Joe Conti

In and around Doylestown, the surname Conti is almost as familiar as, say, Michener or Mercer. But will name recognition be enough for incumbent Joe Conti to win the 143d District race in November? The Republican state representative and local restaurateur is challenged by political newcomer Melissa Bond, a Doylestown lawyer who said her experience as a single mother and 17-year Doylestown Borough resident will provide the kind of leadership the district needs. Conti, a former Doylestown supervisor and Planning Commission member, focuses his attention on national issues he has dealt with in the state House of Representatives.

Despite initial signs that he might run unopposed, State Sen. Joe Conti finds himself facing a full range of challengers Tuesday in his bid for reelection in the 10th District. In a district that stretches through much of central and Upper Bucks County, three candidates are vying to unseat the incumbent. Democratic challenger Kathie Brown waged a write-in campaign in the primary to win her party's nomination when it appeared no other opponent would arise. Two third-party candidates entered the race after the primary.

The Conti Cross Keys Inn, a Buckingham landmark, may soon give way to customers seeking a bit less than a fine meal and drink - something more like a full tank of regular and a jug of milk. The Inn, at Easton and Swamp Roads and owned by Walter Conti, has been sold to Amoco Oil Co. The two sides discussed the plans before the Buckingham Township Planning Commission on Wednesday night and will be going before the township Board of Supervisors in the coming months. Amoco plans to tear down the inn and replace it with a service station.

Democrat Karen A. Ritter has never begged off a daunting challenge. In 1989, in her second term as a state lawmaker, Ritter battled tirelessly - and, ultimately, futilely - to block passage of one of the most restrictive antiabortion laws in the country. Five years later, in another uphill effort, Ritter ran for lieutenant governor in the Democratic primary. She finished fourth out of eight candidates. Now, she's picking another fight. In an announcement yesterday outside the Bucks County Courthouse, Ritter made it official that she would run in a Nov. 4 special election for the state Senate seat vacated recently by Republican David W. Heckler, who is a candidate for Common Pleas Court judge.

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania's wine kiosk era quietly went off-line Tuesday morning. That is when officials from the state Liquor Control Board made the last call to pull the plug on the remaining 21 wine vending machines in supermarkets scattered across the state. The reason: a dispute over money with Simple Brands L.L.C., the Conshohocken company that owns the machines. The LCB contends that Simple Brands owes nearly $1 million for expenses incurred setting up the kiosk program.

Two women who are the same age (53), have the same focus (education), and hold the same view on abortion (pro-choice) will vie in November to represent the 149th State House District of Upper Merion, Lower Merion and West Conshohocken. Incumbent Connie Williams, the first Democrat in memory to hold the seat in the heavily Republican district, ran unopposed in yesterday's primary and will face former Lower Merion School Board President Mary Wright. Wright defeated fellow Republican Angelo Faragalli.

Two weeks ago, it seemed that the only person in Bucks County who thought that Commissioner Andrew L. Warren had a shot at winning the Republican endorsement for a third term was Warren himself. As an incumbent, Warren had some claims on party loyalty. But he also bore political scars from his involvement in the controversy over the Point Pleasant pumping station and his third-place showing in a state Senate primary last year. Nevertheless, with four candidates competing for two commissioners' slots at tonight's endorsement meeting, Warren is "sitting in a pretty good seat," said one prominent county Republican, Sheriff Lawrence R. Michaels.

David Denoon will get a shot at running for a congressional seat tomorrow night when he addresses 128 delegates who will select the next Republican candidate for the Eighth District. But it's a long shot. Denoon, 59, a tenured professor of economics and politics at New York University, is the third wheel in the race for Republican U.S. Rep. James C. Greenwood's seat. Michael G. Fitzpatrick, a three-term Bucks County commissioner, has emerged as the county GOP's favorite son. State Sen. Joe Conti of Bucks County is the party's other leading contender.

The political life of Joe Conti has been one of unexpected but rewarding opportunities. The son of a popular restaurant owner in Doylestown for whom he worked for decades, Conti was appointed in 1984 to the Doylestown Township Board of Supervisors. In 1993, good fortune struck again when he won a special election to fill David W. Heckler's seat in the state House of Representatives. Four years later, Conti was elected to Heckler's state Senate seat when Heckler became a Common Pleas Court judge.

As the snow piled up and the wind blustered outside, Abington politicos gathered in Casa Conti Restaurant's cozy bar to say farewell. Casa Conti, a fixture for more than 60 years on the corner of Easton and Jenkintown Roads in Glenside, closed its doors Dec. 30 after serving a banquet to the Abington Fellowship club. Its owners plan to start a new business venture, and the New Life Presbyterian Church is scheduled to move into the building in March. "This is the first restaurant I was taken to as a child where I got to dress up and eat with grownup people," recalled Edwin Eichert, Abington township commissioner.