentee ballots were tallied.
Oh today finally bested Al Taubenberger in last week's election, after absentee, military and provisional ballots were counted. In the final tally, Oh led by 166 votes from election day ballots and absentee ballots. A count today of 755 provisional ballots, used on election day when there are questions about a voter's registration, did not put Taubenberger ahead.
Oh said he was not surprised by the narrow margin, though he said it was unclear what impact a barrage of negative mailings, radio ads and robo-calls in the closing week of the campaign had on his campaign. That effort was run by a political action committee controlled by Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which supported another Republican in the race.
"I think that there were a lot of good candidates" Oh said. "It was a very vigorous campaign. And you never know how these votes turn out, so I’m thankful that I did win."
Taubenberger said it was too early to say if he would run again in four years.
"Nobody likes to lose," said Taubenberger, head of the Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, after conceding and congratulating Oh. "The results are the results. You move forward."
State Rep. Denny O'Brien took first place for the GOP seats in last week's election.
Al is always a gentleman!— harbc- Al is always a gentleman!— harbc
- Two words to Councilman Oh: Mazel Tov!— featherman
- Congrats David Oh! You beat the machine. How's it feel?
— Chr - Congratulations David Oh!— tinah
- Hooray! A chronic liar, valor thief and gun-shooting deadbeat shall lead us all back to prosperity! What a great day for democracy!— Dupes1
- Give it a rest. — aNutter1inDgutter
- Hey Dupes1: aNutter1inDgutter is right. Give it a rest. This is one of the few times that Chris Brennan took the high road and didn't say anything negative about Oh, so why don't you show some respect and do the same, Dupes1.— featherman
- Councilman, congratulations! For all those "stolen valor" critics who thrived on attempting to destroy you, show them how wrong they were to play into the hands of the Big Bob Bradys and Johnny Docs who keep this city in democrat bondage. Be your own man and don't become beholding to special interests. Try to be a concensus builder, but don't allow the special interest councilpersons ( you'll know soon enough who these dregs are) to influence your better judgments. David, when all else fails, kick some a**!
— lefty - Dopey1, More than likely, you wouldn't know what actual "stolen valor" was if a real incident hit you in the face! For most combat veterans, "stolen valor" is witnessing modern day pencil pushers, who happen to wear the uniform, display multiple rows of ribbons on their chests. "Stolen valor" is witnessing too many welcome home "hero" parades thrown by well-meaning families and irresponsible ad hoc veteran groups who get vicarious pleasure from displaying flags and MIA tattoos. Get the freakin' picture Dopey?— lefty
- Oh is a liar. Hey Oh, can we all see your Medal of Honor? Or was it the Bronze Star? Maybe just a purple heart? Just another Republican toad liar in the political machine.
Did anyone notice that Rick Santorum once nominated Jerry Sandusky for an Honor Award?— taxmanndumbeth - You mean like Democrat Sen. Dick Blumenthal of Connecticut, who lied about going to Vietnam, yet the Democrats still voted for him to be senator?
BTW, Oh's thing had nothing to do with medals - he embelleshed being a Green Beret - you should get informed.
Did anyone notice that Democrat Bob Casey once supported the Presidential Medal of Freedom for Jerry Sandusky? 
Let's go Oh!— Ben Fan- Congrats David Oh!!— SoundGround
- David Oh never claimed to have an award, that's an outright lie and you ought to be ashamed for continuing to spout it, even Chris Brennan hasn't gone that far. Not to mention that if he was really a member of the political machine, he wouldn't have had the election stolen from him in 07 and wouldn't have had a 100k hit job done either.— Northeaster
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans.
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