Democrats were the big winners in Tuesday’s election in Bucks County.
The party took two of three new judgeships, the majority in the county commissioner’s office for the first time since 1983 and swept the races for row officers.
Democrats Charissa Liller and Jordan Yeager, along with Republican Denise Bowman will be seated as judges on the county’s Court of Common Pleas bench. Liller received the most votes, 78,261; Yeager the second most, 77,822; and Bowman the third most, 77,571.
Losing their bid to become judges were Democrat Jessica L. VanderKam with 74,420 votes, and Republicans Grace Deon and Allen Toadvine with 74,367 and 70,846 votes respectively.
County Commissioner Robert G. Loughery, a Republican, lost his bid for reelection; he was bested by incumbent Diane Ellis-Marseglia, her running mate Robert Harvie, both Democrats, and Republican Gene DiGirolamo.
Ellis-Marseglia was the top vote-getter with 82,650; DiGirolamo was second with 77,930; Harvie was third with 75,172; and Loughery was fourth with 74,507.
In the races for county row officers: Linda Bobrin (82,094 votes) defeated incumbent Don Petrille Jr. (77,371 votes) for Register of Wills; Kris Ballerini (81,963 votes) bested incumbent Tom Panzer (77,505 votes) for Treasurer; Brian Munroe (81,249 votes) won over incumbent Mary K. Smithson (78,013 votes) for Clerk of Courts; and Meredith Buck (81,519 votes) topped incumbent Joseph P. Campbell (77,911 votes) for Coroner. All of the winners are Democrats.
The county’s row officers for Controller, District Attorney, Prothonotary, Sheriff and Recorder of Deeds were not on the ballot this year.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the retention of sitting Bucks County judges Robert O. Baldi, Wallace H. Bateman, Gary B. Gilman and Alan M. Rubenstein.
Asked about the election results, Pat Poprik, chair of the Bucks County Republican Committee, said, “I’m disappointed. I know we worked extremely hard.”
The Solebury referendum on land preservation passed on a 2,139 to 716 vote.
“The turnout was extremely high for both parties,” she said. “When you look at percentages, they have 11,000 more people than we do. We lost by two-tenths of one percent. ... You can’t get much closer than that.”
Poprick added that the GOP would work with the newly elected Democrats to ensure a smooth transition. “The people have spoken and we’ll move on,” she said.
Calls and emails for comment to the Democratic headquarters for Bucks County were not immediately returned.
jarthur@buckscountyherald.com
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