Caught in a landslide

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Outside St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, 242 Fitzwater St., drizzling skies greeted those hitting the polls, and the weather often took the blame for the low voter turnout.

Inside, several tables were abuzz as poll workers signed people in. The four staffing the 2nd District, 27th Division booth, though, were the most raucous. The neighbors from the 100 block of Pemberton Street worked together like a makeshift family, interrupting one another and finishing each other’s sentences, dotted with intermittent bouts of laughter and cheery smiles.

"It must look like we’re having a party," Marian Buczek, the judge of elections for the 2nd District, 27th Division, said while looking down at her Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cup and sandwich.

"OK! Does it look like Vegas now?" six-year volunteer Jane Fitzgerald asked a voter as the person stepped behind the blue curtain, referring to the onslought of flashing red lights found in the booth.

"It’s about community service, the whole democratic process," the 41-year-old who took a personal day from South Philadelphia High School, where she is a learning support teacher, added about her choice to work the polls Tuesday.

Turnout at 12:30 p.m. wasn’t too high, Fitzgerald said, but it was expected to jump in the evening when most people were done with work.

"I think the people who vote are going to come out, and the people who are always borderline and only come out for the really big ones aren’t going to come out as strongly as they did for the primary," she said. "I think they feel that their voting is over."

In a landslide mayoral race that made history, Democratic candidate Michael Nutter garnered 223,000 votes — about 82 percent — in Tuesday’s general election. Republican challenger Al Taubenberger hit just more than 46,000 — about 17 percent.

In the City Council races, Democrat Frank DiCicco was re-elected to the 1st District with more than 19,200 votes, winning against Republican Michael Seidenberg, who took 18 percent with just more than 4,300 nods; Republican William Black — with about 2,100 votes — lost to Anna Verna for the 2nd District seat, securing the Democrat’s ninth term with more than 19,800 votes. At-large seats will be filled by Democratic incumbents James Kenney and Wilson Goode Jr. The tightest race will not be called until every ballot is reviewed as Republican at-large candidates David Oh and Jack Kelly were separated by just 10 votes Wednesday afternoon with 29 districts yet to be counted.

Numbers were confirmed with the city commissioner’s office, but are still considered unofficial at press time.

Despite the certainty

many had of the winners, some who made the trip to the polls did so out of civic duty.

Antonella Cahill stopped by Jenks Abram School at 13th and Porter streets at about 3 p.m. on her day off from Philadelphia Superior Court to cast her ballot.

"The people that don’t vote are usually the first ones to complain," the 41-year-old from 10th and Ritner streets said. "Or they’re the first ones that want things done. If you want things done, you should vote — always, even if it’s a non-presidential election. Everything’s important."

Buczek, who was among the workers at St. Stanislaus, voted early Nov. 6 and expressed concern at the low turnout that morning.

"They’re too confident of the mayor," the 83-year-old who’s held her position as judge of elections for the 2nd District, 27th Division, since 1980 said. "They’re not thinking of the other offices."

The rest at the table answered in a resounding "Yes!" when asked if they, too, had hit the booth and began talking over one another giving reasons as to why.

"It’s the execution of a liberty that was hard-won," Jym Paris, 63, who’s worked the polls for six years, said.

The stream of citizens filtering into the church to cast their ballots was fairly steady as lunchtime came to a close.

Nichole Spohn, 32, of Second and Catharine streets, was one of the younger voters in the crowd and said she was among the half of her friends who are politically aware and concerned about the future of city government. She said Nutter was her choice.

"I think that his stance on education and crime are very good," she said. "He seems very sincere to me. Hopefully, he sticks to what he says. He did a good job on City Council."

A short walk away, many candidates were wrapping up lunch at the Famous 4th Street Deli, Fourth and Bainbridge streets. The black-and-white eatery was packed with local residents rubbing elbows with politicians as they munched on Reubens.

Taubenberger sat in front of the windows overlooking Bainbridge, expressing his excitement over the day thus far, which included casting his vote at 10 a.m. in the 63rd Ward, 4th Division, as well as stops in the Northeast and Center City before making his way to the restaurant for a bowl of matzo ball soup.

"This is the gathering of the clan here. Anyone involved in politics comes here," he said. "I’m all over the place. Philadelphia is 145-square miles."

Though the race was coming to a close, the candidate liked the ride.

"No one has sought the office of mayor in the history of this city and enjoyed it as much as me," he said with a hearty laugh Tuesday.

Taubenberger wasn’t the only one making the local rounds. Nutter shook hands and met people at the Melrose Diner, 1501 Snyder Ave., with wife Lisa and daughter Olivia at about 4 p.m., before sitting at the counter to have a slice of pie. Nutter was hopeful about the turnout, which he had been told was higher than anticipated.

"It picked up from the morning," he said. "There was a little bit of rain and I think that kind of threw people off a little bit, but we got some reports about the 12 o’clock and 2’o clock numbers and we’re leaning more toward heavier turnout than I think had been initially expected."

Like Taubenberger, Nutter had spent the day traveling around the city, with the latter stopping in North, Northeast and West Philadelphia.

"I wanted to go all over the city," he said. "I’ve come to Melrose on a number of occasions to campaign up and down the counters with people. It’s a great, well-known place here in South Philadelphia and I wanted to make sure that we got to a good location in South Philadelphia on election day."