Oh's Council win was the closest in the election

David Oh prevailed by 203 votes over fellow Republican Al Taubenberger to win an at-large seat on Philadelphia City Council, the closest race in the Nov. 8 general election, according to official returns certified this week.

With the results long decided, the official final tally shows that Mayor Nutter led the ticket with 136,532 votes as he cruised to reelection with 74.6 percent of the vote. Republican Karen Brown had 39,597 votes and Wali Rahman, running as an independent, had 6,580 votes.

Citywide, the only Republican to beat a Democrat was 10th District Councilman Brian J. O'Neill, who won a ninth term serving Northeast Philadelphia with 13,594 votes, vs. 9,419 for Democrat Bill Rubin.

The other winning Republicans were for seats guaranteed to minority parties by the City Charter: one seat as a city commissioner, overseeing city elections, and two Council at-large seats.

Republican Al Schmidt won the minority commissioners' seat, with 43,493 votes to incumbent Joseph Duda's 33,990.

The two Republican Council-at-large seats went to Oh and State Rep. Dennis O'Brien, the GOP's leading vote-getter citywide with 48,675 votes. Oh had 38,835, and Taubenberger was third with 38,632.

All five of the incumbent Democratic Council-at-large candidates were reelected with more than double the Republicans' vote totals. Bill Green, a likely candidate for mayor in 2015, led the group with 130,403 votes, and James F. Kenney was second with 122,384.

Democratic candidates swept all 14 city judicial races, and voters gave new terms to 28 judges facing yes-or-no votes on retention.

The Philadelphia Bar Association had recommended "no" votes for three sitting judges - Common Pleas Court Judges James Murray Lynn and Robert J. Rebstock, and Municipal Court Judge James M. DeLeon.

The bar's stamp of disapproval had an effect, but it was marginal. All of the recommended judges won new terms with approval rates ranging from 72 percent to 77 percent, while the disfavored three won with 66 percent to 69 percent of the vote.