Newtown Township Primary Elections

Generally, I’ve posted to this blog to inform residents about issues that I’ve noted as a result of attending Newtown Township public meetings.  While working at the polls to support some of the candidates seeking to be on the November general election ballot, my experience resulted in offering the following information to the residents of Newtown for their consideration.

This is not a sore loser post.  This is a post that expresses disappointment that the Newtown Republican Party would resort to hijacking the spirit of the Primary Electoral process in an attempt to do anything to elect their “endorsed” candidate for tax collector. It is likely the “endorsed” Republican candidate knew that cross-filing has been allowed in Pennsylvania since the 1970s, permitted only for district judges, judges and school boards and that cross-filing was not an option for the position of tax collector. But knowing that and honoring the spirit of the primary election process seems to have eluded the Republican Party.

By that, I am referring to the candidate, Suzanne Wolanin, standing outside the polling place surreptitiously offering a stamp to Democratic voters to enable them to stamp her name as a write-in candidate on the Democratic ballot.  Why even trust voters to write your name when you can provide them with a preprinted stamp?

I don’t know whether this plan was hatched by the Republican Party in an attempt to have the tax collector election determined in the Primary Election.  If Suzanne had won her party’s nomination and her write-in campaign was successful on the Democratic ticket, then the general election would, but for another write-in campaign, be done.  If Suzanne lost her party’s primary, a win of a write-in campaign on the Democratic ballot, would mean that Suzanne, the “endorsed” Republican could be on the General Election’s ballot as the Democratic candidate.  Does Suzanne intend to become a Democrat now? 

So, for all the Republican Party newsletters, that bemoaned “career politicians”, for all the talk of the what the Founding Fathers’ intended, when it potentially served their interests, the Newtown Republican politicians determined to organize a “write-in” or should I say prefabricated stamp with Suzanne Wolanin on it so that Democratic voters just “stamped” her name.  Rather than honor the spirit and intent of the Primary Election process and seemingly so worried about the possibility of Marie Richards’ successful candidacy, Suzanne was handing Democratic voters a stamp with her name on it.  

As a result of the primary election, Marie Richards won the Republican Party nomination and will appear on the ballot in November general election as the Republican’s tax collector candidate. Marie won without resorting to negative attacks on her opponent or attempting to run on the ballot of the party with which she is not affiliated. Marie won by offering voters the reasons she felt made her the better candidate for the job.

Hopefully, in November’s general election, voters will judge the tactics of the “endorsed” Republican candidates and party, and will choose to vote for the candidates for every elected office that they feel will best represent them regardless of political party affiliation.  Voters will, hopefully, choose representatives that offer Newtown residents the experience and qualifications that will best serve the community.