By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer
If you like surprises, Election Day wasn’t for you.
The mayoral race wasn’t the only contest that lacked drama. Democrats swept citywide offices by landslides, while all judges were easily retained and ballot questions overwhelmingly approved.
The new City Council will include Democrat Maria Quinones-Sanchez, who won the 7th District seat with 78 percent of the vote. Republican Gary Grisafi took 22 percent, with independent Luis Pineda getting less than 100 votes. Turnout in the heavily Hispanic district, as usual, was the lowest by far in the city.
Quinones-Sanchez, a longtime activist, had lost a 1999 primary to incumbent Rick Mariano for the seat.
When Mariano resigned last year following a conviction on federal corruption charges, Democratic ward leaders chose Dan Savage for a special election. Savage won that race, but lost to Quinones-Sanchez in the May primary.
The incumbent Council members whose districts include portions of the Northeast were all returned to office.
Councilman Darrell Clarke (D-5th dist.) and Councilwoman Marian Tasco (D-9th dist.) were unopposed.
Councilman Frank DiCicco (D-1st dist.) took 81 percent of the vote against Republican Michael Seidenberg.
Councilwoman Joan Krajewski (D-6th dist.) crushed Republican Michael Ebsworth with 81 percent of the vote.
In the race for city elections commissioner, the winners were Democrats Marge Tartaglione and Anthony Clark and Republican Joe Duda. Tartaglione, who won a ninth four-year term, is from Oxford Circle. Duda, of Parkwood, captured his fourth term.
The incumbent Democrats cruised in the row office races.
Clerk of Courts Vivian Miller swamped Republican John Featherman with 82 percent of the vote.
Register of Wills Ron Donatucci downed Republican Dan Salvatore with 83 percent of the vote.
Sheriff John Green took 98 percent of the vote against independent Jacque Whaumbush.
In city judicial races, voters elected Alice Beck Debow, Ellen Green-Ceisler, Michael Erdos and Linda Carpenter to Common Pleas Court and Joseph O’Neill and Jacquelyn Frazier-Lyde, who were unopposed, to Municipal Court.
The newest Traffic Court judges will be Democrats Robert Mulgrew, Mike Lowry of Mayfair and Willie Singletary, who won despite the fact that he had thousands of dollars in unpaid traffic tickets, including for driving without a license, when he won the primary in May.
Pennsylvania voters retained judges on Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth courts, while Philadelphians kept judges on Common Pleas, Municipal and Traffic courts.
In the city, voters backed amendments to the Home Rule Charter that create the Public School Family and Child Advocate and a Handicapped and Disabled Advocate and require all district City Council members to be residents of their district for at least one year prior to their election.
Also, city voters approved the borrowing of money for a variety of expenditures. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com