Election Results

Well some well deserved congratulations are due in some tough races. First is a big congratulation to Michael Nutter who I believe will bring a much needed "breath of fresh air" to Philadelphia (the place stinks after Mayor Street that anything would be better). You have to respect a guy who has his child in the PUBLIC school system ... now that is putting your money where you mouth is. He will have to work with the Council in Philadelphia and that is never easy but I believe he has the personality and experience to be a success. I wish Mayor-elect Nutter all the luck in his endeavours.

In the race for Montgomery County Commissioner congratulations go out to Bruce Castor, Jim Matthews and Joe Hoeffel. I do not know Joe Hoeffel personally but I am told he is a good man of much integrity (like Bruce Castor and Jim Matthews) and will do a good job for Montgomery County. We are happy to have him on board as one party in total control is not good! Just as an FYI, Hoeffel actually beat Matthews by a very slight margin but that should send a message to the GOP ... stay on your toes and watch what your GOP area leaders are doing. Some of these area leaders are really upsetting people with their own agenda and it WILL come back to haunt the GOP ... wait and watch.

After all the Democrats did take five of nine row offices. The five row offices are:

• Clerk of Courts
• Controller
• Coroner
• Prothonotary
• Register of Wills

The next election will be interesting to watch as I predict that it will be very precarious for the Republicans ... especially for Mike Vereb's seat.

And Montgomery County did make history Tuesday night when it elected its first woman district attorney, Risa Ferman. Ferman received more than 85,000 votes - more than anyone else running for county office, including the man she will succeed, Bruce Castor. Risa Ferman is a worthy person to fill Bruce Castor's shoes. We wish her luck in her new position.

The other big congratulations goes out to the "Trusted Team" in Trappe Borough. They did a "clean sweep" and we wish them the best when they take their seats in January. Let us hope they live up to their billing.

It is interesting is the candidates who ran as Republicans but who won as Democrats as they cross-filed. Some examples are:

In Collegeville, MaryLynn Gaydos and Louise-Marie Tulio ran as Republicans but won as Democrats. Also in Collegeville Andrea L. Baptiste ran and won as Democrat beating out Republican Dale A. Bondanza.

In Trappe Fred Schuetz, Lew DiPrete, and Matthew Watson ran as Republicans but because they cross-filed they won as Democrats. Only Paul W. Edwards ran as a Republican and won as one though he did cross-file as a Democrat.

Now some folks may say that these candidates were just covering their bases but I say what are you - Republican or Democrat? Perhaps it is winning at any cost.