Philly Dems overcome corruption allegations; GOP rolls outside city
Democrats hung onto Philly districts amid corruption allegations, but Republicans won heated down-ballot contests in the suburbs.
U.S. REP. Chaka Fattah coasted to an 11th term yesterday - despite an ongoing federal investigation and the recent guilty plea of his former chief of staff in a complex financial scheme that prosecutors say was initiated by the Democratic congressman.
Voters didn't blink.
Fattah, 57, a senior member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, steamrolled Republican schoolteacher Armond James by a 9-to-1 margin in the heavily Democratic 2nd District that covers parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County.
Four other Philly Democrats are headed back to Harrisburg amid a grand-jury probe into allegations that they accepted money or gifts from a wired-up lobbyist working as a government informant.
State Reps. Ronald Waters, Vanessa Brown, Michelle Brownlee and Louise Bishop did not have opponents in yesterday's election. Only Brown had a primary challenger.
"With these individuals still receiving their party nomination, they are assured another term," said Christopher Borick, a political-science professor at Muhlenberg College. " . . . We'll see how the legal process shakes out and if they'll get to serve their terms."
Democrats maintained control of two other districts roiled by corruption allegations.
Leslie Acosta, a Democratic teacher and former contracting officer for the military, will replace state Rep. J.P. Miranda in the 197th District. Miranda, who was elected to his first term in 2012, is awaiting trial on charges that he used a ghost employee to steer tax dollars to his sister. Acosta was unchallenged.
State Sen. LeAnna Washington, who pleaded guilty last week to conflict-of-interest charges for using state employees for political purposes, will be replaced by Democratic Cheltenham Commissioner Art Haywood in the 4th District, which covers parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County.
In Delaware County, Republican Tom McGarrigle bested Democrat John Kane in a nasty battle for the seat being vacated by Republican state Sen. Ted Erickson. The race included bruising TV ads and the last-minute revelation that Kane, the Plumbers Local 690 business manager who portrayed himself in ads as a father of four, had fathered a fifth child.
Republican Upper Darby Councilman Jamie Santora will replace Republican state Rep. Nick Micozzie, of Upper Darby, in the 163rd District race. Micozzie had held the seat since 1979. Democratic attorney Vince Rongione was unable to capitalize on the vacant-seat opportunity.
The GOP rolled in three suburban Philadelphia congressional districts that occasionally have been competitive.
National Democrats initially had eyed the Chester County-based 6th District as a potential pickup opportunity when Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach announced that he wouldn't seek re-election.
But Gerlach, first elected in 2002, will be replaced by Ryan Costello, the Republican chairman of the Chester County Commissioners. He defeated Democrat Manan Trivedi, a doctor and Iraq war veteran who mounted his third consecutive campaign for the seat.
On Monday, Trivedi's campaign said it had briefly closed its offices because someone had "threatened over the phone to commit an act of gun violence." Trivedi made a last-ditch effort to use the incident against Costello, whom he had criticized at a debate last month for taking $10,000 from the National Rifle Association.
"I encourage all those who are concerned about gun violence - especially the responsible gun owners in our communities - to stand up to threats like this and come out to volunteer and to vote tomorrow," Trivedi said in a statement Monday. It didn't work.
Republican U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan was re-elected in the Delaware County-based 7th District. He was challenged by Mary Ellen Balchunis, a La Salle University political scientist. In Bucks County's 8th District, U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick beat Democrat Kevin Strouse, a former Army Ranger and CIA analyst who moved into the district last year.
Democrats held onto U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz's seat in the 13th District, which straddles Northeast Philadelphia and Montgomery County. Schwartz, who is stepping down after running unsuccessfully in this year's Democratic gubernatorial primary, will be replaced by Democratic state Rep. Brendan Boyle, who defeated Republican businessman Carson "Dee" Adcock by a 2-to-1 margin.