Council President Thompson Elected As Yardley's New Mayor

YARDLEY BOROUGH, PA — Borough Council President Caroline Thompson is on her way to becoming the town's next mayor.

According to unofficial results in Tuesday's general election, Thompson was victorious in her bid as the Democratic candidate for the four-year mayoral term, defeating Republican Earl Markey and Independent candidate Zachary R. Bark. See voting results below

"I’m proud, thrilled, and deeply honored to have earned the trust and support of Yardley Borough voters... again, but in a new way," Thompson told Patch on Wednesday morning. "There was a significant topic that was turned into a wedge issue this year, and I’m incredibly proud that voters saw through the campaign web-spinning and recognized the truth."

The race brought debate about whether the Yardley Borough Police Department should be consolidated.

Thompson will replace Mayor Chris Harding, when the borough government reorganizes in January. The seven council members are all Democrats.

Thompson has served eight years on the Borough Council, including the last few years as council president.

She said she was at the polls from 6:30 a.m. to 8:01 p.m. Tuesday, with just a few breaks to spend time with her kids.

"The energy was palpable. Excitement, hope, joy," Thompson said. "One of the nice things about Yardley is that we only have one polling location. All three mayoral candidates were there together all day. We didn’t talk about the election. We joked and swapped notes on our favorite local restaurants. A great reminder that we’re all human."

Markey recently won a lawsuit against Yardley Borough in which Borough Manager Paula Johnson flagged a Facebook comment on a Patch story on the borough's budget as a personal attack and got permission from Thompson to remove the post several hours later, according to court documents.

The settlement stated that Yardley Borough had to pay $2,500 to Markey, who said he would give the money to non-profit organizations.

Thompson mentioned how Democrats took back Bucks County during Tuesday's general election.

"This is the second time I’ve been elected during a blue wave. Some might say that any Democrat could have won last night, and maybe that’s partly true," she said. "But that idea cheapens the quality of the slate we had here in Yardley and across the county. It also cheapens the informed voters who did their homework, studied the issues, and voted with both heart and intellect."

One borough resident was overjoyed that Thompson was elected: Her 7-year-old son.

"When I told him the news this morning: "Yay!" Me: What to you think? Him: It's very rare! Me: What is? Him: To have a mom that's a mayor. There's a lot of people in the world and a lot of mamas. But mine is going to be mayor. Great job!"

Results in Tuesday's general election are unofficial until they are certified by the Bucks County Board of Elections at a later date.

These are unofficial results from Tuesday's election:

Yardley Borough Municipal Offices

Mayor

• Caroline Thompson (Democrat) — 885 votes
• Earl Markey (Republican) — 314 votes
• Zachary R. Bark (Independent) — 188 votes

Borough Council (Vote for 4)

• Martha Howlett (Democrat) — 944 votes
• Jason Goldstein (Democrat) — 922 votes
• Paul Mencel (Democrat) — 898 votes
• Uri Feiner (Democrat) — 885 votes
• Matthew D. White (Republican) — 455 votes
• Earl Markey (Republican) — 412 votes
• Raymond Hofelder (Republican) — 409 votes
• Oleh Chernyk (Republican) — 390 votes

Tax Collector

• Christine Ventresca (Republican) — 1,186 votes