Democrats top Ward 1 incumbents
Mayor race too close to call; Democrats hold two Ward 2 seats, tax collector
A blue wave appears to have swept through North Wales, as Democrats took two council seats in Tuesday’s election and will keep their hold on two more.
In the mayor’s race, however, Republican incumbent Greg D’Angelo appeared to eke out a win over Democratic challenger Neil McDevitt, who deferred conceding the race until the results are certified.
Democratic challengers Eion O’Neill and Wendy McClure both
won seats in the borough’s Ward 1, defeating incumbent Republicans Mike McDonald and John Davis.
“I’ve been involved for eight years now, and it’s a good long time. Maybe it is time for somebody else to take the ball and run with it for a while,” McDonald said.
“Whoever ends up with it, I wish them nothing but the best. This is still my hometown, I still want the best for the town, so whoever is in there, I wish them the best of luck, and I’ll do what I can to support my town. I’m not going anywhere,” he said.
Unofficial vote totals posted by the Montgomery County Department of Voter Services Tuesday showed O’Neill defeating McDonald by 149 votes (56.23 percent) to 116 (43.77 percent) for a four-year term from Ward 1.
“I want to thank Mike for his service on council. I am humbled and honored to receive the votes of North Wales Ward 1 residents, and I look forward to serving them,” O’Neill said.
Voters followed a similar trend for a two-year term in Ward 1, electing McClure, a Democrat who had previously served on council, over Davis, who was appointed in 2015 to fill a vacancy, by a margin of 156 votes (58.65 percent) to 110 (41.35 percent)
“Maybe people are ready for a different way to go? I really haven’t had a chance to think about what it means,” McDonald said.
In the borough’s Ward 2, Democratic incumbent Jim Sando was elected to another four-year term with a total of 174 votes, the most of the three candidates running for his seat and that of retiring Democrat Councilman Mark Tarlecki. For the second seat, Democrat Ronald Little Jr. received 163 votes and Republican
David Arnold 122.
In Ward 3, incumbent Democrat Sally Neiderhiser and Republican Jim Cherry were both unopposed and re-elected, and the tax collector’s position remained blue: Early results showed Democrat Timothy Weir finishing with 477 votes (53.24 percent) to 419 votes (46.76 percent) for Republican Monica Tarlecki, both seeking to replace retiring Democrat Diane Skudlarek.
The race for borough mayor appeared to be a narrow victory for Republican incumbent Greg D’Angelo, who earned 446 votes to 439 for Democratic challenger Neil McDevitt.
“I think the fact that I won was a reflection on the work that I had done. The fact that I was one of the few Republicans that won, showed that people respected the work that I’ve done, and I certainly had bipartisan support,” D’Angelo said.
Former borough Mayor Herb Schlegel, a Democrat,
was a key endorsement in 2013 and again this year, D’Angelo said Wednesday, adding that he thought the national and countywide trends toward Democrats were countered by voters who have met the local candidates.
“What you’re seeing is that hatred is trumping, no pun intended, what’s best for the citizens. But in this case, there were a lot of people splitting their votes, which you normally don’t see, and it’s because of what I’ve done,” he said. “This whole countywide Democrat wave, it was all about (President) Trump, which is sad.”
Regardless of that result, McDevitt said, “I’m thrilled North Wales will have a Democratic majority council that will work with myself or with Greg.”
In a Facebook post Wednesday, McDevitt said he still thought the race
would be too close to call until Montgomery County formally certifies the vote totals next week.
“And if these results stand? This is a reminder that every vote counts,” he said, citing a similarly narrow victory for D’Angelo of only six votes in 2013.
“Regardless of the outcome, my new challenge is clear: Our political process is adversarial and averse to candidates who are deaf or have other disabilities,” said McDevitt, who had posted a series of campaign videos in sign language expressing his hope to become the area’s first deaf mayor.
“I will be taking up the fight to challenge both parties, both the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, to ensure the playing field is level for all people of all disabilities to meaningfully engage in all political activities,” he said.