PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The results of row office elections in Philadelphia’s Democratic primary are settled, with enough votes now counted to declare the winners for register of wills, sheriff and city controller. The Democrats will likely prevail in November because of the party’s registration edge.
Philadelphia will get a new register of wills after Tracey Gordon lost her bid for re-election on Tuesday.
Four years ago, Gordon upset the 10-term incumbent, but later angered the Democratic Party by firing several long-time patronage employees. In this election, the party backed attorney and ward leader John Sabatina, who edged Gordon out.
Neither candidate could be reached for comment, but Democratic Party chair Bob Brady said Sabatina was the right choice.
“John Sabatina is much more qualified than she,” Brady said. “He’s an estate lawyer. He did 80, 90 estates. She never did one estate.”
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The party also backed incumbent Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, who held off a strong challenge from attorney Michael Untermeyer despite a series of allegations about questionable spending, 210 missing guns and a conflict of interest among top staff.
Bilal declined an interview request but sent a statement saying she had overcome “falsehoods” and “fabricated stories” to win re-election.
Incumbent City Commissioners Lisa Deeley and Omar Sabir ran unopposed.
There was also an out-of-cycle election to fulfill the term of Rebecca Rhynhart, who resigned to run for mayor. Christy Brady easily beat two challengers with 46% of the vote.
Christy Brady was new to elective politics but an old hand at the controller’s office. She worked there for almost 30 years and was briefly acting controller before she had to resign to get the permanent position.
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She said she’s looking forward to determining the office’s direction, with a focus on public safety.
“Probing gun violence prevention programs, community expansion grants, in particular,” she said. “Are they being spent the way City Council and the mayor want them to be spent? That’s important, because every dollar matters.”