Tredyffrin Supervisor Special Election Race Turning Into a Marathon

As Tredyffrin Township's Board of Supervisors meeting came to order Monday night, incumbent Republican Mike Heaberg gave no indication that his campaign had just seen a victory pulled from the jaws of defeat in last Tuesday's special election for an at-large seat on the board.

Heaberg had just come from a long day of watching ballots being hand counted in the special election race for an at-large seat on the board. At 9 a.m. Monday  the unofficial count had Democrat challenger Molly Duffy the winner by 40 votes. After the hand counting and checking of 4,553 ballots (61 more than were tabulated on election night) was finished, Heaberg had three more votes than Duffy.

The numbers were provided to Patch by a Duffy supporter. While he would not confirm the number of ballots counted, Heaberg did confirm that the unofficial count had him three votes ahead of Duffy at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Heaberg was reluctant to comment on the race at all. "I'm not sure what I am allowed to say," Heaberg told TE Patch at the end of Monday's Board of Supervisors meeting, which stretched until nearly 11:30 p.m. "It's been a long day," the incumbent said.

According to multiple sources with close ties to the campaigns, the ballot count lasted about nine hours, going from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. inside Suite 107 of the Chester County Services Building in West Chester.

Heaberg made no mention of the ballot count before or during the Board of Supervisors meeting. Only when presented with numbers from TE Patch would he confirm that Monday's count had shifted him from what appeared to be a 40- vote loss to a three-vote lead in the closely contested race. Heaberg was appointed to the at-large seat in February to complete the term of Warren Kampf who was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in November. 

One indication of a shift in the vote count was Molly Duffy's absence at the Supervisors meeting. After thanking voters Friday on her website and saying "I’m looking forward to serving all township residents," she was not at the meeting. Many of her supporters were there, sporting "Molly Duffy Supervisor" campaign stickers.

Kathy Keohane, who said she had spent part of the day drafting a Duffy press release declaring what had been an expected victory, was instead wondering aloud how Duffy could have gotten only nine more votes out of the 61 previously uncounted ballots. She and several other Democrats said they were wearing the "Duffy for Supervisor" stickers to mark the first day of the campaign for November election.

That's right. No matter what final count is certified for the special election, Heaberg and Duffy will square off again when the same seat comes up for a full term election in November. Duffy's supporters and Heaberg both told Patch they're gearing up for November as their marathon campaigns race toward another vote.