Party Chair

There were so many "irregularities" in the election of Philadelphia's GOP chair that a group of state Republicans Wednesday called for a new vote, but the decision seems to have no immediate impact on the man in that job, Vito Canuso. Immediately after the Credentials Committee of the Pennsylvania Republican Party recommended the new election, Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason said he would put off a final decision until after the November elections. A statement issued by the Pennsylvania party said that "due to the lengthy nature of the evidence provided," Gleason "plans to postpone a final ruling until after Election Day when he can conduct a full and comprehensive review.

President Clinton is turning to Christopher J. Dodd, a liberal senator from Connecticut, to rescue the Democratic Party from its current crisis. The White House confirmed yesterday that Dodd was Clinton's choice to become the party's general chairman, its leading spokesman and fund-raiser. Donald Fowler, a longtime party committee member from South Carolina, will share dual control of the operation as day-to-day manager. Dodd, 51, is the consummate, silver-tongued, silver-haired Washington insider - an accomplished fund-raiser and a spokesman with stature for the down-and-out Democrats.

In the two years he has chaired the Burlington County Democratic Party, its longstanding savings have been depleted, it has lost two incumbent Assembly seats in the traditionally Democratic Seventh District, and its longstanding intraparty divisions have been exacerbated. Yet Kevin Covert, whose resignation has been sought by a sizable and vocal segment of the party, is intent on holding on to his position until his term expires in June. "If you run for the job and take the job, you should serve out until you're done," Covert, 37, said yesterday, adding that his staying on could save the party from two struggles over the chairmanship, one now, the other in June.

Two Philadelphia incumbents, U.S. Reps. Robert A. Brady and Chaka Fattah, will be reelected, if for no other reason than the Republican Party has put up little resistance. Each has done some things, locally and on the national scene, to earn the victory he will enjoy Tuesday. Mr. Fattah is a Wharton School graduate and a policy wonk who is carving out a niche as a well-informed advocate for public schools. His GEAR UP program, for which he's garnered major federal dollars, offers mentoring and other assistance to encourage low-income teenagers to aspire to college.

Moorestown lawyer Frank Hartman has lost his challenge to the legality of having two persons of the same gender - in this case Lee Pfister O'Toole and Alice Furia - head the Burlington County Democratic party. Hartman was defeated, by a mere 12 votes in June, in his bid for the party chair position by O'Toole, whose running mate, Furia, was re-elected as vice chair. However, even before the the party voted that night, Hartman filed a court challenge : He contended that a state law prohibits persons of the same gender from holding the top two positions in a county political party.

For the first time, a woman will head Burlington County's Democratic Party. Lee Pfister O'Toole of Willingboro last night edged out Frank Hartman of Moorestown in a hotly contested race for the party leadership post. George Lee, a former party chairman, said O'Toole, 50, was the first woman ever elected to the post in Burlington County. O'Toole had the support of outgoing chairman Kevin Covert. Hartman's backers included Lee and Burlington Township Mayor Joseph Foy, another former party chair.

Lords and ladies leaped and jesters and jousters jumped Sunday at the 12th annual cocktail party in Berwyn for Dressage at Devon. More than 150 people were heralded into the party by a costumed hornsman in the courtyard at "Hill House," the home of Lisa and Dr. Sanford Davne. Billed as an Elizabethan Evening to benefit Thorncroft Therapeutic Horseback Riding, the event was a preview for the dressage event that began yesterday at the Devon Horse Show grounds and will run through Sunday.

FURTHERMORE ... Ward leaders don't agree with recommendations Unfortunately, The Inquirer's recent endorsements of judicial candidates appear to embrace only the Philadelphia Bar Association recommendations, without considering other important factors. This year's bar recommendations have left us perplexed and troubled. Of the five African American women running for Common Pleas Court, the only one recommended is also the only sitting judge. Two others, oddly enough, were found recommended previously, but not this year.

Secretary of Aging Linda M. Rhodes was picked yesterday to head the state Democratic Party, and she immediately upheld a favorite party tradition - bashing Republicans. Rhodes, though she must win the formal vote of the Democratic State Committee at its June 17 and 18 meeting, was the consensus choice of the candidates atop the November ticket: U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford, who is seeking re-election, and gubernatorial nominee Mark S. Singel. The pair introduced Rhodes, who would be the first woman to chair the committee, at a news conference.

