Orange Sunset

Election day sunset. Photo by Melissa Hoy.

As the sun set on Election Day last Tuesday, November 3, the unusually spectacular orange glow, which seemed more appropriate to Halloween than Election Day, triggered a question in the mind of at least one voter: Was it a metaphor, or an omen? As darkness approached, did the magnificent sunset symbolize the waning of the Trump administration, or portend the ascendance of Trumpism to new heights?

One week later, as provisional ballots are still being tallied, the picture has become clearer. In the 2020 general election, 320,000 voters in Delaware County — more than 75% of the county’s registered voters — cast ballots either in person or by mail in an historic election in which more voices were heard than ever before in U.S. history. As of this writing, nearly 85,000 Delaware County voters preferred Joe Biden to Donald Trump. Overall, Philadelphia’s four “collar counties” — the suburbs of Delaware, Montgomery, Chester, and Bucks counties — generated a margin of more than 280,000 votes for Biden, powering his victory in the commonwealth and thereby deciding the overall election.

In the past four years, the so-called “blue shift” in the suburbs has been most manifest in Delco, with Democrats elected to local, state, and federal offices in unprecedented numbers, borne on a sea change in the demographics of registered voters. Not long ago, registered Republicans in the county outnumbered Democrats 4 to 1. Today, Democrats hold a 50,000 voter registration advantage countywide. 

Swarthmorean readers can take a measure of pride that the town of Swarthmore has become the epicenter of Delco’s political transformation. U.S. Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, State Senator Tim Kearney, State House Rep. Leanne Krueger, and County Controller Joanne Phillips are all neighbors who’ve boldly crashed what had been exclusively a Republican party.

One of the driving forces behind Democratic gains has been heightened awareness and activism inspired by Swarthmore’s chapter of Indivisible: Moving the Needle, a grassroots group that became locally active after the 2016 elections. And a key architect of the Democrats’ success has been Swarthmore resident Colleen Guiney, who, after decades of service on behalf of local Democrats, has chaired the Delaware County Democratic Party since 2018. The effectiveness of this combined effort was evident in last week’s election. Democrats increased their vote margin for Joe Biden by more than 400%, compared to the improvement their Republican counterparts delivered for Donald Trump.

To quote President Obama, “Don’t boo, vote!” Pat yourself on the back, Swarthmore. By putting Delco on the political map of the U.S., you’ve demonstrated how effective voting can be.

Todd Strine has supported local Democratic candidates for years and serves as Delaware County Council Chairman Brian Zidek’s campaign chair. He is also a publisher of the Swarthmorean.