Twardy won't try to stay Haverford GOP leader

George Twardy, who led the Haverford GOP during a controversial township redistricting and a grand-jury investigation into the sale of the former Haverford State Hospital property, announced this week that he will not seek reelection as party leader.

Twardy, 48, a lawyer, had already lost his seat on the township Board of Commissioners in the 2005 election.

He was not charged in the Haverford State deal, but the grand jury report said he had manipulated the sale process to boost his political career. Fellow Commissioner Fred Moran, one of Twardy's political allies, was found guilty in November of bribery in the case and was sentenced to six months of probation.

"Had I done anything wrong, I would have been charged and prosecuted," Twardy said yesterday. "I was just like any other politician. . . . I wanted to do a good job for the town and get the credit for it."

When the grand jury report was released in April, it gave Twardy's political opponents ammunition, widening a schism in the Haverford GOP. Tom Judge Sr., chairman of the Delaware County Republican Party, called for Twardy's resignation.

Twardy then sued Judge and other party members for appointing township Republican committee members who favored his ouster, allegedly in violation of party bylaws.

In a letter last week to colleagues on the GOP executive committee, Twardy cited family and work commitments as his reasons for not seeking reelection May 22.

"The duties and responsibilities required to lead our party into the next few years, combined with my increasing personal and professional responsibilities, are too demanding to continue both," Twardy wrote.

He said he still planned to serve as a county Republican committeeman.

Andrew Lewis, who served on the Board of Commissioners with Twardy and is now on the Delaware County Council, chastised Twardy for spending taxpayer money on a two-year court battle to defend the 2004 redistricting plan for the nine-member Haverford Board of Commissioners.

"He was clearly in it for self-serving political reasons to promote himself," Lewis said.

Although Twardy won in court, his opponents persuaded a commissioner to change his vote and redraw the districts.

"There isn't a redistricting plan that isn't political," Twardy said.

Another opponent, Patricia Biswanger, who is a Republican committeewoman for the county, criticized Twardy for spending party money to sue Judge and other Republicans.

"It's going to be a new day for the party," she said. "We want to be a respectable Republican Party."

Asked about his opponents' claims, Twardy said, "It seems like these folks are hell-bent on continuing to throw mud."

"I had always been an independent leader and tried to be a leader that wasn't a wholly owned subsidiary of a certain few of the county leaders. I was never their chosen individual. I think that's why I've had such acrimony."