Democrats shut out again in Delaware County government
GOP holds off Dems in Delaware CountyRepublican voters in Delaware County on Tuesday dashed the hopes of Democrats looking to win a county-level office for the first time in three decades.
Republican voters in Delaware County on Tuesday dashed the hopes of Democrats looking to win a county-level office for the first time in three decades.
According to unofficial results, Republicans scored victories in the County Council and district attorney races. In addition, the GOP took five Delaware County Court judgeships.
Although the number of registered Democrats in the county is rising - they trail Republicans by just two percentage points - Republicans continue to dominate countywide races.
"On the county level, Delaware County is red," said John P. McBlain, 45, of Aldan Borough, the county solicitor who won a seat on the County Council.
The day was not a total loss for Democrats, who continued to make gains on the municipal level.
In Chester, the hotly contested mayoral race went to Councilman John A. Linder, who defeated two-term GOP incumbent Wendell Butler. Democrats also picked up the controller seat and two council seats in the once-Republican stronghold.
"It was a very large step forward today," said David Landau, chairman of the Delaware County Democrats. He pointed to additional wins in Chester Township, Folcroft, Norwood, Morton, and Upper Darby.
In the County Council race, three of the five seats were up for grabs.
Besides McBlain, the winners were Colleen P. Morrone, 44, a member of the Board of Supervisors in Concord Township and chief mission officer for Goodwill of Delaware and Delaware County, and incumbent council member Thomas J. McGarrigle, 52, who owns a Springfield Township auto business.
The district attorney race was won by John "Jack" Whelan, 51, of Ridley Township, who handily defeated Democrat M. Kendall Brown, 54, a lawyer from Nether Providence Township. Whelan is the County Council chairman and was an assistant district attorney from 1986 to 1991.
Winning seats on the Delaware County Court were Republicans Christine Fizzano Cannon, a current County Council member; John P. Capuzzi Sr., a District Court judge; District Attorney G. Michael Green; public defender Spiros E. Angelos; and Widener University law professor Nathaniel C. Nichols.