Delco voters will face ballots filled with choices today
Members of both major parties will have the privilege of casting ballots in a handful of contested races today, though there can be little question that nearly all eyes will be on the 10 Democrats vying for the nomination in the newly drawn 5th Congressional District.
Jockeying for that prize are teacher and environmental advocate Larry Arata of Haverford; state Rep. Margo Davidson, D-164 of Upper Darby; Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland; former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor for Labor Rich Lazer; American Association for Cancer Research trustee Lindy Li of Lower Merion; former U.S. Assistant Attorney Ashley Lunkenheimer of Upper Providence; attorney and former WallingfordSwarthmore School Board member Mary Gay Scanlon; scientist Molly Sheehan of Philadelphia; state Rep. Greg Vitali, D-166 of Haverford; and entrepreneur Theresa Wright of Norristown.
The winner will go on to face Radnor resident Pearl Kim in November, a former Pennsylvania senior deputy attorney general and the sole Republican on the ballot.
This will be the first election for the new 5th District, which was created by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after the Republicancontrolled state Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf were unable to reach unanimity on new maps. It is comprised of Delaware County, parts of South Philadelphia and a sliver of Montgomery County.
The old 7th District and 1st District no longer exist and the incumbents there, U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, R-7 of Chadds Ford, and Rep. Bob Brady, D-1 of Philadelphia, are not seeking reelection.
Republicans were upset with the new boundaries and filed several unsuccessful legal challenges to what Delaware County Republican Party Chairman Andy Reilly called the “judicial gerrymandering” that lumped Delaware and a good portion of Philadelphia counties together.
Despite the vastly increased voting edge Democrats gained from that pairing, Delco Party Chairman David Landau pooh-poohed the notion floated by some that the Democratic Primary had become the de facto General Election.
“It is important that we nominate the strongest possible candidate, but this is not a race that we will take for granted in the fall,” he said. “It’s not rated as a safe Democratic district and we know the Republicans are going to challenge, and they’re going to put millions and millions of dollars into keeping the seat in Republican hands, so we foresee a very contested election in the fall.”
What Landau did not foresee was a substantial increase in voter turnout today, even with the highly contested 5th District on the ballot.
“Turnout in 2014 was extremely light, even though we had a gubernatorial primary,” he noted. “I think we’ll be at or slightly higher than that turnout. I think we’ll see a slight uptick from (2016), as we did last year, because of the increased interest from Democrats.”
Reilly said that this point in the cycle typically sees about a 16 percent turnout, though he anticipated Democrats would see between 22 and 23 percent countywide and Republicans would only see a real uptick in the 165th Legislative District, where freshman state Rep. Alex Charlton of Springfield faces a challenge from Regina M. Scheerer, also of Springfield. Reilly noted there is also a hotly contested statewide Republican gubernatorial race between Scott Wagner and Paul Mango. The county party is backing Wagner in that contest.
As for the 5th District, Reilly said Kim is an excellent candidate who is already running as though she has an opponent. He said she already has the support of Republicans, but will work hard to garner Democratic and independent voters as well.
“That’s the way you have to do it, because that’s what you’re going to need to do to win,” he said.
There are three other contested races for Democrats to take part in as well.
In the 160th District, Cathy Spahr, of Upper Chichester, faces Chester County Democrat Anton Andrewto see who will take on longtime incumbent Republican state Rep. Steve Barrar in November.
Democrats Kristin Seale, of Media, and Philip A. Block, of Chester Heights, will square off in the 168th District, where the winner will face incumbent state Rep. Chris Quinn, R-168, of Middletown.
Democrats will also decide whether Tanner Rouse, of Upper Providence, or Swarthmore Mayor Tim Kearney will challenge incumbent state Sen. Tom McGarrigle, R-26, of Springfield.