David Landau

David Landau yesterday conceded defeat in his bid for the Democratic nomination in the Seventh Congressional District, saying that rival William Spingler's lead of about 900 votes was too substantial to overcome. "The figures are not within a range where I feel there's any realistic reason to do anything like a recount," Landau said. John Zimmerman, Landau's campaign manager, said that returns for Delaware County showed Landau trailing Spingler by only 98 votes, with 486 absentee ballots still not counted.

As we all know, "Boo" Burrus was way over his head as president of the Inner City Organizing Network. The city gave ICON $500,000 to help people repair houses. So far, so good. But problems began almost immediately. Burrus had no training, no accounting skills and virtually no other managerial skills. As his court-appointed lawyer put it so well at Burrus' trial in Common Pleas Court: "Probably the worst thing that happened to Mr. Burrus is that he got involved with the city. He was not provided any financial guidance.

The Seventh Congressional District, which is mostly in Delaware County but includes the 40th Ward in Southwest Philadelphia, is the scene of a hard- fought battle for the Democratic nomination in the May 20 primary. The district has been represented for the past 11 years by Rep. Bob Edgar, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Principal contenders for the district's Democratic nomination are Bill Spingler, a former Delaware County commissioner and councilman, and David Landau, who served in the 1984 presidential primaries as deputy campaign manager and issues director for Sen. Gary Hart.

At a political fund-raising event in Delaware County this week, rifle- toting members of the Army National Guard marched in bearing the American flag. A senior vice commander of the Delaware County Veterans Council, Robert Tilghman, led the 200 people assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance. "Yes, Democrats are just as patriotic!" Democratic congressional candidate David Landau said. The $35-a-head Democratic event for Landau at the Log Cabin Inn in Media on Monday was a success, Landau said.

Democratic congressional candidate David Landau reaped free national publicity this week when the New Republic magazine profiled his uphill battle against incumbent U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Delaware County). The two-page story in the Feb. 15 issue of the weekly magazine known for its liberal views describes how difficult it is for a liberal candidate such as Landau to defeat an incumbent such as Weldon. Landau is caught in "a perfect Catch-22," the story said. "To be credible, you need money.

Can they do it again? Can the Democrats win yet another seat on the township's six-member Board of Commissioners in its special election next Tuesday and strengthen their control of local government? The race for First Ward commissioner pits incumbent Democrat Robert Scott, 31, a municipal finance lawyer, against Republican James Williams, 30, a medical sales representative. The seat should have been filled in November, but a voting machine malfunction locked a lever under Scott's name and stopped his tally between the third and fourth votes, necessitating another election.

Democratic leaders last night endorsed former Delaware County Councilman Bill Spingler as their candidate for the Seventh Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Bob Edgar, who is running for the U.S. Senate. Spingler, 44, a Radnor real estate salesman, active in local Democratic politics for 23 years, won the endorsement over David Landau, 32, a former campaign adviser to Sen. Gary Hart (D., Colo.) and a newcomer to Delaware County politics. Landau did not seek the endorsement but pushed for an open primary.

Nearly everyone at the Democratic National Convention is sporting a button that proclaims a fancy for Michael Dukakis or Jesse Jackson or that slurs George Bush. But David Landau, a former Gary Hart aide who is running for Congress in Delaware County, is wearing a David Landau button. In Atlanta, this passes for truth in advertising because Landau's business here is Landau. He is not a delegate. He is not an alternate. He won't vote. But he has what they call a full agenda, hitting up his friends and influencing people to help him in his uphill campaign to claim the Seventh Congressional District seat held by Republican Curt Weldon.

Springfield Republican leader Charles P. Sexton Jr. has unleashed a campaign charge on behalf of U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon in the Seventh Congressional District - a charge that so disturbed Weldon that he reportedly tried to discourage Sexton from using it. "I'm going to talk about it," Sexton said he told Weldon beforehand. Sexton, who is Weldon's campaign finance manager, told reporters that David Landau's uncle, Emanuel Landau, was a convicted felon who had donated $1,000 to Landau's unsuccessful 1986 campaign.

Looking his fellow Democrats in the eye one recent night, David Landau did not mince words. "A lot of you are very skeptical about my race," he told a gathering of 30 Haverford Democrats. "You think at this point, it can't be done - that no one can beat Curt Weldon. But I ask you to join with me and say, 'We're not going to yield the leadership of this county to people like Curt Weldon.' " Landau, a 34-year-old lawyer who lives in Nether Providence, has filed to run against U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, 40, a one-term Republican incumbent, in the Nov. 8 general election.

