At The County Endorsement -- World According to Bob

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Date Posted: 17:33:51 03/05/07 Mon
Author: Patricia
Subject: At The County Endorsement

My hope is that all of you will vote to endorse

Commissioner Candidates:
Bruce Castor
Melissa Murphy Weber

Controller Candidate:
Bob Sander

For a recap of the current state of the Montco GOP I have copied a post from a blog below. It is long, but worth reading if you are interested in the history of the fued. The question being answered was something along the lines of "How did we end up here?"

The answer to this question is long and complex. The short version is this: In the '80s, MCRC Chairman (and later state chairman) Bob Asher ran the county party and state party with an iron fist. This was easy to do in the county since Republicans so far out numbered Democrats that whoever the GOP put up would always win. Asher got jammed up by the feds for bribery and racketeering along with co-defendant State Treasurer Bud Dwyer. On the day of sentencing, Dwyer killed himself at a televised news conference. Asher went to jail for 15 months. When Asher got out of jail, he decided to begin his political comeback by supporting Jon Fox and Mario Mele for county Commissioner in 1991 in a primary election against the endorsed, incumbent commissioners Paul Bartle and Flo Bloss. That caused a major split in the party that is the origin of the current split. Those who sided with the incumbents who had been endorsed by the county committee were on one side, and Asher and his followers who were with the challengers on the other. Fox and Mele won the primary and went on to win in November. Whereupon, Mele teamed up with the democrat, Joe Hoefell, to make himself chairman. Then he and Hoefull abolished the patronage system. Fox left to run successfully for congress. Several years later, Asher ran Jonathan Newman against Fox in the primary so weakening Fox that he lost the election in the fall and the congressional seat went to the dems. (Later Hoefell parlayed his power granted from Mele, into congress himself) Asher then turned his attention to opposing Party Chairman Frank Bartle at every turn trying to regain power in the county. Through a series of lucky events (Preate about to be indicted before the primary and Singel being blamed for allowing a murderer to be paroled who then raped and killed a woman two weeks before the general) Tom Ridge gets elected governor with Asher's help. Ridge reciprocates by making Asher National committeeman or, really, de facto state GOP leader. In that role Asher eventually succeeds in losing virtually every election after Ridges departure. Followers of Frank Bartle realize all this and do their best keep Asher out of county politics, but only with limited success. Then comes the Attorney General Primary. County DA Bruce Castor is running, but Asher supports Tom Corbett from Pittsburgh and uses all of his influence to convince political leaders like Matthews and Ellis to oppose Castor. (At the time Tom Ellis was chairman of Castor's political committee) A bloodbath ensued where all political leaders in the GOP in Southeast PA opposed Castor fanatically. The state committee endorsed Corbett. Castor loses the primary statewide 52% to 48%, but he wins the five county SE by a 2 to 1 margin and Montgomery County with 84%. Thus proving that the SE political leaders (Ellis and Matthews included) acted completely at odds with what their voters wanted solely to curry favor with Asher. This event made Castor easily the most powerful Republican politician in Montgomery County because now it is clear that he does not need the party to win county elections. Castor then assumes the mantle put down by Frank Bartle and becomes the leader of the anti-Asher forces. Ells meanwhile has his own problem when he is accused of beating up is girlfriend. As we know from Don Sherwood, that is not good for a political career. Castor offers the party chairman, Ken Davis (who is an Asherite) that he will run for commissioner to help ensure the GOP retains the majority. Davis says no and Castor exacted two promises from Davis in exchange for not running: Davis is to do a poll to see about Ellis' electability; and Davis is to consult with Castor on who the candidates are to be. Castor announces he will run for DA and not commissioner. Davis fails to keep both his promises and announces that the party will be for Ellis and Matthews no matter what. Castor commissions the poll himself and demonstrates the Ellis can't win the election. Davis won't listen, so Castor sends the poll out to party leaders. Asher and Davis irrationally continue to push Ellis, so Castor began asserting his political muscle and people are rallying to him because there is a real danger, for the first time, of losing the majority. Now you have the basic outlines of the schism in the county party. Castor will now have to reach out to Asher and try and come up with a compromise. He can do this since without a doubt, Castor, himself, will be re-elected, but others may not be. Ironically, Asher created this situation by throwing everything he could against Castor in the AG primary only to be clobbered in his own county. Castor is the rarest of politicians: he is honest, plain speaking, bright, articulate, very good at his job, well-known and well liked by the electorate, photogenic, and most importantly, completely fearless. Either he finds a way to heal the split, or the county will go to the Dems. Simple as that.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..

Greenleaf is the congressional nominee to take on Freshman rep. Joe Hoeffel. Greenleaf sets a record losing by 20,000 votes and runs a horrendous campaign.

Bush loses Montgomery County by around the same margin (four years later, post-Bartle, Bush lost Montco by 45,000 votes).

