Weintraub Likely To Win Bucks Co. DA Race By 30,000+ Votes

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — With polls closed across Pennsylvania and in Bucks County, results are coming in for some of the most critical races.

One of this year's most important contests in Bucks County will decide the next District Attorney. Incumbent Matthew Weintraub, a Republican, has held the post for five years; Democrat Antonetta Stancu is the challenger.

With all 306 Bucks County precincts reporting one week after the election, Weintraub led unofficial vote totals by a 30,733 vote margin. The Bucks County Board of Elections had him at 110,877 votes and Stancu at 80,144 in unofficial totals.

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Bucks counted 40.8 percent voter turnout in this election, or 193,694 ballots cast out of 475,049 registered voters.

As reported in the Delaware Valley Journal, Stancu was actually Weintraub's former employee when she worked as Chief of Major Crimes in the DA's office. Both are Doylestown residents.

Stancu made Patch headlines back in September when former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell endorsed her for the position in an op-ed with the Bucks County Courier Times. He called her the "clear choice for the best candidate," writing, "She's one of the smartest attorneys I've ever met and she's tough as nails."

For his part, Weintraub has been endorsed by supporters including the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association and the Bucks County Police Chiefs Association.

Weintraub has a 28-year career in law enforcement and public safety, and touted a continued desire to "get at the roots of crime" as the basis for his candidacy.

"Leadership is easy to claim when wishing to become a leader, but the true test comes under conditions of extreme duress," he told Patch in his candidate profile. "While people will not always agree with my decisions, they know that every decision I've made has been made based on true principles, and not political expediency or convenience."

Stancu focused her campaign in part around improved mental health services and protocols within the criminal justice system.

"I will fight for community programs that reunite and represent every member of our community," Stancu, a criminal justice lawyer for more than 17 years, wrote in her Patch candidate profile. "We need to do better. At this moment, the system ignores issues that plague so much of our community AND ignores crucial members of our community. I will be the DA that ensures all members receive equal justice."

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