Democratic District Attorney candidate Seth Williams

Last Tuesday, Philadelphia voters went to the polls to select the city's newest District Attorney. Democratic frontrunner Seth Williams won in a landslide against his Republican challenger Michael Untermeyer. Bryant Maddrick caught up with Williams making some last minute campaign stops before the election.

Link:
http://www.blip.tv/file/2827623

Chris Christie is the Garden State's new governor

Republican Chris Christie unseated the deep-pocketed but unpopular Democrat Jon Crozine in Tuesday's election.
"Tomorrow, starting tomorrow, we are going to pick Trenton up and turn it upside down," Christie said in his acceptance speech in Parsippany in front of cheering supporters.
President Barack Obama invested heavily in the race, campaigning with Corzine five times on three separate visits. A Republican captured the only other governor's race in the country, in Virginia, which some pundits say is a troubling sign for Obama heading into next year's midterm elections.
With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Christie had 49 percent of the vote compared to 44 percent for Corzine. Independent candidate Chris Daggett, who at one point had been feared as a potential spoiler, had about 5 percent.
Daggett may have cut into Corzine's base. Two-thirds of Daggett voters approved of Obama, suggesting they were more likely to lean Democratic, according to an Associated Press exit poll.
Corzine said he called Christie just before 11 p.m. Tuesday "and congratulated him on becoming New Jersey's next governor." He pledged to work with Christie to ensure a smooth transition.


Watch Christie's acceptance speech:
http://cbs3.com/video/?id=90662@kyw.dayport.com

Montgomery County Judicial Races: The Results

The results are in for the race for seats on the Court of Common Pleas in Montgomery County. The turnout was close to what county officials predicted. Six Republicans were elected, while one Democrat ended the long standing domination by Republicans on the bench. Five women were also elected to the bench which previously had only one woman occupying any of the 19 seats. It's also important to note that each candidate received votes within 1% of each other.

The Elected:
(D)Lois Murphy





(R)Patricia E. Coonahan




(R)Carolyn Tornetta Carluccio



(R)Kelly Wall



(R)Garret D. Page



(R)Gary S. Silow



(R)Wendy Demchick-Alloy




To see the preview for the race, click here.

Butkovitz Cruises to Victory In City Controller Race

Alan Butkovitz, a Democrat, defeated independent candidate Al Schmidt, by a ratio of more than 2-1. He won 72 percent of the vote.

That is less than the 7-1 ratio of Democrats to Republicans in Philadelphia, but consistent with Democratic-Republican contests in recent years.

"It's an affirmation of the work we've been doing for the past four years, and an affirmation of the work of the professionals in the Controller's Office," said Butkovitz, 57, who first won in 2005 after 15 years in the state House.

Butkovitz campaigned on his willingness to go beyond his office's traditional auditing function. He said the office helped transform government with exposés on poor emergency response, crumbling city facilities, and a hidden school district deficit.

He promised more of the same for the next four years, with a focus on delivery of services, collection of money owed to the city, and making Philadelphia more attractive for growth.

Schmidt, aggressively attacked Butkovitz over the last few months. He described Butkovitz, who is a ward leader, as a pillar of the city's political class who was not willing - or able - to reform it. He also chastised Butkovitz for failing to audit departments on a yearly basis, as required by the city's Home Rule Charter.

"We definitely knew what we were up against," Schmidt said of his first run for city office. "I'm very proud of the campaign we ran. I'm certainly proud that we helped Philadelphia, even if only a little bit."

Seth Williams beats out Michael Untermeyer by a Landslide

After 18 years, Philadelphia has a new district attorney. Democratic candidate Seth Williams defeated Republican candidate Michael Untermeyer handily and recieved 75 percent of the vote on Tuesday. Williams is taking the place of former D.A. Lynne Abraham and in the process he became the first ever African American D.A. to the city of Philadelphia. The vote was predictable from the beginning, where Williams was highly favored. He ended up recieving a 3-1 vote count over Untermeyer. Williams hopes to enforce higher gun control in the city, while trying to also revitalize communities throughout the city.

Jeff McMenamin and Andrew Wagner
Campaign Preview

Heckler takes Bucks DA race

Republican David Heckler defeated Democrat Chris Asplen to become the next Bucks County District Attorney. Heckler won with 57.6% of the vote. Republicans came out on top in a vast majority of the Bucks County races.

Republican Chris Christie was elected as the new governor of New Jersey on Tuesday, beating out Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine. Christie’s win has come as a bit of an electoral blow for President Barack Obama, as he campaigned for Corzine. Christie managed to get 50 percent of the votes even though the State of New Jersey is heavily Democratic.