State Rep. Lita Cohen announces to a school group that she will be voting for and supporting Al Gore. Bartle, Asher, and the Lower Merion GOP do nothing about her insubordination.

State Sen. Dick Tilghman is in a pitted battle for reelection in his Lower Merion/Delaware county district. Tilghman wins against Lynn Yeakel by a narrow margin. A few months after taking office, Tilghman decides he's quitting. He does not inform Bartle until he's already told Senate Leadership and many other people.

In the race for GOP State Committee in the spring of 2000, Jury Commissioner and former vice chairman Mary Shorley was displaced. She ran for and won a seat on State Committee anyway. Bartle vows to make her pay for her disloyalty.

In 2001, Shorley is challenged by Bartle loyalist Marie Cavanaugh. Shorley is defeated in the endorsement by a 2 to 1 margin losing her jury commissioner spot. Shorley loyalists are now fair game for Asher's anti-Bartle crusade and he and Kerns continue to evangelize the "dump Bartle" message.

State Rep. Joe Gladeck pushes his married girlfriend to the ground on Memorial Day weekend 1999. Rival Republican Rep. John Lawless gets hold of the police report. Gladeck is forced from his own reelection race in February 2000. Kate Harper emerges as his replacement. Bartle is furious that Harper, after winning a tough election, gives Asher credit for her victory.

Asher & Bartle settle on Lita Cohen, supporter of Democrats, to run for the State Senate seat vacated by Tilghman. A special election is scheduled to coincide with General Election day 2001. Cohen loses a bitter campaign to Connie Williams. She calls Williams "the C word" on the House floor after the campaign and says she lost because of the "ghetto catholics" in Delaware County (actual quote in the newspaper). Charming lady.

Asher blames Bartle for Cohen's loss. The fissure between the two men becomes more pronounced. It is now open, un filtered warfare between the two.

Redistricting Bartle and Bill Donnelly draw a map that would preserve 9 to 10 PA House seats and 4 PA Senate seats in GOP Hands in Montgomery County. Asher and Joe Gladeck draw a different map attempting to preserve at least half of Lower Merion for the GOP instead of writing off an area rapidly trending away from the GOP. They split Upper Dublin up between four reps, stretch some seats over 6 or 7 municipalities.

Instead of ending up with 8 to 10 strong GOP seats, Asher and Gladeck try to make every seat competitive. In doing so, they weaken traditionally strong GOP seats. Margins of GOP victory diminish in almost all PA House seats in 2002.

Bright spots do emerge for Bartle, however. Bartle runs Wallace Brooks, an assistant DA under Castor, for the special election to replace Connie Williams. The GOP regains the seat. Brooks would lose the new, Gladeck/Asher redrawn seat 9 months later.

Cohen announces she's had enough of the "ghetto catholics" and says she won't run again. Bartle and Castor run Melissa Murphy Weber for the seat and Weber wins a race no one thought could be won. Bartle feels he is on to something. Asher stews.

Melissa Brown narrowly loses the Congressional race to Hoeffel, losing by just 4,000 votes.

In 2003, Marino has had enough of being a County Commissioner. Bartle clears the way for close ally Tom Ellis to replace Marino. Bartle does his damnedest to convince the leadership to replace Matthews. At Sheriff John Durante's kickoff breakfast in February, Bartle introduces county officials and neglects to introduce Jim Matthews. An uproar resulted and Bartle conceded to go with Matthews again in 2003.

Bartle ally and political consultant Dennis Powell is tapped by Ellis to run his campaign. Weeks after winning the endorsement and being the presumptive nominee, Powell is fired by Ellis and the Ellis/Matthews team accepts $50,000 from Asher.

Bartle, in a heated meeting at Phil's Tavern, demands that they return the money. Ellis and Matthews refuse. Bartle focuses his rage on Matthews and ignores the about face by Ellis. Asher runs the county commissioner campaign that year out from under Bartle.

The commissioners margin of victory diminishes from 30,000 in 1999 to 7,800 in 2003.

Asher has lunch with Bruce Castor and his wife Elizabeth in early 2003 and pledges his support for State Attorney General in 2004. In November 2003, Asher stops taking Castor's calls.

In December 2003, Asher engineers the Southeast GOP Chairman from Chester, Bucks, Delaware and Philadelphia counties to back Tom Corbett over Castor for Attorney General.

Bartle responds that evening by engineering the endorsement of Ellen Bard over Asher's pick, Melissa Brown for Congress. Asher and the state GOP are incensed by his move. Bard loses the race, but wins Montgomery County in the primary. Brown wins by a big enough margin in Northeast Philly to win the primary.