In the following edited exchange, former Pennsylvania Democratic Chairman T.J. Rooney and former Republican Chairman Alan Novak considered the advantages and drawbacks of difficult primary contests such as the one currently taking place for the Republican presidential nomination. Alan Novak: We both have a strong belief in the role of the party in politics and in the importance of the party in getting candidates elected. That being said, the question is always this: Are primary challenges to those candidates a good thing or a bad thing?

INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS There were so many "irregularities" in the election of Philadelphia's GOP chair that a group of state Republicans Wednesday called for a new vote, but the decision seems to have no immediate impact on the man in that job, Vito Canuso. Immediately after the Credentials Committee of the Pennsylvania Republican Party recommended the new election, Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason said he would put off a final decision until after the November elections.

Two Republican candidates affiliated with unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan beat the regular party slate and a third faction yesterday to become the party's freeholder nominees in Gloucester County. Ron Brittin and Matthew Burns, political newcomers who ran on the Conservative Republicans Putting Taxpayers First slate, will challenge Democratic incumbents Joe Chila and Robert Damminger in November. The five-member board has been dominated by Democrats for 20 years.

FURTHERMORE ... Ward leaders don't agree with recommendations Unfortunately, The Inquirer's recent endorsements of judicial candidates appear to embrace only the Philadelphia Bar Association recommendations, without considering other important factors. This year's bar recommendations have left us perplexed and troubled. Of the five African American women running for Common Pleas Court, the only one recommended is also the only sitting judge. Two others, oddly enough, were found recommended previously, but not this year.

Rankled by pay-to-play politics, a "rambunctious bunch" of renegade Republicans revved into action in 1970, ultimately prompting reforms that would alter Chester County history. Decades after the upstarts challenged the entrenched GOP's balance of power, a former organizer has written a book chronicling the David and Goliath-style uprising. Author Lawrence E. Wood, who retired from the Chester County Court bench in October 2006, said for years he and the late State Sen. Robert J. Thompson had discussed writing about their 10-year struggle to break the stranglehold of party boss Theodore S.A. Rubino, who was eventually jailed for extortion.

In their own way, all politicians are actors. But in Philadelphia, probably only one of them is a card-carrying member of Actors' Equity. That would be David Glancey, 62, the former Democratic boss, mayoral campaign chief, congressional candidate, cast member in productions including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and, for his 17 years atop the Board of Revision of Taxes, the man responsible for determining your property taxes. Glancey, whose run at the board - and long career on the Philadelphia payroll - ended yesterday, is the insider's insider: an adviser to mayors, a reliable quote for journalists, and one of the most influential people you've never heard of. In an interview Thursday in his half-packed office, Glancey offered insights on the six mayors he's seen in action.

Dianne Gravino Merlino, 61, of Secane, former chair of the Democratic Party in Delaware County and an advocate for special-needs children, died of cancer Monday at home. Mrs. Merlino headed the county Democratic Party from 1984 to 1994. She served as chair of the party's Southeastern Pennsylvania Caucus for 10 years and was a delegate to five Democratic National Conventions. She was former chair of the Ridley Township Democratic Party. In 1995 she cohosted "Left, Right Center," a radio program about political issues broadcast on WBEB-FM (101.

The president of the Burlington County Taxpayers Association yesterday took aim at the county's GOP chairman, calling his involvement in no-bid bond deals "proof of the abuse of public trust. " Richard J. Perr, also founder of the taxpayer group, which frequently targets the county's dominant GOP, held a news conference to report on party chairman Glenn Paulsen, government agencies, and politically connected firms. GOP critics, who say Perr's group is a thinly veiled Democratic operation, scoffed at the report.

Two Philadelphia incumbents, U.S. Reps. Robert A. Brady and Chaka Fattah, will be reelected, if for no other reason than the Republican Party has put up little resistance. Each has done some things, locally and on the national scene, to earn the victory he will enjoy Tuesday. Mr. Fattah is a Wharton School graduate and a policy wonk who is carving out a niche as a well-informed advocate for public schools. His GEAR UP program, for which he's garnered major federal dollars, offers mentoring and other assistance to encourage low-income teenagers to aspire to college.