David Landau got his revenge last year against Curt Weldon, helping to engineer Democrat Joe Sestak's victory over the 10-term Republican congressman. But when Landau - whose 1988 congressional run ended in a landslide loss to Weldon - tried to push into the courthouse this year, the Delaware County GOP stopped him in his tracks. They're kinda good at doing that to Democrats. The all-Republican county council will remain that way - as it has for the past 27 years - after the three Republican candidates silenced Landau's rhetoric about the evils of one-party government with a sweep at the polls.

Delaware County Republicans are again finding themselves in unfamiliar territory. Playing catch-up to the Democrats. Bolstered by Joe Sestak's congressional win last year, Democratic County Council candidate David Landau has spent the summer hammering away at the GOP with position papers and news conferences. He is setting the agenda - and timetable - for the race. The early start may have caught the Republicans, and Landau's fellow Democrats, off guard. For about 25 years, Democratic candidates for county council have been underfunded or inexperienced or both, no match for the Republican machine and its campaign war chest.

Can they do it again? Can the Democrats win yet another seat on the township's six-member Board of Commissioners in its special election next Tuesday and strengthen their control of local government? The race for First Ward commissioner pits incumbent Democrat Robert Scott, 31, a municipal finance lawyer, against Republican James Williams, 30, a medical sales representative. The seat should have been filled in November, but a voting machine malfunction locked a lever under Scott's name and stopped his tally between the third and fourth votes, necessitating another election.

Darby Borough Councilwoman Paula Brown is "very distressed" over the "degrading and humiliating" way she was treated during last week's council meeting, according to her attorney. Brown, an outspoken Democrat, was arrested and nearly carried out of a Darby Borough meeting Wednesday after refusing to heed orders of council President Wilbur Smith to keep quiet or leave the room. Her attorney, David Landau, said that as far as he knew, it was the first time a local elected official had been arrested for speaking out of turn at a public meeting.

The Republican incumbents who were swept back into office in three U.S. congressional districts covering Montgomery, Delaware and Chester Counties are saying, not surprisingly, that their victories reflect a broad mandate for GOP policies. Just as predictably, the Democratic challengers say their defeat is neither an endorsement of Republican policy nor the incumbents' competence, but a function of underfunding, the power of incumbency and a formidable Republican Party organization.

It was six months of ugliness, but in the end none of the accusations like "right-wing zealot" or slurs such as "Landau's loonies" mattered. As predicted, U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon walked away with a victory in the Seventh Congressional district. Or make that flew away. What wasn't expected was Weldon's margin. Running for his second term, the Republican won in a blowout with 146,776 votes, 69 percent of the total ballots cast. "Absolutely mind-boggling," Weldon said. Democratic candidate David Landau, a lawyer and former issues adviser to presidential candidate Gary Hart, garnered 65,285 votes.

Springfield Republican leader Charles P. Sexton Jr. has unleashed a campaign charge on behalf of U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon in the Seventh Congressional District - a charge that so disturbed Weldon that he reportedly tried to discourage Sexton from using it. "I'm going to talk about it," Sexton said he told Weldon beforehand. Sexton, who is Weldon's campaign finance manager, told reporters that David Landau's uncle, Emanuel Landau, was a convicted felon who had donated $1,000 to Landau's unsuccessful 1986 campaign.

As we all know, "Boo" Burrus was way over his head as president of the Inner City Organizing Network. The city gave ICON $500,000 to help people repair houses. So far, so good. But problems began almost immediately. Burrus had no training, no accounting skills and virtually no other managerial skills. As his court-appointed lawyer put it so well at Burrus' trial in Common Pleas Court: "Probably the worst thing that happened to Mr. Burrus is that he got involved with the city. He was not provided any financial guidance.

Curt Weldon and David Landau did not shake hands after their televised debate on WPVI-TV (Channel 6) last weekend. The face-to-face between the two Seventh Congressional District candidates, Weldon, the incumbent Republican, and Landau, the Democratic challenger, had ended on a sour note, particularly for Landau. Weldon pelted Landau with questions about his former employment with the American Civil Liberties Union and a Landau campaign letter that Weldon said was "misinformed.