In area's most closely watched race, a big win for Dems

In a rematch of a tight 1996 race, Democrat Joe Hoeffel beat incumbent Jon Fox in a campaign watched by both parties. and Andrew Ribner BLUE BELL, Pa. -- When it came down to the wire two years ago, U.S. Rep. Jon Fox barely beat Joe Hoeffel to win a second term representing most of Montgomery County. This year's hotly contested rematch, however, played out differently. Energized by memories of his 84-vote loss in 1996, Hoeffel defeated Fox yesterday by 6 percent in one of the country's most closely watched congressional races. Addressing a crowd of 300 screaming supporters in Blue Bell, Pa., Hoeffel, 48, vowed to improve public education, control health-maintenance organizations and save Social Security. "The last race gave this campaign a lot of credibility," Hoeffel said. Both campaigns made considerable efforts to ensure voters came out to the polls. On the other side, the mood was quite different. Despite early optimism at Fox's election night party in the Cedar Brooke Inn, also in Blue Bell, the room quieted down by 11:15 p.m. as Fox conceded. "The good news is that we won't be here as late as the last time. The bad news is that we didn't quite come to live out our dream of serving a third term," Fox, 51, told about 400 supporters. Both men have common career backgrounds. Hoeffel and Fox are both lawyers who served previously as state representatives. Fox was formerly Montgomery County commissioner, while Hoeffel is currently in that position. Both attended Philadelphia-area law schools: Fox at Widener University and Hoeffel at Temple University. But they chose different political parties. Linda Hosborne, 50, a Republican campaign volunteer who visited several polls during the day, said there are "a lot of Democrats in this district but lots of cross-over votes." "People jumped off [the Republican ticket] and voted for Joe," said Joanne Olshevsky, Hoeffel's campaign manager. Republican voters failed to vote straight down the party line, as the 13th District has nearly twice as many registered Republicans as Democrats. The party atmosphere at the Hoeffel campaign came to a climax at about 11 p.m. last night with chants of "We want Joe!" as television news broadcasts predicted Hoeffel as the winner. "This is unbelievable, and I've been working the polls before I could vote," exclaimed Hugh Cullen, a Democratic activist, while waiting for Hoeffel's victory speech. Hoeffel declared to the roaring crowd, "The people of the 13th District have spoken, and I like it." Looking optimistically toward the future, Fox said he planned to spend time with his family and continue serving the community. "We'll be around," Fox said. Still, many loyal Republicans were disappointed. One young boy even cried. "It's devastating," Hosborne said. "You see what has happened since [Fox] came on the scene six years ago," she said, referring to Fox's defeat of 1994 incumbent Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky in that year's Republican landslide. Hoeffel speculated that "you haven't heard the last of Jon Fox." Margolies-Mezvinsky lost her campaign for lieutenant governor yesterday on Ivan Itkin's ticket.

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