Who's afraid of Marge?
Never afraid to put her fists up, Tartaglione has been a participant in some of Philadelphia's most legendary political brawls. Here's a breakdown of those battles:
September 1980 — Tartaglione went at it with Councilwoman Joan Krajewski in a bathroom at a restaurant in the Northeast. The Daily News at the time described it as an "honest-to-bare-knuckles fistfight." Both ladies claimed the other threw the first punch.
December 1988 — Tartaglione's target was ward leader Norman Loudenslager. She reportedly knocked the cigar out of his mouth during a confrontation at a meeting of the Democratic State Committee in Harrisburg. At issue was a nasty anonymous letter about Tartaglione. She accused Loudenslager of writing it.
February 1999 — A close call with the late Carol Ann Campbell. Party chairman Bob Brady intervened as Tartaglione made a rush at Campbell, after they exchanged words. Campbell reportedly blamed Tartaglione for news that ward leaders were ignoring laws on campaign-finance reporting.
February 1999 — The very next night, Tartaglione hit Ken Boggi, an aide to a Common Pleas judge, in the face four times at a pizza place in the Northeast. Boggi claimed Tartaglione sent a thug into the bathroom to rough him up before she socked him in the face herself. She said she calmly told him to go home at which point he got fresh and she popped him.
December 2010 — Another near miss. Tartaglione threatened to punch a Philadelphia Weekly reporter in the face after he questioned how the public could have faith in the integrity of the office after an ethics scandal involving her daughter. "Now if you say that, I can jump over this table and punch you out," Tartaglione said to Aaron Kase. "This is not corrupt."
— Catherine Lucey
