Marks says race filled with fraud

and Mike Madden With 39 votes separating them, Democrat Tina Tartaglione slid past incumbent Bruce Marks in the election for the second State Senate district seat shortly after 1 a.m. today. Because the results were so close, ballots will be sent to the City Commissioner's office tomorrow for a recount. This is standard procedure for any race in which the margin of victory is 500 or less, Marks's office manager Patrick Daly said. "It's deja vu all over again -- it seems like my elections are always close," Marks said before the final results. "It is a very difficult district to win as a Republican." The theme of the evening at Marks's election night party centered on the Tartaglione family's reputation as being tied up in the "Democratic machine that runs Phila- delphia." Representatives of the Marks campaign claimed earlier last night that regardless of the election's final outcome, the Tartaglione family interfered with the results. "Did they meddle in this election?" said Patrick Daly, Marks's office manager. "Absolutely, 100 percent." According to Marks, however, his opponent ran an honest campaign. "I don't have any reason to believe my opponent was involved in anything dishonest," he said. "I think she tried to run an above-board campaign, as I did." Although Margaret Tartaglione, the candidate's mother and current city commissioner, will not oversee the ballot count in this election, some Marks campaign staffers said they still suspect wrongdoing. Judge Alan Tereshko, who will supervise tomorrow's ballot recount as acting city commissioner, has close personal ties to the Tartaglione family, according to Daly. Daly said he believes Margaret Tartaglione has a connection to Tereshko that will result in invalid results from the recount. "I know what she is capable of," he said. Marks supporters said they were behind their candidate regardless of the election's final outcome. As one man yelled out during Marks's address, "You're winning in our hearts no matter what."