Samantha Bucher and Matt Price

Results: Philadelphia City Controller

With nearly 95% of the precincts reporting, it looks like incumbent Alan Butkovitz is walking away a clear winner in this year's City Controller race. He is keeping his seat with 72% of the vote, while Al Schmidt only managed to sway 28% of the voters. WHYY reporter Elizabeth Fiedler caught up with a humbled Butkovitz at his victory party last evening where he had this to say:

The reason I ran for Controller is that I thought it was a key office in terms of identifying the things that make the city work for the people or not. What happens in a financial crisis is that everybody sees that and the question of money becomes very important when the city doesn't have any money or when people don't have any money. It also gives you the opportunity to push for reform and change during periods of crisis.

Thanks for watching. For our video of the candidates on election day click HERE.

Josh Middleton, Stephanie Wharton & Trenae McDuffie

2009 New Jersey's Governor Race

Lede:After months of campaigning the New Jersey gubernatorial candidates will finally have their fate decided by the voters...Samantha Bucher reports....
http://www.youtube.com/user/sambucher325#p/a/u/0/Rpyyc4JBoOA

Judges Race: Montgomery County

youtube video

Lead in: The judges race is really starting to heat up in Montgomery County. Both Democratic and Republican committees are busy helping their candidates win over votes for tomorrow.

For more information on the candidates or the election, visit:

www.judgeswecanbelievein.com

www.montgomerycountygop.com

www.mcdems.org

Polls open in Jersey...still too early to tell

Polls opened up at 7am in the Garden State with low voter turnout being a big concern in the state...people are being encouraged to go out and vote

This is technically a three-way election race between Jon Corzine and Christie, with a 3rd party independent candidate Christopher Daggett playing the role of spoiler. Without Daggett in the race Chris Christie would be the runaway winner against Corzine.

In case you were wondering there is no runoff election in New Jersey as only a plurality of the vote is required rather than an outright majority. Based on pre-election polls we can safely predict that none of the three candidates will have a majority of the popular vote.

Issues in New Jersey include the president’s rising unpopularity in the country, local corruption in Governor Corzine’s administration, miserable employment, high taxes, and our politicians’ unwelcome focus on healthcare during a time of national economic crisis. Put simply this election is mainly about a leadership vacuum both instate and nationally.

Unemployment in New Jersey is 10% and property taxes are through the roof to pay for Democrat programs which suddenly look like bad policy to the average voter. The campaign has been unusually toxic even for NJ. At one point Corzine called Christie “fat” while Obama himself has further polarized the race with over-the-top partisan rhetoric.

Here is the latest:
Quinnipiac: Christie 42, Corzine 40, Daggett 12 (Christie +2)
SurveyUSA: Christie 45, Corzine 42, Daggett 10 (Christie +3)
PPP: Christie 47, Corzine 41, Daggett 11 (Christie +6)
Rasmussen Reports: Christie 46, Corzine 43, Daggett 8 (Christie +3)
Daily Kos/R2000: Christie 42, Corzine 41, Daggett 14 (Christie +1)
Democracy Corps: Corzine 41, Christie 37, Daggett 15 (Corzine +4)
Fairleigh Dickinson Poll: Corzine 43, Christie 41, Daggett 8 (Corzine +2)
Stockton/Zogby: Christie 39, Corzine 40, Daggett 14 (Corzine +1)

Comissioner's Race, 13th Ward of Montgomery County

Lede: Election day is just around the corner and the race is on for commissioner of the 13th ward in Montgomery County. Democrat Ralph Giguere and Republican Carol Gillespie have recently been knocking on doors to gain the community's votes.

Election-Eve in the Garden State

In the see-saw New Jersey Governor's race, Republican challenger Christopher Christie has 42 percent to Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine's 40 points, with 12 percent for independent candidate Christopher Daggett, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Six percent remain undecided.

Philadelphia District Attorney Race

Philadelphian's will head to the polls tomorrow to choose the next district attorney. Bryant Maddrick followed the frontrunner and presumed winner of the D.A.'s race, Seth Williams, to find out where he stands on the issues.

Link:
http://blip.tv/file/2800051

Republican District Attorney Candidate Michael Untermeyer Preview

Lead In:

On Tuesday, November 3, 2009 the election for District Attorney of Philadelphia is being held throughout the Philadelphia area. The two candidates involved are Democratic candidate, Seth Williams, and Republican candidate, Michael Untermeyer. We caught up with Untermeyer on his campaign trail where he talked to us about the issues he believes are most important.

Jeff McMenamin & Andrew Wagner

New Jersey Race Heating Up

The New Jersey Gubernatorial Election will be held on November 3^rd, 2009. Jon Corzine is the incumbent Democrat who is running for his second term. Chris Christie is running as the Republican candidate. Chris Daggett is running as the Independent candidate.

Some of the major issues of the election are: job creation, property tax, and keeping people in New Jersey.

Several debates were held throughout the state, with the last being on October 22^nd.

Regionally, Republicans tend to be strong in the Northwest and Shore regions of the state. The Democrats tend to be strong in the urban areas as well as the suburban areas.

