Another Bucks Co Commish Appointee

Three years ago I wrote a blog post pointing out that in the previous 20 years all new Bucks County commissioners had been appointed not elected:

It has been twenty years since Bucks County elected a new county commissioner. While it’s true that the three county commissioners face re-election every four years, all of the men and women who have taken office since 1987 were initially appointed, not elected. They have been re-elected every time they ran, but all were initially appointed. Current commissioner Charley Martin was appointed in 1995 to fill out Andy Warren’s term when Warren resigned to take a position at PennDOT. Warren was initially elected in 1979. Current commissioner Jim Cawley was appointed in 2004 to fill out Mike Fitzpatrick’s term when Fitzpatrick resigned after being elected to Congress. Fitzpatrick was appointed in 1994 to fill out Mark Schweiker’s term when Schweiker was elected lieutenant governor. Schweiker had been initially elected in 1987. Current commissioner Sandy Miller was appointed in 1991 to fill out Lucille Trench’s term when Trench resigned to join the Crime Victims Compensation Board. Miller and Trench are the only Democrats mentioned here. Miller is the niece of former county commissioner Adolph A. Andrews who was in office in the later 1960’s and early 1970’s, and she is now the longest serving commissioner in Bucks County history.

In the intervening time Bucks County voters did break with tradition and elected Diane Marseglia in Nov, 2007. This month there was another vacancy on the county board of commissioners when Jim Cawley was sworn in as lieutenant governor. Robert T. Loughery has been appointed to fill out his term, which runs through the end of this year.