Gilman closer to being first Bucks Democratic judge since ’91

Gary Gilman, a veteran lawyer from Lower Makefield, was well on his way last night to being the first registered Democrat since 1991 to be elected a Bucks County judge.

With 85 percent of the vote counted, Gilman, 57, was leading five opponents on the Democratic ballot, and was comfortably in third place on the Republican side.

Three of the county's 13 judgeships are at stake in this year's elections. Candidates are able to cross-file with both parties, so those who finish among the top three on both ballots are virtually assured of victory in the fall.

Also well-positioned was lawyer Robert Baldi, 59, a Doylestown Republican, who was leading on the GOP ballot and in second on the Democratic side.

Fighting for the third slot on both ballots were Republicans David Zellis, a career prosecutor snubbed by the county's political establishment, and Judge Wallace "Skip" Bateman, appointed to the bench last year and now seeking a full 10-year term.

Zellis, 48, of Middletown, was in third place on the Democratic side and fourth on the Republican slate. Bateman, 52, of Perkasie, was second on the Republican ballot and fourth on the Democratic slate.

The judicial race had been the most closely watched in an otherwise uneventful county primary.

Bateman had been appointed to a vacancy on the bench in October. Baldi was nominated in March by Gov. Rendell to fill a second vacant judgeship, but the state Senate has yet to hold a confirmation vote.

Zellis, a 24-year veteran of the District Attorney's Office, has been the top assistant to current District Attorney Michelle Henry and her predecessor, Diane Gibbons.

Trailing on both ballots was Michael Rubin, 60, of Upper Southampton, a veteran civil lawyer. Also well behind on the Democratic ballot was Lawrence Otter, 60, of Hilltown, the only candidate who did not cross-file with both parties.

With no other contested countywide races, Bucks officials expected turnout to be low. Similar elections in 2005 and 2001 drew turnouts of 17 percent and 14 percent.

This year, Republican and Democratic chieftains struck an unusual deal to endorse the same slate of three candidates - Republicans Bateman and Baldi, and Democrat Gilman.

That prompted howls of backroom politics by the other three candidates.

Bateman, Baldi, and Gilman also were rated the highest by members of the Bucks County Bar Association - a ratings process in which the other three candidates did not participate.

The three endorsed candidates also benefited from the fund-raising and organizational muscle of a bipartisan election committee composed largely of lawyers - and from other endorsements from Gov. Rendell and both parties' candidates for county district attorney.

Contact staff writer Larry King at 215-345-0446 or lking@phillynews.com.