Area Leaders, Candidates Reflect On Primary

With the primary election come and gone, many of the area’s political leaders and candidates reflected on yesterday’s race and are looking ahead to the general election in November.

One of the constant complaints that both of the big parties agreed with was the poor voter turnout.

Judith LaLonde, chairwoman of the Haverford Township Democratic Committee, was dishearten that about 17 percent of the township turned out to vote.

“With only 2,500 Democratic and 3,200 Republican votes caste out of 33,212 registered voters in Haverford Township, certainly the 17 percent turn-out is dismaying,” she wrote to the Haverford-Havertown Patch on Wednesday morning. “The primary is an opportunity for everyone in the community to voice their opinion on the party's choice for candidates.  Democracy is served best, when more people participate.”

Chris Connell, Haverford Township’s 8th Ward commissioner, said the same thing to Patch at the Republican gathering at on Tuesday night as many were watching the poll results come in.

“It seems a shame that the country of democracy has a low voter turnout,” he said.

Jim Knapp, the chairman of the Haverford Township Republican Party, said what confuses him is how some voters will take the time to vote for the presidential candidates or the president himself, but not take the time to vote for a township committee candidate.

“Where is the cutoff point (of not voting for someone)? Is it a lack of interest?” he said.

Bill Toal, the Republican candidate for the state representative’s position of the 166th District, said that while he ran uncontested, he will not take the primary elections as a sign that it will be an easy race for him.

He is facing off against Democratic incumbent Greg Vitali. 

“It will be a difficult road ahead, but I have the issues and opportunities to do it,” he said.