DELCO GOP STRONG AGAIN

The Delaware County GOP rebounded yesterday from last year's defeats and will put up a united front in the November election for three County Council seats and two Common Pleas Court judgeships.

The endorsed Republican candidates for Council crushed three challengers and will set their sights on an uncommon alliance of Democrats in November, according to unofficial results, with 95 percent of precincts reporting.

In the Common Pleas race, party-backed candidates Mary Alice Brennan and Greg Mallon turned back three rebel Republicans to secure their party's nomination. Michael Farrell and Frank Daly were the only two judicial candidates seeking the Democratic nomination.

The endorsed County Council candidates - Haverford Commissioner Andy Lewis, Middletown Councilwoman Christine Fizzano Cannon and Springfield Commissioner Tom McGarrigle - defeated three challengers by huge margins. Their platform centered on government experience, low taxes and opposition to a federal airspace-redesign plan.

The Lewis-McGarrigle-Cannon trio will face three Democrats in a county that is dominated by Republicans but is slowly trending Democratic.

The Democratic nominees are: David Landau, a commercial-litigation attorney who chairs the Nether Providence Democratic Committee; Ann O'Keefe, a Haverford attorney specializing in estate law; and John Innelli, a securities-fraud attorney from Rose Valley.

Rocco Polidoro, a Springfield insurance agent who recently joined the Democratic Party, finished a close fourth at press time, trailing Innelli by 458 votes.

The primary broke apart a coalition consisting of Innelli, O'Keefe and Chester Democrat Patricia Lewis-West.

The Act 1 ballot question - voters were asked if they wanted to offset a portion of their property taxes with an increased income tax - was defeated in all 15 Delaware County school districts. *