Without hesitation, this newspaper enthusiastically endorses Republican incumbent John Campisi of South County for a second term on the County Council.

Mr. Campisi has done an outstanding job of representing residents of the 6th County Council District during the nearly four years he has been in office. Listening to the wishes of South County residents has been the cornerstone of his tenure in office.

We fail to understand what Mr. Campisi’s opponent, Democrat Julie Leicht of Concord, means when she states that “South County has been fraught with controversy and turmoil,” particularly when we’ve seen Mr. Campisi, time and time again, stand up for the residents of South County.

As we wrote two weeks ago, Ms. Leicht has waged a vicious, personal-attack campaign against Mr. Campisi that dates back to before the August primary.

Ms. Leicht repeatedlyihas raised the issue of Mr. Campisi’s character, citing Mr. Campisi’s 2002 guilty plea on two counts of tampering with a utility for filling his swimming pool with water from a fire hydrant and contending he broke a campaign pledge not to accept campaign contributions from developers.

To his credit, Mr. Campisi has stuck to the issues at hand, refusing to stoop to Ms. Leicht’s level and dismissing the fire hydrant incident as a mistake for which he has apologized.

Mr. Campisi also has contended that he has accepted contributions only from employees of development companies, not from developers themselves. If he discovers he has accepted a contribution from a developer, the councilman has said he will return it.

In fact, Mr. Campisi told a Call reporter last week that he returned $500 contributions from Jim Kowan and Denny Moellenhoff, president of Moellenhoff Building and Real Estate. He also is checking to see if Mr. Moellenhoff’s wife, who donated $200, is on the company’s Board of Directors. If so, he said he also would return that contribution.

Interestingly enough, besides Ms. Leicht, about the only people we upset with the column about her vicious mudslinging were relatives of her campaign staffers and campaign contributors as evidenced by letters to the editor we’ve published in this week’s issue of the Call.

We find it hard to believe that somebody as thin-skinned as Ms. Leicht would venture into the political arena and believe voters would be making a serious mistake by placing her in elective office. We believe Ms. Leicht would be beholden to the Democratic powers that be and unresponsive to the needs and wishes of residents of the 6th County Council District.

However, Mr. Campisi repeatedly has proved during his nearly four years in office that South County residents always will come first. Therefore, we strongly encourage South County voters to return Mr. Campisi to the County Council in next Tuesday’s election.