Election

Edgewater Park voted an incumbent out of office, a Pemberton Borough Council member who was defeated in the primary as a Republican won re-election as a Democrat, and in a major upset, a husband-and-wife team were elected to the Hainesport Township Committee. These were the highlights in Burlington County elections, which also found five municipalities approving ballot questions on changing the forms of local government, preserving open space and being recognized on historical registers.

Charles A. Ashley has taken a leave from his job, bought a pair of black running shoes and spent two months knocking on doors in Camden's central Seventh Ward, seeking votes to oust the clique he says runs the city. Many residents don't know there's an election Tuesday, when voters choose 40 members of the Democratic City Committee. "It is the lowest level of the political spectrum," Ashley admitted. And one of the most important. Government is the largest employer in this depressed city of 87,000, and politics is influenced by government jobs and contracts.

THE MAYOR'S blight thing, NTI, will be a major touchstone in this year's inevitable election-year debate over the city's future. Citizens can use NTI to draw conclusions about the mayor's priorities, performance, personality and prospects. If you've been paying attention to the mayor's words in the past year, you may have noticed that NTI and Operation Safe Streets have become a blur. NTI is rarely mentioned without Safe Streets. This raises the question of priorities.

CONGRATULATIONS to Sam Katz for maintaining his professionalism during his run for mayor. Hopefully when you run again you can do so without the bullying and inappropriate comments made toward your family. To the 2,500 city employees John Street said he is going to lay off, good luck finding a job in the city. Michelle Mulholland, Philadelphia Now that our mayor's been re-elected, soon we will see his wrath on those who didn't support him. Edwin R. Manzano Jr., Philadelphia In four years, when more taxpaying citizens have fled to the suburbs and the city has sunk further into economic decay, Philadelphians will go to the polls to elect the latest in a long line of zeroes the Democrats have given this city.

J. Robert Kershner, an Upper Providence Township supervisor for almost 18 years, died suddenly last weekend of a heart attack. But that has hardly stopped his re-election campaign. Kershner, 59, who was buried yesterday, was a candidate in a contested GOP primary for a six-year term. And his supporters aim to see that he wins. "I still think he's a good candidate," said Joseph A. Ciccitto, a lawyer and one of eight local GOP committee members. Ciccitto, who was driving Kershner and another candidate on campaign stops when he died Sunday, hasn't settled on how to vote.

The Philadelphia Bar Association will not make local history by electing its first woman chancellor - at least not this time. Peter Hearn, 53, who earned his reputation in major civil rights cases over the past two decades, was elected bar vice chancellor last night, outpolling Deborah R. Willig, 36, a labor lawyer trying to break the 185-year male domination of top bar positions. The vice chancellor in 1987 automatically becomes chancellor-elect in 1988 and chancellor in 1989.

The polls in Tavistock will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 9, but the nine eligible voters in the pint-sized municipality probably won't need 13 hours to cast their ballots. Nevertheless, borough clerk Marie Redenauer won't release the results until the polls close, even though the outcome is a foregone conclusion. There are three candidates for the three seats on the Board of Commissioners. All three candidates for the four-year terms are incumbents, two of whom were elected in 1985.

When the election is over, prizes and trophies and hosannas will be issued left and right. But why wait? As a public service, I present an infallibly prescient scorecard of the best and worst of 2010. Most politically suicidal candidate: Carl Paladino is running in a deep-blue state (New York) with sky-high taxes, yawning deficits, and rampant corruption. The last elected Democratic governor resigned in disgrace, and his successor is so tainted that he dare not run. So, what does Kamikaze Carl do?

It's Election Day. We urge you to vote. After spending weeks hearing from the candidates, it's about time they heard from you, the voters. Here are our picks in the various races. Because his administration has been effective in going after the urban ills that have kept large chunks of Philadelphia down, the Daily News has endorsed John Street for re-election. While Sam Katz has - as he did in 1999 - presented a compelling campaign, Street needs another four years to complete his ambitious agenda for neighborhood transformation.

The outcome of the Nov. 4 election for Stratford Borough Council continues to hinge on four disputed absentee ballots. A recount yesterday of the tallies on the voting machines in the borough's six voting districts showed no change in the count that narrowly kept Republicans in 4-2 control of the six-member council. But Camden County Superior Court Judge Paul A. Lowengrub yesterday tentatively scheduled a hearing for Dec. 2 on the absentee ballots, which were disqualified before the election by county election officials.