On November 2, the Democratic Party in Bucks County had a tough time beating back the GOP but had some successes.
In the more liberal part of Bucks County, Pennsbury school district retained its nine-member Democratic board of education. In region 1, Yardley and Lower Makefield, Lambling and Waldorf easily defeated their opponents. A much closer race for a two-year seat in Region 2, Tullytown, saw Jim Prokopiak beating his opponent, Liza Martin by 311 votes in unofficial returns on Wednesday. In region 3, the two Democrats, a yoga instructor and a pediatric nurse, beat their Republican rivals by larger margins for two four-year seats.
Yardley Borough kept their Republican mayor but elected four Democrats to the council. Solebury Township kept an incumbent Democratic Supervisor and elected a new Democrat as the second supervisor, as well as Democrats for tax collector and constable, making it a Democratic stronghold.
Lower Makefield elected Democrats to the offices of supervisor, tax collector, auditor and constable. Upper Makefield put two Democrats into position as Supervisor, a triumph for the party. Bristol Borough’s wards elected Democrats to their Council and re-elected a Democrat, Joseph Saxton, to be their Mayor with 94% of the vote. Bristol Township was also safely blue, purple or nonpartisan except for one popular Republican candidate, Marie L. DiSalvo, who won 96% of the vote to be the Judge of Elections in Bristol Township 9-1. What’s your secret, Marie?
The tiny borough of Penndel elected a Republican mayor but kept three incumbent Democratic council members, while electing a new GOP member. Even along the Delaware River, in an area usually considered a Republican keep, Tinicum Township elected a Democrat, Eleanor Breslin, over the incumbent, John Blanchard, a Republican, in a tight race.
By a wider margin, Tinicum also elected a Democrat as Constable.
After that, the goings for Democrats were bleak. Mayoral races went to Republican candidates in Bensalem, Langhorne Manor and Newtown Borough. Supervisor races went Republican in Lower & Upper Southampton. In most of those communities, the positions of tax collector, auditor (s), council members and sometimes constable also went to Republicans.
Finally the school board races. In Quakertown, the four GOP candidates backed by Paul Martino’s PAC won their seats.
In Pennridge a slate backed by Martino and ReOpen Bucks won handily. That slate was Ron Wurtz, for a special-election two-year term, and Christine Batycki, the incumbent Robert Cormack, Ricki Chaikin and Jordan Blomgren.
In Palisades, the winner was Cora Landis. Some day she will no doubt appear on Fox News.
In the Central Bucks School Board races, Martino’s money backed five candidates, but only three of them appear to have won. Tabitha Dell’Angelo, a Democratic candidate running in Region 8, Doylestown, seems to be the winner. And the Democratic candidate in Region 5, Chalfont, Mariam Mahmud, seems to have won, although by a narrower margin.
The Board of Elections has announced that some races are so narrow it will not announce final results until 1 pm on Tuesday, as it considers provisional ballots, addresses of people who may have moved out of the county and other technicalities.
