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A look at the ballot as primary election day nears

By Josh Cotton 3 min read

Races for the school board and county commissioner highlight this month's primary election ballot.

The primary is set for Tuesday, May 16, and polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

A total of 11 candidates are seeking election to the Warren County School Board, a number driven higher than normal because of the ongoing debate over school reconfiguration.

The two regions most affected by that decision -- Region II that includes Sheffield, and Region III that includes Youngsville -- are where the majority of candidates are found.

There are two four-year terms and one two-year term up in Region II; there are five candidates that will appear on the ballot -- incumbents Donna Zariczny and Joe Colosimo as well as Tammi Holden, Stephanie Snell and Savanna Cochran.

In Region III there are two four-year seats open and incumbent Kevin Lindvay is seeking re-nomination. Other candidates include Dan Sullivan, Kris Hodak and Wendy MacQueen.

John Wortman is unopposed for one seat in Region I though Bridget Schwab has mounted a write-in campaign for the post.

Shifting to county government, Republicans will see a lengthy primary ballot for commissioner -- six candidates for three seats. They include incumbent Tricia Durbin as well as Ken Klakamp, Troy Clawson, Joseph Perrin, Jeff Eschborn and Will Champlin.

Dan Glotz is unchallenged on the Democratic side.

Two Republicans are also seeking the nomination for sheriff -- Scott Neiswonger and Ken Hinton. The same holds for treasurer -- Jolean Ishman and Lisa Barr.

Several nominations for county offices are uncontested -- Lisa Burkhouse for register and recorder; county auditors Heleena Swanson, Susanne Swanson and Thomas Brown and District Justices Raymond Zydonik and Laura Bauer.

Nominations for city council also aren't contested -- there are a total of four seats up and a total of four candidates across both tickets -- Phil Gilbert, Danielle Flasher, John Barbera and Maurice Cashman.

Most of the municipal-level races in the county are also uncontested in the primary -- though there are a few exceptions -- Eric Swartzbaugh and David Taydus for supervisor in Eldred Township; Norman Whiteley and Alan Smith for Supervisor in Freehold Township; William Hannold and Randy Wachter for supervisor in Pittsfield Township and Tom Whitney and Carl Black for supervisor in Sugar Grove Township.

Nominations will also be made for the state's appellate courts -- one vacancy on the Supreme Court, two vacancies on the Superior Court and one on the Commonwealth Court.

At the Supreme level, there are two Democrats -- Daniel McCaffery and Debbie Kunselman -- and two Republicans -- Carolyn Carluccio and Patricia McCullough.

McCaffrey, Kunselman and Carluccio received "highly recommended" rankings from the Pa. Bar Association.

For the Superior Court, three Democrats are seeking nominations -- Timika Lane, Pat Dugan and Jill Beck -- as well as two Republicans -- Maria Battista and Harry F. Small, Jr.

Lane and Beck were "highly recommended" while Small was "recommended" by the Bar Association.

There are also two candidates on each side of the ballot for the seat on the Commonwealth Court -- Democrats Bryan Neft and Matt Wolf as well as Republicans Josh Prince and Megan Martin. Neft and Martin were "recommended" by the Bar Association.

Starting at /week.