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Voter Turnout Dismal in 2013 Primary Election

Written by Larry Roeder, Editor
2013-05-22

A few local contests provided the only spark in an otherwise lackluster primary election Tuesday that saw less than 10 percent of all voters casting their ballots in Montgomery County.

Of the 208,545 registered Republican voters in the county, 23,938, or about 11.5 percent, cast their votes. Of the 248,996 registered Democratic voters, 25,529, or 10.25 percent, voted.

In a six-way battle for four Republican nomination slots for Pennsburg Borough Council, incumbents Vicki Lightcap (88) and Michael Mensch (87) will be joined by newcomer Cody Belmont (79) and former council member Diane Stevens (70) on the November ballot. They will join lone Democrat Doug Criddle in the November’s contest for one of four seats.

Four Republicans battled for two seats on the New Hanover Board of Supervisors. The race saw incumbent Ralph Fluharty (480) and New Hanover Fire Chief Phil Agliano (477) handily win the spots over Mike Salerno and Tiffany Rusin. There were no Democratic candidates for the board.

The Republican race to be on the November ballot for supervisor in Marlborough Township was won by incumbent Brian Doremus (216) who fended off a challenge by Brian Tielemans (53). Doremus will face Democrat Betty White in November.

Four candidates cross-filed to vie for two open spots in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. Republican voters chose Sharon Giamporcaro (13,425) and Maureen Coggins (13,059) as their standard bearers over Gail Weilheimer (5,748) and Steven Tolliver (5,018), but Democratic voters chose Weilheimer (16,621) and Tolliver (15,517) over Giamporcaro (4,923) and Coggins (4,484) so the four candidate will do battle again in November.

In Bucks, a couple of county races made things interesting there. In the Republican race for county sheriff, Edward “Duke” Donnelley (17,548) topped challenger Tom Lingenfelter (6,388) and will face Democrat Dennis McCauley, who ran unopposed, in November.

The Republican race for prothonotary had Pat Bachtle (12,713) topping Michelle Christian (11,938) for the opportunity to face off against Democrat Ronald Smolow, who ran unopposed, in the fall.

In the race for the Republican nomination for Berks County treasurer, Dennis Adams (9,088) topped Pat Lupia (4125). There were no Democratic candidates on the ballot.

In a crowded field of eight candidates who cross-filed seeking one of two spots on the Berks County Court of Common Pleas, Berks County First Assistant District Attorney Theresa Johnson topped Democratic vote-getters with 6,549 and came in second on the GOP side with 5,208. Grabbing the second spot on the Democratic side was Eleni Demitriou-Geishauser (5,397).

Topping the Republican side was Madelyn Fudeman with 5,157 votes. The three candidates will battle in November with Johnson listed on both tickets and Fudeman running in the Republican side. Geishauser will be listed on the Democratic side.

All voting results are unofficial until verified.

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