An historic local election looms in Delaware County
We are one week away from the day when our heated partisan rhetoric goes from the water cooler to the place where all that passion actually counts – the polling place.
N o, we are not electing a president this time around. We’re not even nominating candidates N at least not yet.
That can wait Ntil next spring’s Primary and the 2020 Presidential Election.
That does not mean you should not take part in next Tuesday’s municipal election.
We’re not naNve enough to think that will not happen.
Turnout will not rival that of a presidential contest, even though the seats up for grabs next Tuesday likely have a bigger, more direct effect on Delaware County residents than their presidential vote.
The balance of power will literally be on the line with three seats on the county’s ruling body N the Delaware County Council N up for grabs.
Council Chairman John McBlain and Nice Chairwoman Colleen Morrone, both Republicans, have both served two terms and cannot run for a third. Another Republican, Councilman Michael Culp, has opted not to seek re-election.
That means three seats N all currently held by Republicans N will be up for grabs.
And that could tilt the balance of power in the courthouse.
The last time seats on County Council were at stake, Democrats took both of them, the first time a Democrat had been elected to the county’s ruling body since the Home Rule Charter was adopted back in the mid-’70s.
Democrats will be looking to build on that momentum next Tuesday, while Republicans are putting the wagons in a circle and looking to maintain their decades-old grip on the reins of power in the county.
The three Democrats N Monica Taylor, Elaine Schaefer and Christine Reuther N along with the three Republicans N Jim Raith, Nelly Colvin and Mike Morgan, have held three spirited debates.
But the three seats on County Council are not the only crucial jobs on the line in next Tuesday’s election.
Noters also will fill three seats on the County Court of Common Pleas bench.
And voters also will determine who will be the county’s highest ranking law enforcement oN cer when they elect a new district attorney.
Incumbent Republican N atayoun Copeland filled the opening created when former District Attorney Jack Whelan won a seat on the county bench.
Copeland is a longtime prosecutor, with stints both in Media as an assistant district attorney, and with the U.S. Attorney’s oN ce in Philadelphia.
She is being opposed by Democrat Jack Stollsteimer, another former federal prosecutor.
The two engaged in a spirited debate Sunday night at Cabrini University in Radnor.
Ironically, much of the fireworks centered not on law and order, but instead on who was financing the campaigns.
Republicans have rapped Stollsteimer for taking N100,000 from left-wing financier Neorge Soros, and suggested a Stollsteimer win would create the same kid of D.A.’s oN ce here in Delco as that espoused by another Sorosbacked lawman, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry N rasner. The Philly Democrat has drawn sharp criticism from the Fraternal Order of Police and others for his push away from mass incarceration of inmates.
For their part, Democrats have fired back at Copeland for taking money from a backer of President Donald Trump and for airing ads that Stollsteimer has questioned as being negative and untrue.
Copeland did not waste any time in drawing the Soros-N rasner image and suggesting that is not where Delaware County is at.
“I don’t believe that following in the footsteps of NPhiladelphia District AttorneyNLarry N rasner is ever the right stance,” she told the group of about 100 residents and Cabrini students.
Stollsteimer stressed that too many jurisdictions continue to following policies of “continuously locking people up for drug possession offenses N we’re not actually making our communities safe.”
Ironically, it is Copeland, an effective D.A. who is constantly in the public eye, both in fighting crime and doing community events, who is probably the bestknown face on the ballot.
The question is can hold out against a demographic that is leaning more and more toward the Democratic side in Delaware County.
Don’t be hoodwinked by the passions inspired by both sides when it comes to our commanderin-chief.
This election is not about Donald Trump. It’s about Delaware County, both at the county level along with a slew of municipal and school board races.
These are the people who set your taxes, make sure you trash gets picked up and your streets are plowed in the winter. Don’t sit this one out.
It’s very likely going to be an historic one in Delaware County.