Democrats, Women Tended to Win NorCo Local Races

I've told you that Lamont McClure (22,477 votes) beat John Brown (19,278 votes) in the NorCo exec race on Tuesday. He won heavily in Bethlehem and Easton. If you take the two cities out, he still wins (according to my math), but the margin is much closer. Above, you can see the communities who went for Brown in red, while those that went for McClure are in blue.

McClure won Bethlehem, Easton, Hellertown, Freemansburg, West Easton (by one vote), Glendon, Wilson Borough, Palmer Tp, Tatamy, Stockertown, Nazareth, Upper Nazareth, Lower Mount Bethel, East Bangor, Wind Gap, Chapman, Northampton and North Catty. Brown dominated in the northern tier and the slate belt.

As the above picture reveals, turnout varied widely throughout the county, from a low of  2.78% to a high of 38.82%. Turnout is heaviest where there were disputed races. In Bethlehem and Easton, there were no uncontested races except for Dr. Paige Van Wirt's Bethlehem City Council write-in. Her candidacy increased turnout on the north side, but the south side was low.

As you might have guessed, turnout was heaviest in Upper Mount Bethel Township. Ron Angle tells me that people in his neck of the woods have terrible TV reception, so their hobby is politics. In a switch from what was going on everywhere else, Democrat Jerry Geake was ousted in the Supervisors' race, even though he is the only board member with a brain.

In a contentious Bangor school board race, Republican Bob Cartwright was blasted by the Bangor Press in a last-minute ad that failed to identify who paid for it. Bob lost his seat as a school director by 228 votes.

In Bethlehem Township, Republican Howard Kutzler (a former Township Manager) was defeated in the Comm'r race for the third ward by Democrat John Gallagher (Save Green Pond). Gallagher won by a scat 41 votes. Kutzler had been appointed to the Board when Kim Jenkins resigned earlier this year.

Gallagher will only serve for two years. This was the first electoral bid by both Kutzler and Gallagher. Kutzler referred to Gallagher as a "fine gentleman," and said he enjoyed the experience.

In the race for the fourth ward, Republican John Merhottein topped Democrat Philip Grieshaber, 479-401. Though Merhottein announced nearly a year ago and waged a serious campaign, he had a real fight on his hands.

It is pretty clear that the Trump effect was a huge factor in these two township races. Kutzler added that Dem Exec candidate Lamont McClure campaigned very hard in the township.

Confusion over poling places may have suppressed the vote in Bethlehem Township. Prior to this year's races, voting districts were redrawn. No confusion was reported after the primary, but there were more voter in the election on Tuesday. According to Kutzler, a large number were confused about where they belonged.

When he was running for the Supreme Court in 2009, Judge Jack Panella was fighting against both Joan Orie Melvin and the public purse. That's because Melvin and her state senator sister used state employees to carry on the campaign. Melvin was eventually convicted of theft of services.

On a much smaller scale, the same thing has now happened to Judge Panella's sister, Ann-Marie. She has served as a Palmer Township Supervisor for 18 years, but was challenged this year by Republican Zeke Bellis, a beverage distributor and former coach at the Palmer Township Athletic Association (PTAA).

Panella won the race by exactly 100 votes, 1,788 to 1,688. But on the weekend before the election, the PTAA sent out three emails that asked residents to vote for Bellis. The PTAA is a creature of the Palmer Tp Rec Board, which in turn is appointed but Township Supervisors.Moreover, the PTAA receives close to $100,000 from the township each year. So its use of public resources to promote a candidate for public office is certainly improper.

Dave Colver, Chairman of the Palmer Township Board, said he has received several complaints about what has happened and is looking into the situation.

Since Panella won, whatever happened is harmless error. But the people who sent out this email should be sent to the penalty box. Publicly-funded youth sports programs can include football, where kids get knocked into next Tuesday. It can include hockey, where dentist ambulances are on standby. But politics? That's child abuse. 

Democrat Lance Colondo registered an impressive victory in Nazareth against Republican Stephen Cunningham, with part of his campaign including a pledge that he would fight any jail in the Nazareth area. Speaking of jail, Republican Carl Strye, the erstwhile Mayor who was forced to resign in disgrace after admitting to skimming from illegal poker machines, is back in office. He was elected to Borough Council. Independent Ryan Wheatley unfortunately fell far short.

In fractious Williams Township, Democrat Mike Bryant came out on top of  incumbent George Washburn, a rare independent who holds public office. The vote was 467 to 443. I had the privilege of watching Washburn, a mathematician, at a few meetings. He is an excellent public servant.

Like Geake in Upper Mount Bethel, Democrat David Renaldo was defeated in the Washington Township Supervisor race by Republican Stacy Diehl. Renaldo has been a Supervisor there for 22 years. He lost by 12 votes. No one can quite explain why he lost. I think it might be that voters wanted a woman.

Speaking of women, Democrat Brooke Kerzner defeated Republican Robert J. Rhodes Jr in Bangor, 346 to 240. She used Facebook for live chats.

In East Allen Township, where voters are concerned about big box stores spawned by the UPS facility in neighboring Allen Township, voters elected Republicans Don Heiney and Gerorgiann Hunsicker. Heiney  is a certified community planner.