The stage was set. Asher v. Bartle would be fought in Castor v. Corbett statewide. Drew Lewis pledges a half million dollars toward Castor's campaign. Castor raises another $1.5 million on his own. Bartle convinces Castor that the way to win statewide is to run against Asher and his relationship as a convicted felon, to the state's top law enforcement officer. Castor spends $2.1 million spreading the word.

Castor embarrasses the Southeast GOP winning all 5 counties and getting 83% of the vote in Montgomery County. Corbett manages to hang on and win by 4 points, 52 to 48 statewide.

All battles leading up to that were pitted in the Asher v. Bartle fight.

When Ed Holl vacated his State Senate seat, Bartle tried to get Andy Lewis, Drew's son, to run. Asher backed Rob Wonderling. Wonderling won (Lewis ultimtately dropped out). When Jim Gerlach got elected to Congress, his Senate seat pitted John Rafferty, who was close to Kerns, vs. Bartle and Castor's candidate, Assistant DA Mary Fittipaldi. Rafferty won.

Bartle was winning some battles and losing some. After Castor's AG loss, an exhausted Bartle decides he's had enough. 11 and a half years, the longest serving chairman in modern history, two weeks before the chairman's election Bartle decides he's bowing out.

Meetings had been going on since January to replace Bartle as chairman. Kerns was running. Bartle was loathe to allow his arch enemy to replace him as chairman. Ellis and Matthews demand Bartle officially get out of the race. Bartle refuses to budge unless there's an alternative to Kerns. In the parking lot of the William Penn Inn ten days prior the chairman's election Bartle tells Ellis and Matthews if Kerns is the candidate, he will run and win another term to prevent Kerns from getting the spot.

Ellis and Matthews agree to back Ken Davis from Lower Merion in a compromise to get Kerns out.

Asher meets with Kerns the next day and tells him "you're not allowed to be county chairman". Kern's tells him where to go and runs anyway. Matthews turns his back on a 25 year relationship and backs Davis over Kerns.

Bartle, Ellis, Asher, Matthews all worked together for Davis. Davis won by a single vote, 324 to 323. Bartle made 70 appointments to the committee in the weeks between the primary election and the election of the chairman.

Kerns sues. The race lingers until August. Kerns finally shuts down his operation. Davis loses Montco for Bush by 45,000 votes, Weber loses her PA House Seat by a handful of votes, Fox loses the Ellen Bard state house seat by 3,000 votes and John Fichter wins in the 4th closest house race in the state.

Davis takes no responsibility for any of the House losses.

Just after the fall election, Davis fires Sharon Hobson, finance director for MCRC. In order to put Davis over the top in the chairman's election he made a commitment to Bartle, Bill Donnelly, Todd Stephens and Ellis that Hobson would not be removed. Asher demanded she be removed.

Davis and MCRC solicitor Wendy Rothstein fired her and escorted her from the building.

Bartle and Kerns had lunch together within a week and patched up their differences. The Hobson firing brought two warring factions together.

Within two weeks after that, Asher engineer's the "mutual departure" by force of Kerns loyalist George Gunning from the employ of the PA Senate.

Bartle and Kerns agree: Davis must go and Asher can't continue to destroy the county unchallenged.

Municipal elections see the GOP lose 21 more seats countywide. Kerns and Bartle hold some joint fundraising events. Davis & Co. very nervous. Kerns is spreading money into the municipalities. Davis follows suit. Everything done is cast against the specter of the June 2006 chairman's election.

In the pay raise fallout, Jacke Crahalla, John Ficther and Ray Bunt all announce they won't run again. Asher and Bartle fight through surrogates over the seats. Mike Vereb, a Kerns/Bartle loyalist takes the Crahalla seat. Bob Mensch, who is friendly with both Asher and Bartle, takes the Bunt seat. A mini-war erupts over the Fichter seat.

Bartle pushes Sean Cullen, a former ADA with Castor's office for the endorsement. Davis, Ellis, Matthews and Asher put all guns behind Jay Moyer, former county treasurer and a fervent Asher loyalist.

Moyer wins a bitter endorsement fight but proves to be a seriously flawed candidate, barely winning the fall election.

The chairman's election comes. Bartle gives the nominating speech for Kerns. Kerns narrowly loses again, 400 to 363. Davis lowers the threshold for write-in candidates for uncontested committee spots from 10 write-ins to one, thus avoiding the need to make appointments in the same manner as Bartle. Over sixty seats are filled in this manner, primarily Davis votes.

In the fall of 2006, the GOP lost another House seat with Gene McGlll losing the 151st district. Davis is quick to send a letter disclaiming responsibility for the loss. The challengers put up by Davis against the incumbent Democrat State Reps fail win a single precinct and suffer from serious lack of support from MCRC.

The Congressional candidate, Senator Santorum and Swann/Matthews get obliterated in the November '06 county election.

The stage is set for 2007. Save the county or lose it?

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