Election round-up: Good news and bad news

Good news

• Michael Nutter won the Democratic nomination for mayor with nearly equal support among blacks and whites. May that be the start of a new era of political efforts, with a lessening of distrust.
  
  
• A couple of underwhelming District Councilfolk were beaten by promising challengers, including the much-lauded Maria Quinonez-Sanchez (ousting newbie Savage) and Curtis Jones (knocking off new Councilwoman but longtime city plague Campbell).
  
  
• A great set of judges were elected to Common Pleas court, with no restraunteurs or clowns among them. Same for State Superior Court, where our two favorites eeked out a victory statewide.
  
  
• Plans to professionalize the Planning Commission and set up an independent Zoning Review Board to recommend better codes were overwhelmingly approved by voters.
  
  
• Some decent folks got into the tiny position of Traffic Court judge.
  
  
• No new Streets were elected.

Bad news

• The only new face in the At-Large Council field is Bill Green, Jr., whose main qualification seems to be that his father was mayor (and that he had buckets of money to spend). He's probably more of a presence that Juan Ramos was, but he speaks like somebody who decided to enter the race three weeks ago, so he may have some learning to do. Andy Toy made a decent run at threatening the crowd around 5th place, but the other "reformers" were barely above the noise. Tragic.
  
  
• Donna Reed Miller managed to squeak out another victory in her District Council race, as the three talented progressives once again split the vote against her.
  
  
• The patronage-master Sheriff Green beat his promising challenger, Untermeyer, nearly 2-1, despite a series of scandals and mismanagement findings. Apparently he has a consituency somewhere (vultures looking for cheap real estate?).
  
  
• The incredibly talented C. Darnell Jones did well in Philadelphia but lost the race for Supreme Court statewide.
  
  
• One of the two top vote-getters in the Municipal Court race is known mostly for her (and her father's) boxing career(s). Sigh.