By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

In what amounted to a good old-fashioned drubbing, the Democratic Party fared exceptionally well in the election held on Nov. 4, as judges, mayors, supervisors, and council and school board members were elected and reelected to posts throughout Chester County.

In all, the election saw a 47.8 percent turnout, as 385,849 registered voters cast their ballots for 762 contests at 230 precincts throughout the county.

In the race for Judge of the Superior Court, Democrat Brandon Neuman beat Republican Maria Battista, earning more than 61 percent of the vote, 112,886 to 67,203. In the campaign to become the next Judge of the Commonwealth Court, Democrat Stella Tsai defeated Republican Matt Wolford, gathering nearly two-third of the total vote, 114,498 to 68,341; and Democrats Mackenzie Smith and Clay Cauley, Sr. defeated Republicans Neill C. Kling and Betty Ryberg in an election for Judge of County Common Pleas.

In the battle for Chester County row offices, Democrats defeated Republicans in all five races. Caroline Bradley beat Alissa McGrory to become the next Clerk of Courts; Nick Cherubino defeated Joseph Lorusso in the race for Controller; Sophia Garcia-Jackson out-voted Thomas John Hatzidais in the election for Coroner; Alex Christy beat Christopher Thompson in the campaign to become the next county Prothonotary; and Patricia Maisano defeated Deanna Wang in the race for county Treasurer.

In addition, Democrats Tony diFrancesca, Joe Heffern and James Kovaleski defeated their Republican opponents to become Magisterial Court Judges.

In the election for the mayor of Kennett Square, Oxford, West Grove and Avondale, Democrats Matt Fetick, Philip Harris, Stephen Black and Susan Rzucidlo were reelected to their posts, respectively. 

Borough Council, Board of Supervisors races: Elections and reelections

In the election to determine the council boards of four municipalities, Democratic candidates again breezed to victories. In Kennett Square Borough, Bob Norris and Elea McDonnell-Feit were reelected to their posts on the Borough Council, joining newcomers Hilda Matos, Amy Reigel and Juan Tafolla. In West Grove, Matthew Glass, Leandria Hall and David Prosser were reelected to the Borough Council, joining incoming council member Carol C. Severance. 

In Oxford, Robert Ketcham and Amanda Birdwell were reelected to the Oxford Borough Council along with newcomers Melody Boston-Griffin and Michael Brandt; and in Avondale, Michael W. Essmaker, Stephanie Reichert and Janet Watts were reelected to Borough Council. 

Democrats also performed well in local elections to determine future township supervisors. In London Grove Township, Stephen Zurl was reelected to the board, while newcomer Eric Sipple also won election to the board. 

In East Marlborough Township, James Chance and Steven Peuquet were reelected to the board – and Chris Manning was elected – to the Board of Supervisors; while in West Marlborough Township, Republican and current chairman William Wylie was reelected to the Board of Supervisors.

In Lower Oxford Township, Noel Roy won reelection to the three-member Board of Supervisors; and in Upper Oxford Township, current chairman Scott Rugen won reelection to the three-member board.

In London Britain Township, Brian Sachs and Bruce Yost were reelected to their posts by defeating John R. McKinnon and Russell McKinnon, respectively; and in Penn Township, current chairman Victor Mantegna will return to the Board of Supervisors for another term and will be joined by Republican Jakob Moore, who won his election to the board. 

In Kennett Township, Mike Bailey will replace outgoing supervisor Richard Leff on the Board of Supervisors after defeating challenger Boyd Presnell; and in New London Township, Mary Anne Steel was reelected to the Board of Supervisors by defeating Geddes Marcano. 

Kristie Brodowski and David Unger were reelected to their seats on the New Garden Township Board of Supervisors, defeating Republican challengers Michael Norris and Kathy Leary. 

School board elections

In elections to determine future school boards in southern Chester County, Democratic candidates also performed well, beginning in the Oxford Area School District, where Sean T. Gugan, Mary Higgins, Andrew Peters and David Trimble were elected and Andrew Atkinson earned reelection to the board. 

In the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, Susan Still Elks, Joseph P. Everett, Sandra Litvin and Steven Simonson were elected to the school board; while on the Kennett Consolidated School District Board, current Vice President Dr. Victoria Gehrt won reelection, while Democrats Jamie Blevins Raign and Ann Parry also won their elections. 

In the race to determine the partial make-up of the three-region Avon Grove School District Board of Directors, Bill Wood won reelection to the board, defeating Jules Quartapella; Katie Leonard defeated Steven Sheppleman; Natalie Ortega-Moran beat current board member Mike Woodin; and Ruchira Singh earned reelection to the board after defeating Ricky Hagar. 

‘All politics is national now’

While the reasons for the across-the-board blue wave election in Chester County have been open to speculation since the results of Nov. 4, the truth is in the polls: the results closely mirror the temperature of the entire country, which saw Democrats Abigail Spanberger elected as the next governor of Virginia; Mikie Sherrill becoming the next governor of New Jersey; and perhaps most surprising of all, the election of Zohran Mamdani as the next mayor of New York City – as well as huge wins in lower profile races. 

“It was a good day for the Democrats – maybe a great day – but it wasn’t an odd-year election, so turnout is always going to be considerably lower, but saying that, turnout in Chester County was near record-high [on Nov. 4],” said Dr. John Kennedy, a professor of political science at West Chester University. “Bear in mind, the Democrats suffered a devastating loss a year ago, and this was an opportunity to get their voice heard. It gives the Democrats a shot in the arm that they desperately needed.”

Kennedy addressed the proverbial “elephant in the room,” the generally accepted opinion that the surge of Democratic political victories last week was a ballot box rejection of the polices and performance of President Donald Trump, that influenced many voters to select Democratic candidates merely on the basis of their political affiliations.

“People are kidding themselves if they deny that this was not a referendum to some degree on the President,” Kennedy said. “When you look at these local races, they are becoming more ideologically polarized. There is a sharp delineation, from local elections to school board races, and for these candidates, they are no longer able to shed their overall party umbrella. That’s a characteristic of where we are as a country now.

“To rephrase Tip O’Neill’s famous line, ‘All politics is national now.’ Twenty-five years ago, we didn’t have social media. Now, everyone has a megaphone on their keyboard.”

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].