In Sellersville District 1, voters no longer sitting on the fence

Denny Bardar, 47, is coming home this election season.

But Bardar says his wife, Margaret, 45, is thinking about straying.

The marriage is fine. We're talking politics here.

The Bardars, both Democrats, live in the politically unpredictable Bucks County voting district known as Sellersville 1.

Four years ago, when Democrat Patrick Murphy and Republican Mike Fitzpatrick first vied for Pennsylvania's Eighth District congressional seat, the contest was no tighter anywhere than in Sellersville 1. In an overall race in which challenger Murphy won by a fraction of a percentage, Fitzpatrick took Sellersville 1 - comprising the northwest third of the Upper Bucks borough - by a single vote, 286-285.

Another close vote is expected in this year's nationally watched rematch. And in Sellersville 1 - where voter interest seemed tepid when an Inquirer reporter visited last month - final decisions are now being made or cemented.

So it is with Denny Bardar, a volunteer firefighter laid off from his construction sales job two years ago. In September he was on the fence; now, "I'm still not that fond of Murphy, but I think he's the better of the two. I'm going to give the Democrats another shot at this."

But his wife - an elected Democrat on the Sellersville Borough Council - might well go the other way, he says. The couple have been thinking of starting a small business, Bardar said, and his wife is concerned that health-care insurance costs and business taxes could rise too high under the Democrats.

Such independence seems typical in Sellersville 1, where registered Republicans slightly outnumber Democrats. In recent years, voters there have favored Democrats for governor, U.S. senator, and county commissioner - but Republicans for attorney general, state legislative seats, and county row offices.

Republican State Rep. Paul Clymer, who has represented the area for 30 years, said he was struck by the number of political yard signs he saw this week knocking on doors in Sellersville. "There's been a lot more interest," Clymer said, with voters concerned about health care, government spending, and jobs.

"They know what's at stake," said area Democratic leader Bill Brosius. "I think a lot more Democrats are, if not enthused, at least willing to get to the polls on Tuesday than they were a few weeks ago."

That would describe Bardar, who briefly considered not voting. While his lot has not yet changed, he sees the economy as slowly improving.

Another former fence-sitter, 93-year-old Republican Russell Dorn, said he's back in the GOP fold after voting for Barack Obama and Murphy in 2008.

Disillusioned by health-care changes and deficit spending, Dorn said, Fitzpatrick's "overall stances were more suitable for me."

Many voters interviewed Friday said they were fed up with the negative ads employed by both parties.

"I'll be glad when the election is over and we can get something else on TV besides all that nonsense," Dorn said. "It's getting to be a real pest."

Schoolteacher Kathie Maurer, 53, solidly behind Fitzpatrick, said she wished "the candidates would give the voters credit for having some common sense" and end the negativity. She has turned to researching voting records online.

"I pretty much have learned that you don't believe the advertising," she said.

"It's clear in my mind that I'm going to go for Fitzpatrick, but the ads really don't help," said Republican Jeff Tulanowski, 40, who works for a computer consulting and software firm. He went Democratic two years ago, but likes the GOP's fiscal policies better. "All the negativity over the economy might motivate some to vote, but I'll bet a lot are not going to vote because they're just disgusted by it."

Still, at least some are voting based on negative impressions.

Republican Becky Hogan, 33, a homemaker and mother of four, said she knows little about Fitzpatrick, "but I just don't like Murphy. I don't like the Democratic stimulus plan or health-care plan."

A few cited party loyalty.

"I've just always been voting Democrat in any election," said bricklayer William McGuire, 46, who just moved to Sellersville. He's backing Murphy "not for any particular reason."

Perhaps few voters reflect the political yin and yang of Sellersville more than Carol Law, 51, who used to teach aerobics and nutrition classes, but now is fighting cancer and the effects of a recent stroke.

Law started out as a Democrat, but then switched to Republican because "I am a Christian, and the church always pushes us to vote Republican." She became an independent when her health declined and she decided "there are more important issues to argue about than just abortion."

This year, Law said, she's not voting until "someone talks about truly making a difference and getting benefits for handicapped and disabled people."

Similarly miffed was Jim Henry, 51, a supermarket meat manager who is registered Republican but thinking of changing to independent.

Both candidates "say that they want to cut taxes, but we all know that they won't," he said. "We're broke but they're not, so I'm turning away from both of them."