Hatboro Mayor Wins Write-In Ballot Spot

A Democrat running as a Republican?

It's likely to happen as Hatboro Mayor Norm Hawkes lost the majority of his party's support in the Primary Election earlier this month, but gained enough backing from Republicans to have him listed as their nominee come Nov. 8.

According to Montgomery County Spokesman Frank Custer, Hawkes garnered 143 write-in votes among Republicans as compared to fellow Democrat Bill Godshall's 25.

"He would be on the ballot as the Republican nominee," Custer said of Hawkes. "It's much like the school board. They cross-file. A Democrat could win on a Republican side."

The Hatboro mayoral write-ins were tallied late Tuesday, but Custer said that results are "unofficial" until the county certifies them on or before June 10. 

Godshall, a political newcomer, defeated Hawkes among Democrats by a 184-143 vote, according to unofficial Montgomery County election results.

For Hawkes, who is vying for his third term as Hatboro mayor, being on the Republican ballot is nothing new.

"I was on the Republican ballot last time," he said. "That's how I got 1,200 votes."

With no contender in his last race, Hawkes said he successfully ran as a Democrat and a Republican.

Hawkes said it was "encouraging" that so many people took the time to write him in on the ballot, particularly since the term write-in is a misnomer. 

"Today you have to punch 'write-in vote' and you have to go down to the keyboard at the bottom," Hawkes said. "It’s a little more complicated."

When asked if Hawkes, who was backed by the Hatboro Republican Organization intended to change his party affiliation, he told Patch, "I don't know."

"We have five or six months before the election," he said. "On a local level a mayor is a mayor for everyone."