A quiet season in suburbs

Brimming with confidence that they'll win the GOP primary Tuesday, Bucks County Commissioners Charles H. Martin and Robert G. Loughery have effectively started their fall campaigns already.

At a news conference Monday, the incumbents touted their achievements in Doylestown and laid out goals for another term.

They all but ignored their two foes in the primary, including former four-term Commissioner Andrew L. Warren.

"They've avoided me like the plague," said Warren, who had hoped for a debate. "I have a real problem when primary elections become coronations."

Warren's angst aside, it has been a somnolent primary season across the Pennsylvania suburbs.

The Bucks commissioners' race and a GOP struggle for sheriff in Montgomery County are the only nonjudicial contests Tuesday, except for school board and municipal races.

Here's a look at the landscape:

Bucks County. Republicans have dominated county government since 1988, and for all but seven of those years the majority has included Martin, 69, of Southampton.

The former public-relations executive is seeking his fifth - and last, he said - four-year term.

Loughery is 41 and only months into the job. A businessman from Bedminster who specializes in economic development, he was appointed in January to replace Commissioner Jim Cawley, who became lieutenant governor.

At a news conference Monday, the two touted five straight years without a tax increase. Bucks "has clearly kept its financial house in order," Loughery said.

Martin said more than 1,500 jobs would be created as work began on a new courthouse.

The incumbents pledge to repair scores of bridges, redevelop brownfield sites, and use bond money to rehab tourist-attracting historic sites.

Their best-known opponent is Warren, 68, of Middletown, a former Pennsylvania Department of Transportation executive. He has criticized what he calls a lack of transparency in courthouse construction plans. He also has called for the county to change the structure of its government to become more efficient.

Also running is Jay Russell, 50, of Northampton, an unsuccessful former candidate. He calls himself a tea party Republican who will slash spending and limit himself to two terms if elected.

In a race for one judicial seat, the two candidates have cross-filed, so their names will appear on both the Republican and Democratic ballots.

James M. McMaster, 57, a Republican from Bensalem who was appointed in October, is endorsed by leaders in both parties. The other candidate is lawyer Michael D. Rubin, 61, a Democrat from Southampton.

Montgomery County. Of the 12 county offices on the ballot, only the race to become the GOP nominee for sheriff is contested.

That campaign pits a former Whitemarsh police chief, Eileen Whalon Behr, against Robert J. Durante, a deputy to a former sheriff.

Durante - no relation to former Sheriff John P. Durante, who died in February - is a 58-year-old Norristown resident. He has campaigned on his 33 years with the Sheriff's Department.

He criticized Gov. Corbett's relatively last-minute appointment of Behr to replace John Durante, saying it gives her an unfair primary advantage.

But Behr, 54, has defended her decision to accept the position, saying she put her name in for consideration well before deciding to run for a full term. She has also received the endorsement of the county Republican Committee.

The GOP victor will face what is sure to be a stiff contest in the fall from Democrat William A. Holt Jr., a former Abington detective. He will be unopposed Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday's ballot are four lawyers vying for two spots on the Common Pleas bench. Cheryl Austin is running as a Democrat, while Dan Clifford, Maureen Coggins, and Richard Haaz will appear on both Republican and Democratic ballots. The top two vote-getters from each party will move on to the fall campaign.

Delaware County. Five county judges will be elected this fall.

Republican voters will see just five choices on their ballots, meaning the GOP nominations are uncontested.

Democrats have eight choices. Three are Democratic Party candidates, while five are the Republicans, all of whom cross-filed.

The cross-filed Republicans are County Council member Christine Fizzano Cannon, lawyer John P. Capuzzi Sr., public defender Spiros E. Angelos, District Attorney G. Michael Green, and law professor Nathaniel C. Nichols.

The candidates appearing only on the Democratic ballot are all private lawyers: Michael F. Schleigh, G. Lawrence DeMarco, and Sally Ann Heckert Bikin.

One candidate - Nichols, who teaches law at Widener University - has been endorsed by both parties.

Chester County. Two judges will be elected this fall to sit on the bench in West Chester.

Democratic primary voters will see four choices on their ballot, Republican voters just two.

The preferred candidates of Democratic leaders - Fredda Denise Maddox and Etha McDowell - would capitalize on their experiences outside of the courtroom to bring unique perspectives to the bench, county party leader Michele Vaughn said.

Maddox, a former state trooper, has worked with the state Attorney General's Office to combat Medicaid fraud and elder abuse.

McDowell has decades of community service on her resumé, including her role as founding board member of the southern Chester County Women's Center and Oxford Education Foundation.

The two other candidates on the Democratic ballot - West Chester lawyer Mark Tunnell and Assistant District Attorney Ann Marie Wheatcraft - are Republicans who have cross-filed.

Tunnell, a 35-year trial layer, has served as the chairman of the civil litigation section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Wheatcraft, as a prosecutor, has worked in the county's acclaimed drug court program.