Politics & Government

Republicans Wrestle Control of Hatboro Borough Council

Three Republican newcomers defeat incumbent Democrats.

In a landslide victory that leaves only one Democrat standing come Jan. 1, the Hatboro Borough Council will shift from 4-3 Democrat-controlled to 6-1 Republican-controlled with the election of three newcomers.

According to unofficial election results reported by the Montgomery County Board of Elections, Mark Sheedy (903 votes) Robert Hegele (905 votes) and David Rich (901 votes) defeated incumbent Democrats Nancy Guenst (654 votes), Marianne Reymer (642 votes) and Aleta Ostrander (635 votes). Once the new councilmen are sworn in next year, Patricia Fleming will be the lone Democrat on the borough council.

In an e-mail to Patch early Wednesday morning, Sheedy said that individual voters "did their homework" and "endorsed those who they believed were the most qualified and displayed the best disposition."

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"If you look at the county wide results, it is clear that they were not straight down party line," Sheedy said, adding that he is proud to have run with Hegele and Rich. "The most enjoyable part of the campaign was meeting and engaging in productive conversations with the intelligent and informed residents of Hatboro."

Scott Johnson, who chairs Hatboro’s Democratic Party, chalked up the loss to a greater success on the part of Republicans to get out the vote.

Find out what's happening in Hatboro-Horshamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“If you check the results form 2009, we performed exactly as we did two years ago,” Johnson wrote in an e-mail to Patch. “The Democrats did not turn out, but the Republicans increased their numbers.”

Johnson said the Democrats’ local get out the vote operations need to be analyzed.

“Democrats historically are difficult to rouse during the off year elections,” he said.


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