City elections commissioner Seth Bluestein last week held a fundraiser at Randi’s Restaurant and Bar, and Republicans used the event to collect nominating petitions for the May 16 primary.
The GOP has endorsed Bluestein and Bill Heeney for two of three spots on the election commission. Since Republicans realistically have a shot at only one of the three seats, Bluestein will likely advance to the general election as the only GOP nominee.
Democratic Commissioners Omar Sabir and Lisa Deeley will likely cruise to another term in the general election. The battle for the third seat is expected to come down to Bluestein vs. the Working Families Party’s Jarrett Smith.
Bluestein was celebrating his 34th birthday at the Feb. 16 event. He and other Republicans and Democrats have until March 7 to gather the required signatures to get on the ballot.
Here is the rest of the endorsed Republican ticket:
• Mayor: David Oh
• City Council at large: Jim Hasher, of Torresdale; Drew Murray, of Center City; Gary Grisafi, of Burholme; Mary Jane Kelly, of East Torresdale; and Frank Cristinzio, of Harrowgate. Sam Oropeza, of Bridesburg, is also running in the primary. Nominations go to the top five finishers. Republicans hope Oropeza does not submit the required 1,000 valid petitions. Hasher and Murray ran in at-large special elections in November, and could be the only two of the five endorsed candidates whose names appear on the general election ballot. That’s because Democrats will surely win five of the seven at-large seats, leaving Republicans and the Working Families Party scrambling for the other two.
• 10th Councilmanic District: Incumbent Brian O’Neill. The councilman faces a primary challenge from Roman Zhukov.
• 9th Councilmanic District: Roslyn Ross
• 7th Councilmanic District: James Whitehead
• 6th Councilmanic District: Russell Kubach, a Realtor from Bridesburg, will challenge Democratic Councilman Mike Driscoll, as long as he collects 750 valid petitions.
• Sheriff: Mark LaVelle
• City Controller: Aaron Bashir
• Register of Wills: Linwood Holland
• Municipal Court: Rania Major ••
