“Democrats Eye First Real Shot at Montco Judgeships”

Amaris Elliott-Engel

With less than two weeks to go until a potential watershed election that could set the course of Montgomery County’s judiciary for a generation, Democrats are trying to turn their new voter registration advantage into electoral success in low-wattage judicial races while Republicans are seeking to hold on in a once-reliable GOP stronghold.

All current judges of the Montgomery County Common Plea Court are Republicans. But seven seats- one-third of the bench’s full complement of 21- are to be filled by voters Nov. 3. Turnout is expected to be less than 25 percent, political observers have told The Legal.

Going into the election, there were nearly 262,000 registered Democrats in Montgomery County, almost 232,000 registered Republicans and almost 83,000 unaffiliated voters or voters belonging to a third party, an official at the Montgomery County Board of Elections said Monday.

In the 2007 election, Democrats had their first notable wins in Montgomery County political races when Democrats won five county row offices…….