PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Tuesday is Election Day, and Delaware County's incumbent district attorney has a challenger.
District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, a Democrat, is facing Republican Beth Stefanide-Miscichowski on this year's ballot. Stefanide-Miscichowski worked in the Delaware County District Attorney's Office for eight years before starting her own firm. In 2019, Stollsteimer became the first Democrat to win the office in Delaware County.
"I'm looking forward to continuing the work we've done," said Stollsteimer, "both to stop child abuse, to take $20 million worth of fentanyl off our streets, and, of course, my No. 1 priority is to go after violent criminals."
As an example of his leadership, Stollsteimer points to his office's program in Chester, which he said has reduced homicides in the city by 68%. "It is the most successful gun violence program in the commonwealth," he added.
Stefanide-Miscichowski, however, believes politics are getting in the way of public safety.
"I want to end these de-incarceration efforts — low bail, no bail," she said. "Studies show that that does not deter people from acting more violently the next time around."
She said a rise in crime prompted her to run for district attorney.
"Everyone, regardless of where you live in Delaware County, is feeling it. Whether it's Chadds Ford or Radnor or Chester or Upper Darby — it's everywhere," she said.
Supporting law enforcement is also a top priority for her. "No. 1, our job as district attorneys is to get the victim justice, the victim of a crime. So you want to support your police, make sure they're doing a good job."
Stollsteimer agrees with the need to support law enforcement — and he points out that he has the endorsement from the Delaware County Fraternal Order of Police. He said he wants to continue to work with municipalities to prevent what he calls "spillover crime" from Philadelphia.
