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WILLIAM BENDER & BOB STEWART, Daily News Staff Writers benderw@phillynews.com, 215-854-5255 Posted: Wednesday, March 25, 2015, 12:16 AM

STRANGE DAY at the polls in the Far Northeast.

For 13 hours yesterday, labor unions accustomed to working shoulder-to-shoulder found themselves eye-to-eye on the battlefield, getting out the vote for two political novices in a low-profile special election on the fringe of the city.

It was quite civil on the surface. But a civil war was raging underneath.

Organized labor split apart and provided troops to both candidates. Some took up arms for the Republican. Orders are orders.

The result: Democrats lost a state House seat in a district in which President Obama got 57 percent of the vote in 2012 and where Democrats outnumber Republicans, 2-to-1.

Republican Martina White, 26, a financial adviser, was elected state representative in the 170th District, which covers the Bustleton-Somerton-Parkwood area of Northeast Philadelphia.

White easily defeated Democrat Sarah Del Ricci, 34, a horse trainer and director of the Parkwood Therapeutic Riding Center, in the special election to fill the vacancy left by former Democratic state Rep. Brendan Boyle, who was elected to Congress last year.

By most accounts, it was a self-imposed Democratic bloodbath.

Boyle, who in 2008 became the first Democrat to win the seat in the former Republican stronghold, was fuming last night.

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GOP takes Boyle's seat in Dem district

March 19, 2015 House Democrat Leadership Press Conference
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi discussed the GOP budget proposal, the ongoing investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton #39;s emails and ethics training for lawmakers at her...

By: Roll Call

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March 19, 2015 House Democrat Leadership Press Conference - Video

A quick reminder of the history that Hillary Clinton hopes to overturn: No Democrat who's served out his term has been replaced by a Democrat since before Abraham Lincoln. The last to do it, as we noted last year, was Martin Van Buren who replaced Andrew Jackson.

It's remarkable to contrast that history with the Republicans (of whom there have been more, boosting the odds that they'd have seen this happen). If you look at each presidency since 1861, it breaks down like this.

Only twice since Lincoln has a Democrat replaced a Democrat at all: Lyndon Johnson in 1963 and Harry Truman in 1945.

As always, we must remember that we're dealing with a very small sample size, as this XKCD strip makes clear. It's ten Democratic presidents in total (since this is a young country). And if Clinton manages to win, we doubt it's the first for which she's remembered.

Philip Bump writes about politics for The Fix. He is based in New York City.

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The Fix: Hillary Clinton is attempting something no Democrat has done since the Civil War

WILLIAM BENDER, Daily News Staff Writer benderw@phillynews.com, 215-854-5255 Posted: Tuesday, March 24, 2015, 12:16 AM

HAVE YOU been following that state House race in the Far Northeast?

Of course not. Only political junkies and super voters pay attention to this stuff.

It's actually quite juicy.

Voters in the 170th state House District, which covers the Bustleton-Somerton-Parkwood area, will go to the polls today to elect a replacement for former Democratic state Rep. Brendan Boyle, who was elected to Congress last year.

They'll decide between Democrat Sarah Del Ricci and Republican Martina White, which means that, either way, a woman will represent the former Republican stronghold for the first time.

Del Ricci, 34, is a horse trainer and director of the Parkwood Therapeutic Riding Center. White, 26, is a financial adviser.

Republicans in Harrisburg scheduled the special election for today, rather than hold it on the May 19 primary, because that gives them the best shot at reclaiming the seat they lost to Boyle in 2008. Democrats outnumber Republicans 7-to-1 citywide, but only 2-to-1 in the 170th District.

The race also has devolved into an internecine proxy war with complicated political undercurrents and ugly personal attacks.

Boyle's chosen successor for the vacant seat was Seth Kaplan, chief of staff for his brother, state Rep. Kevin Boyle. But local Democratic ward leader and Lt. Gov. Mike Stack overrode the Boyles' wishes and tapped Pennsylvania Turnpike employee John Del Ricci - then later settled on his wife as the chosen candidate. The reason behind the husband-wife switch depends on whom you ask.

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NE Phila. special election is today

"The charter draft reflects the fact that Borwornsak [Uwanno] wrote a better charter than he was instructed to write. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha should not take heed of suggestions by this group of academics because the new charter, if approved, will widen the rift and push the country into an unwanted scenario in which the people stage rallies against the charter," he said.

"Prayut will have his hands tainted with blood,'' said Watchara, who is a former Democrat Party MP.

If the National Council for Peace and Order wants this charter draft, it should hold a public referendum. If the public votes to reject the charter draft, the PM should exercise his power under Article 44 to invoke another charter.

"Do not cling to power because this will lead to bloodshed,'' he said.

He raised 10 points in the charter draft that he disapproves of:

- Reducing the number of constituency MPs to 250, which he claimed was not right because each MP would have many people to take care of;

- Increasing the number of party-list MPs to 200, saying the "open list" would cause wrangling among candidates;

- Allowing a non-elected PM;

- A total of 200 senators will be indirectly elected;

- Senators have too much power and even the PM has to submit a list of Cabinet members for senators to screen;

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Ex-Democrat MP mocks 'tank-driven reform bodies'