While Grossman won nine of 14 wards in the Northeast, Krasner was able to top her with 75 percent of the vote.
While Democrat Larry Krasner was cruising to victory in last week’s race for district attorney, piling up 75 percent of the vote, Republican Beth Grossman was winning nine of the 14 wards in the Northeast.
In all, Grossman won 12 wards, including Bridesburg’s 45th, South Philadelphia’s 26th and Port Richmond’s 25th.
Grossman did best in the Far Northeast’s 66th Ward, taking 77.2 percent of the vote. She took 72 percent in the 58th, 63rd and 64th wards.
“Beth is a great candidate. I wish I could clone her,” party boss Mike Meehan said as he watched returns at the United Republican Club.
But she was overwhelmed in North, West and Southwest Philadelphia, where Krasner and the rest of the Democratic ticket were rolling up more than 90 percent of the vote.
Rashad Robinson, spokesman for the Color of Change political action committee, said, “District attorneys have the power to alter the daily lives of black people by choosing to either perpetuate or mitigate the role of racism in the criminal justice system. Larry Krasner has demonstrated a clear commitment to building a more fair criminal justice system — from the dozens of lawsuits he has filed to secure justice for victims of police brutality to his promise to stop the discriminatory cash bail imprisonment of people who have not even been convicted of a crime. Now, we must hold Larry Krasner accountable for the promises he made to black communities on the campaign trail, and mandate they translate to concrete action while he is in office.”
Mayor Jim Kenney congratulated Krasner.
“I extend my sincerest congratulations to District Attorney-elect Larry Krasner and his team. I look forward to working with him to continue the city’s MacArthur Safety and Justice Challenge and our other efforts to make the criminal justice system more equitable and effective. While we’ve reduced our incarcerated population by nearly 20 percent in the last two years, there is still important work to do.”
In the race for city controller, Democrat Rebecca Rhynhart, a former city treasurer, budget director and chief administrative officer, beat Republican Mike Tomlinson with 83 percent of the vote. She received 159,386 votes, the most of any candidate in Philadelphia.
Rhynhart will become the first woman controller. She’ll succeed Alan Butkovitz, whom she beat in the primary.
“Since announcing my candidacy nearly one year ago, I have traveled across the city, meeting with voters and hearing their concerns, and the overwhelming message to me was that Philadelphians want a government that works for them. That was the basis of my campaign, and I am committed to restoring trust in our government so that it better serves Philadelphians and provides them with the services they need. I will achieve this by auditing each city department every year, with a focus not only on rooting out fraud but on modernization and best practices to save millions of dollars to put toward the needs of our city. I want to take the tough stances to make government work better and look forward to tackling these big tasks to move our city forward,” she said.
Tomlinson, a Holmesburg resident, beat Rhynhart in eight wards: the 45th, 55th, 57th, 58th, 63rd, 64th, 65th and 66th wards.
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As for the 2018 campaign, businessman Jeff Bartos last week dropped out of the race for U.S. Senate to run for lieutenant governor. He is aligned with state Sen. Scott Wagner, who is running for governor.
Wagner and Bartos will both have to win their primaries to team up in the general election.
“Jeff is a great guy who wants to change the way Harrisburg works. He’ll help me take on career politicians. He’ll help me change the way things have always been done in Harrisburg. He’ll help me make it work for you, the taxpayers — not special interests or insiders,” Wagner said.
Bartos said, “Scott built his waste company from nothing into a major job engine right here in central Pennsylvania. He’s a conservative. He’s tough. He makes great things happen — something we really need in Harrisburg. And Scott’s lived the American dream. Now he wants to give back and use his experience to make Pennsylvania a winning state.”
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Braddock Mayor John Fetterman will meet and greet voters tonight, Wednesday, Nov. 15, from 6 to 8 at the Irish Pub, 1123 Walnut St.
Fetterman was expected to announce a night earlier he is running for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. In 2016, he sought the party nomination for U.S. Senate.
Lt. Gov. Mike Stack has never been a favorite of Gov. Tom Wolf. Other candidates are Chester County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone and Aryanna Berringer, an IT project manager from Westmoreland County.
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The Green Party of Philadelphia is happy about the likely abolishment of the School Reform Commission, but opposes Mayor Jim Kenney’s plan to appoint members to a new school board.
The party wants an elected board.
“To prevent a takeover by corporate interests,” said Taj Magruder, an at-large member of the Green Party city committee, “our school board elections must be publicly funded and must use instant runoff voting. In addition, students and teachers should have their own elected representatives on our new school board.” ••
