PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Democrats maintained their momentum in suburban elections, not only sweeping county government races, but also increasing their margin of victory compared to four years ago.
Historic wins in 2019 gave Democrats the majority on Bucks and Chester counties’ boards of commissioners for the first time in decades, and a 5-0 majority on Delaware County Council for the first time ever.
On Tuesday, all three Democratic incumbents on Delaware County Council cruised to an easy victory.
In Bucks County, the incumbents — two Democrats and one Republican — won easily. Four years ago, when Democrats seized control of that board, Democrat Bob Harvie won the third seat by just 664 votes. This year, Harvie finished second and topped the fourth place Republican by more than 10,000 votes.
Montgomery County remains a Democratic stronghold as row officers won comfortably by 60,000 votes or more. Republican Tom DiBello won the minority seat on the board of commissioners.
In Chester County, incumbent Democratic county commissioners Marian Moskowitz and Josh Maxwell expanded their margin of victory, while Republican Eric Roe won the third seat.
“It's hard to see any aspects of 2023 that Democrats would walk away from in Pennsylvania and say, ‘Well, that didn't turn out very well,’” said Chris Borick, polling director and political science professor at Muhlenberg University.
Borick notes the consistency Democrats are showing at the county level in Southeastern Pennsylvania, after decades of being in the minority. Still, he cautions against reading too much into one party’s success in 2023 and applying it to the 2024 election, which will include the presidency and a U.S. Senate seat.
“Republicans are going to have to try to counter that in some ways and actually turn public attention to issues that they think are more productive for them: economic issues, continued concerns about inflation,” he observed. “Can they elevate those and can their candidates do that?”
Democrats also won several high-profile school board races. They swept five races and flipped the majority on the Central Bucks School Board, with Democrats winning all five seats. Democrats also held on to district attorneys’ offices in Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties.