55. 6% more voters cast ballots in last year’s Montgomery County Democratic Primary compared to 2019, when elections for the same offices were being contested (so to speak).
When the Montgomery County Democratic Committee (MCDC) holds its endorsement meeting at North Penn High School, on Tuesday night (January 23), the members of the 148th State Legislative District will decide if they want to have another competitive election. Or they can go back to the way they had always done things and turn the election for seat into yet another formality.
What made the 2023 commissioner’s race competitive was that MCDC only endorsed one candidate for that office, but the voters got to choose two. That meant that there was an open primary for the second seat, which brought out four candidates running for the second seat, all of whom ran spirited campaigns, resulting in the significantly larger turnout for last year’s primary election.
Mary Jo Daley hopes to win her 7th election to represent PA-148, although this would only be her sixth primary. In 2012 she was named by MCDC to be the Democratic candidate in the 148th District, when Mike Gerber resigned from The House after winning the primary.
Daley has never faced even token opposition in a single primary election. Not one other candidate’s name has ever appeared on the ballot in a primary in which Daley has run for state representative.
On Tuesday night however, Jason Landau Goodman, an environmental lawyer from Wynnewood, will address the committee members of PA-148 and ask them to opt for an Open Primary, i.e. no endorsement. If the committee members choose the Open Primary option, Goodman has pledged to run a professionally organized, well-financed campaign in the primary. He has not indicated if he will continue his campaign if the committee decides to endorse Daley again.
The 148th District comprises 26 voting precincts in Lower Merion, three precincts in Narberth and ten precincts in Whitemarsh Township. Most of the precincts have two committee members (a few do have vacancies). So, the decision as to whether or not the district will have a competitive primary will be in the hands of somewhere between 60 and 65 committee members.
There are two ways the committee could choose to have an Open Primary.
- A member could make a motion at the meeting on Tuesday calling for an open primary. That would require a Yes vote by 50% or more of the members.
- To win an endorsement, a candidate has to get 60% of the committee members’ votes. If no candidate wins 60% of the vote, there will be an Open Primary.
