Thinking about running for a local office in Conshohocken? In 2017 there will be three seats on Borough Council up for election (wards 2, 4 and 6), plus the position of Mayor and Tax Collector. The Borough Council seats are tied to specific wards (see map at bottom of article), but Mayor and Tax Collector are Borough-wide.

If you are going to consider running, here is some straight talk. If you are a Democrat, get ready for some politics. There are people outside the Borough who influence who are the chosen candidates. If you are a Republican, the party isn’t very strong locally.

The good news is that no matter how you felt about the recently presidential election, it proved parties only have a facade of power. The power is only theirs if you accept that they hold the keys.

More good news. You don’t really need that many votes to get elected (even if you have to run against the chosen candidate of the party in a primary). If you think you can get 75 of your neighbors to vote for you in the primary, you will likely win the primary for either party and have a shot in the general election (where the vote totals aren’t that much higher). These low numbers mean an independent run isn’t out of the question either.

Here are the numbers from 2013 for the seats that are up for election:

Ward 2

Ward 2 is currently represented by Ike Griffin (D). Griffin, the incumbent, defeated the Republican challenger Caroline Smerecki 48 to 29 votes. That is a whopping 77 total votes.

Both ran unopposed in the primary. Griffin received 16 votes and Smerecki received 13 votes.

Ward 4

Ward 4 is currently represented by Anita Barton (D). Barton, the incumbent, defeated the Republican challenger Angela Hendrick 160 to 138.

Both ran unopposed in the primary. Barton received 55 votes and Hendrick received 34 votes.

Ward 5 (Updated)

Ward 5 is actually going to have a special election. Normally this seat would be up for election until 2019, but Jane Flanagan (D) was appointed to the seat after the person who won the election did not take the seat. This creates the need for a special election, because an appointed person can’t serve for more a set period of time.

The incumbent to the seat was Rosemary Northcutt (D), who herself had been appointed when Matt Ryan (D) resigned. Kevin McMonagle (R) defeated Northcutt 138 to 132.

Both ran unopposed in the primary. Northcutt received 47 votes and McMonagle received 37 votes.

Ward 6

Ward 6 is the only ward represented by a Republican. Bob Stokley (R) was the incumbent back in 2013 and defeated Democrat Tina Buccini 254 to 107.

Both ran unopposed in the primary. Buccini received 56 votes and Stokley received 63 votes.

Mayor (Borough Wide)

The position of Mayor doesn’t hold a lot of power in Conshohocken. You only vote if there is a tie. Republican Bob Frost was coming off a one vote victory in 2009. In 2013 he faced Democrat Robert Phipps and won 972 to 749.

Both ran unopposed in the primary. Phipps received 280 votes and Frost received 213 votes.

Tax Collector (Borough Wide)

The position of Tax Collector is currently held by Dominic Coccia, Jr (R). In 2013 he defeated Democrat Jason Storti 1,127 to 602.

Both were unopposed in the primary. Storti received 246 votes and Coccia received 217 votes.

Here is the ward map:

So wondering how you get started to run? Here is a link to the county’s website that includes all the requirements and another link with all the important dates. The first link includes how to run as an independent.

If you are considering running, we would love to speak with you (off the record). You can email us at Kevin@MoreThanTheCurve.com.