ELEPHANT CORNER: Coyle Wins, Powell Loses

UNIVERSITY CITY Republican gathering at Mill Creek Tavern drew squadron of enthusiastic Republicans, among them, from left, Judge Kenneth Powell, Ward Leader Lindsay Doering, Bishop Clark, Ward Leader Mark Supple, Leonora Cravotta, and Ward Leaders Andrew Gentsch, Denise Furey and Matt Wolfe.

Election day held no real surprises. Republican candidate for Common Pleas ANNE MARIE COYLE won handily owing to her ballot position and hard work. She had secured a place on the Democratic ballot yesterday in large part due to her pulling top ballot position in the Democratic primary in May. DAN ALVAREZ and City Controller candidate TERRY TRACY ran serious campaigns but did not prevail.
In nearby Montgomery Co., the recent apparent détente between two Republican factions was not enough to pull their two Common Pleas candidates MAUREEN COGGINS and SHARON GIAMPORCARO over the top.
In the only statewide race except for the retention voting, Superior Court candidate VIC STABILE defeated Allegheny Co. JUDGE JACK McVAY, JR. by three points. Stabile is a senior partner in the Harrisburg office of Dilworth Paxson and was the chairman of the Cumberland Co. Republican Committee. Stabile came under fire from the Pennsylvania Bar Association for a negative ad he ran about McVay’s engaging in nepotism. Stabile stood his ground as his ad was accurate. While nepotism is not illegal in Allegheny Co., the fact is he placed a relative and his fiancée on the county’s payroll.

Once again JUDGE KENNETH POWELL did not succeed in being elected to the bench. Powell has been appointed to fill out judicial potions of retiring judges by both Governors Rendell and Corbett. He is highly respected by his peers in Common Peas but cannot get elected.

As this elephant has noted in previous columns, the problem is that we elect judges. In other states, such as New York, and at the federal level, judges are nominated by the executive branch (a Governor or the President) with the approval of a legislative branch. Typically even a Democratic President or Governor periodically appoints someone from the opposing party. However, in Pennsylvania judges are selected by an electorate that see judicial elections as boring and show no interest in reviewing the qualifications of the candidates, leading them to vote primarily on party lines. Sadly, this process led the voters on Tuesday to not vote for probably the most-qualified person in the field, Ken Powell.

Last Friday night, the 31st Ward held a fundraiser at the Amvets Hall in Kensington. WARD LEADER VINCE FENERTY ran an outstanding and well-attended event. The crowd included elephants from all over the city. Republican City Committee Chairman STATE REP. JOHN TAYLOR addressed the crowd. One of Taylor’s colleagues from State House of Representatives, NICK MICCARELLI of Delaware Co., joined the festivities. MEGAN RATH, a new face in the party, was there. It is rumored that she might run for the US Congress in the Pennsylvania 1st District against CONGRESSMAN BOB BRADY next year.

Saturday afternoon MARIA & JOE McCOLGAN held a fundraiser for Republican candidate for Philadelphia District Attorney Dan Alvarez at their home. Attendees included WARD LEADERS WALT VOGLER, MIKE CIBIK, TOM MATKOWSKI, JOE DeFELICE and MATT WOLFE. Former Republican City Committee Chairman VITO CANUSO and current RCC GENERAL COUNSEL MIKE MEEHAN were also there. McColgan’s mother CAMILLE McCOLGAN, former Philadelphia Deputy City Commissioner, was also there.

Last Wednesday, the University City Republican Committee held a fundraiser at Mill Creek Tavern. UCRC is comprised of a number of West Philadelphia wards. The ward leaders running the event included Matt Wolfe (27th), MARK SUPPLE (46th), ANDREW GENTSCH (51st) and DENISE FUREY (60th). The event was well attended and drew Republicans from other parts of the city including 8TH WARD LEADER LINDSAY DOERING and judicial candidate Ken Powell. BISHOP CLARK, who is from Yeadon, came to the event as she works with churches and parishioners in West Philadelphia.

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