Inquirer: Committee of 70 will add poll-watchers to heated 1st District race

The Inquirer reports that outgoing state Senator Vince Fumo yesterday told people they should not vote for John Dougherty to replace him. Fumo labeled Dougherty "a bully, a thug and evil." Dougherty, business manager of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, responded: "I expect this kind of angry rant from [election rival Larry] Farnese, but not from the senator. It's a shame."

Zack Stalberg of the Committee of Seventy, says in the story that the committee has a record number of poll-watchers this year -- 775 -- and that a large proportion of them, 140, will work the 1st District. The article cites the need to monitor "the union's hard-nosed election-day tactics."

The Daily News runs down six closely contested local House primary races that Philadelphia voters may see on their ballots. A separate editorial ensorses two of them, Richard Costello in the 172nd District, and Christian DiCicco in the 18th.