Since February of 2004, Corzine’s approval ratings ranged from 33% and 42%. Corzine may benefit from his backing from President Barack Obama.

Chris Christie was born in Newark, New Jersey and now lives in Medham. In 1994, Christie was elected as a Republican to the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders. In 1998, Christie registered as a lobbyist for the Dughi, Hewitt, and Palatucci. In 2001, Christie was nominated by George w. Bush to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

Christie attacked Corzine’s record of raising taxes, failing to deliver property tax relief, and presiding over a period of unusually high unemployment in the state. Corzine pointed to the global economic recession for the state’s economic trouble. Christie also campaigned on the issue of ethics-reducing corruption and ending fiscal waste.

New Jersey is widely a blue-state, no Republican has won a statewide election since Christine Todd Whitman who was elected governor in 1997 and is now campaigning with Chris Christie.

Christie is pro-life, however his running mate Kimberly Guadango is pro-choice. Christie opposes New Jersey’s proposed medical marijuana bill.

Jon Corzine is originally from Taylorville, Illinois. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1969 until 1975. In 1975, he moved to New Jersey and was hired as a bond trader for Goldman Sachs. Over the years, he worked his way up to chairman and CEO of the company. Corzine was sworn into the Senate in November 2001. Corzine ran for Governor in 2005 and defeated Doug Forrester.

Jon Corzine also had some controversies surrounding him. He was romantically involved with Kayla Katz. Katz was the president of local 1034 of the communication workers of America and offered her a job, which she denied. After Corzine and his wife were separated the two were seen dating. Corzine and his wife divorced in 2003. After the break-up, their lawyers negotiated a settlement between Katz and Corzine in November of 2004, which reached an excess of six million dollars.

In April of 2007, Corzine was injured in an automobile accident. Excess speed, and the fact that Corzine was not wearing a seatbelt led to his injury. A New Jersey State Trooper drove the car.

The Quinnipiac University Poll found Corzine leading Republican challenger Chris Christie 43-38% among likely voters, with independent Chris Dagget at 13percent as of October 29^th, 2009.

Philadelphia City Controller Race

On Tuesday, November 3rd my group and I are going to follow the two candidates in the City Controller race, Al Schmidt (R) and Alan Butkovitz (L). In a nutshell, the City Controller is responsible for establishing and maintaining a budget for the City of Philadelphia. He/She is also responsible for pre-auditing any claims and demands against the city prior to payment. Usually a quiet contest, this year the City Controller seat has heated up due to the recessionary problems facing Philadelphia. Here is a rundown of each candidate:

Al Schmidt, a former Senior Analyst for the Government Accountability Office, is running on a platform to eliminate tax payout waste, combat public corruption by running annual audits on every city agency, and to protect city employee pensions. For more information on his campaign click HERE.






Alan Butkovitz is the incumbent candidate. He promises to identify cost-savings and new revenue opportunites (he boasts identifying over $400 million in his first term), he vows to to oppose the BRT plan to re-evaluate citywide full value reassessment of real estate and also protect city employee pensions. Click HERE for more information on his campaign.


Which candidate will walk away a winner? Tune in Tuesday to find out.

Josh Middleton
Stephanie Wharton &
Trenae McDuffie

Preview of Philadelphia's District Attorney's Race

By Jennifer Quintana and Michelle Provencher

As November 3^rd gets closer, Philadelphia voters are looking into the candidates for Philadelphia District Attorney's open seat. Democrat Seth Williams and Republican Michael Untermeyer are the two candidates running for the city's DA position after longtime Philadelphia District Attorney Lynn Abraham announced that she would not run for reelection.

Democrat Seth Williams is a West Philadelphia native, who has over 10 years of experience working in the District Attorney's office. Williams has worked as an assistant DA, and more recently as the Inspector General.

Williams says if elected, he will put into place a 10 part plan that would improve how the District Attorney's office will work with the police, community and the city courts. If elected District Attorney, Williams will try and control the gun violence in the city by enforcing a widespread strategy that includes prosecuting illegal gun traffickers. He also says he will lobby for gun laws that will restrict people from purchasing more than one gun in any given month.

Republican Michael Untermeyer has 15 years of experience as a prosecutor in Philadelphia, most recently he worked as a counsel to the Office of Inspector General. He also worked as an assistant District Attorney for four years.

If Untermeyer is elected, he would implement a “zero tolerance” policy on on illegal handguns. If someone is arrested for being in possession of an illegal handgun, when it comes time to pay for bail, they would have to pay in cash instead of paying a 10% down payment. During the trial, the person being tried would not be given a chance at a plea bargain and for every convicted offender, they would have to spend time in jail.

Both candidates have proven that they have experience working in the District Attorney's office, come election night Philadelphia residents will decide which of the two candidates will be the next District Attorney.

Corzine Says Christie Weight Comment Poor Choice

Newtown Square, Delco. Candidates